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Tag: local seo

  • Are Wix Sites Bad for SEO?

    Wix is one of the most widely used website builders in the world, with over 150 million users as of 2019. Despite being so popular, it’s not exactly a secret that Wix sites have a bad reputation within the digital marketing community. It got so bad that Wix tried to prove a point by holding a contest to see if anyone could outrank them for the keyword “SEO hero.” Spoiler alert: they didn’t win. But does Wix deserve the flack it gets? And is it realistic for people to expect a (mostly) free website builder to outperform more robust platforms?

    Wix site being displayed on laptop

    Why are Wix sites bad for SEO?

    So what’s wrong with Wix sites? In short, there are several technical aspects of SEO that Wix sites don’t mesh with.

    • URL Structure: Free Wix sites have a URL structure of username.wixsite.com/siteaddress. As an address, that’s hard to remember, and it’s not exactly something you’d print on a business card. Wix users can have more control over their domain name by using the paid service, but if Wix’s entire shtick is being a free website builder, then it’s not a good look to charge people for something as basic as a regular-looking domain name.
    • Google Analytics: Google analytics can’t be implemented on free Wix sites because they technically don’t have unique URLs.
    • Site Crawl Issues: Wix sites don’t allow users to edit their robots.txt files, which can make it more difficult for search engine crawlers to index sites with dozens or hundreds of pages.
    • 301 Redirects: Free Wix sites do not support 301 redirects. If you take down a page for any reason, you can’t redirect users to another page, and you will lose the original page’s link equity.
    • Site Speed: Google has started to place more and more emphasis on site speed as a factor for keyword rankings. Wix sites tend to load slowly because they require hundreds of Javascript file requests before rendering a web page. This affects pages’ keywordrankings and offers a worse experience for users.
    • The Templates: Once you’ve selected a template for a Wix site, you’re stuck with it. You can’t pick a new one or make major edits to your current template without losing all of your content.

    It’s Not All Bad

    Despite their issues, Wix sites have some benefits. Users can still use fundamental site optimization tools, like title tags, meta descriptions, blogs, H1s, and H2s. Business owners can customize their site’s design (to an extent) with Wix’s templates. They also support e-commerce in their premium plans. So if you’re trying to establish a client base online, Wix isn’t the worst place to start, especially if you have a decent following on Instagram and just need a website so users can make purchases.

    To be fair, Wix’s premium plans are reasonably affordable. Their prices are comparable to what other providers, like Squarespace, offer. All of this makes Wix a somewhat decent starting point for small businesses and entrepreneurs who can’t, or don’t want to, invest money in a website. Wix doesn’t allow users to implement highly technical aspects of SEO, like editing their robots.txt file, because they don’t expect people who use a free website to know about them. That may be shortsighted, but that’s clearly the assumption they’re making.

    Most new businesses will outgrow a Wix site once they’ve reached a certain level of success. Attracting new customers, and keeping the ones you already have, will get increasingly competitive. At that point, you’ll need to have a well-defined SEO strategy. Moving on to a more robust CMS like WordPress should be a priority.

    If you have a Wix site and aren’t satisfied with its performance, Search Influence can help. Since 2006, we’ve provided hundreds of clients with digital marketing services like SEO, paid search campaigns, and more. Our team has handled a variety of site migrations, and we can help you build a new website. To learn more about what we can do for you, contact us at (504) 208-3900.

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    Wix on Laptop

  • Why You Should Reply to Your Reviews—Especially The Negative Ones

    Whether we’re using social media to keep up with friends, watching videos on YouTube, or even searching the Web to find a doctor, most of our daily activities involve our phones and other devices with access to the internet. Many of us will turn to reviews, along with recommendations from our friends, to find restaurants to eat dinner at or even when choosing an apartment community to live in. Having positive reviews on your online listings as a business owner is important, but responding to them is even more important. Especially when it comes to negative reviews.

    Why Are Customer Reviews Important?

    Your reviews are a representation of your business. They usually say a lot about the company long before you’re able to speak for it yourself and tell your brand’s story. Potential customers or clients will use reviews to gauge if your products or services are worth the money. According to Vendasta:

    • 92% of consumers will read reviews to determine the quality of a local business
    • 72% of consumers say that positive reviews make them trust local businesses more
    • 80% of customers say they trust an online review or recommendation just as much as a personal recommendation from a friend

    Having enough positive reviews to prove your value is important for garnering new customers. Negative reviews are also important and have an impact on your brand perception. About 86% of people will hesitate to purchase from a business that has negative reviews. 

    The good news is, outside of providing exemplary products and services to your customers, there are ways to reach out before a customer leaves a negative review and thereby get more positive reviews over time. For our client, K. Mathew Warnock, we were able to get him 100 positive reviews in about five months.

    Why Is Responding to Reviews Important?

    You should absolutely be responding to every review you receive. Not only is there the benefit of building relationships with your customer base and having social proof for future customers, but there is also an SEO benefit as well. Responding to reviews shows prospective clients, as well as search engines, that you are committed to satisfying customers and maintaining an active presence on your listings. Google has confirmed via one of the Google My Business Help pages that responding to reviews shows them you value your customers and that high-quality, positive results can improve your business’s visibility in the Search Engine Results page.

    Experts in our field have long believed that in terms of local SEO, review signals were an important factor in Google’s ranking factors. In fact, in 2018 as a part of Moz’s yearly Local Search Ranking Factors, they listed Review Signals as 15.44% of the algorithm when your business is shown in the Maps pack, following closely behind having a well-optimized Google My Business profile with accurate categories, keywords, and being in proximity to your potential customers.

    Person using their smartphone to access local business information

    Google isn’t the only place your customers should be leaving reviews. Depending on your industry, you’ll also want them to leave reviews on other local directories like Yelp, social sites like Facebook, and niche sites like HealthGrades or Home Advisor. 

    How Do I Respond to My Reviews?

    There are some general rules of thumb for responding to reviews that should be followed, regardless of whether they’re good or bad:

    • Respond On Time
      • Some things, like negative reviews, may require you talk offline with your team to craft a response, and that’s okay. But you don’t want to leave reviews sitting for weeks without some sort of response.
    • Customize Your Response
      • Having templates or drafts of responses you use to respond to customers can save administrative time, but you don’t want your customers to feel like you’re giving them a cookie-cutter response.
    • Always Thank Your Customer
      • Good or bad, the reviewer did business with your company and took time out of their day to leave you a review. Reassure them that you are dedicated to providing the best customer service experience possible.

    How to Respond to Negative Reviews

    Bad reviews happen. Don’t fret and don’t overreact. There are some simple ways to make responding to negative reviews as breezy as possible. 

    • Apologize
      • This can be a hard one, but do it and keep it professional and not defensive. Apologize if the reviewer has expressed dissatisfaction with your product or service. Sympathize with them and show them that you can understand their frustration or disappointment. Don’t blame the customer or shift blame on to your staff. Accusing the customer of lying or exaggerating can be offensive as well. 
    • Connect
      • Offer the negative reviewer contact information, either yours as the business owner or a manager’s, so that you can ask more questions about their dissatisfaction. Keep it short and sweet. 
    • Offer Reassurance
      • If you know the customer and what their issue was with your product or service, offer a resolution like a refund or free products. If bad service was the issue, let the customer know that you are taking the necessary steps to ensure if they’d like to visit or purchase from you again, their experience will have improved.

    5 star review custom graphic for Search Influence blog

    How to Respond to Positive Reviews

    Responding to positive reviews is a bit easier, right? You’ve gotten a glowing review from a recent customer. They can’t help but gush about your service and the attention they received. They love your staff. They love your business. How do you respond to that?

    • Show Acknowledgement & Gratitude
      • Don’t forget to be polite and acknowledge the reviewer by their first name; this adds a bit of personalization over generic greetings. Thank them for patronizing your business. In the case of both positive and negative reviews, gratitude goes a long way.
    • Use Keywords 
      • Using keywords, your business name, and location specific information in your response can help improve the visibility of the positive review.
    • Market 
      • Invite the customer back to your business. A simple “we can’t wait to see you again” can work. You can also let them know about other products and services you offer. If a customer came to your restaurant and enjoyed your espresso, for example, maybe entice them to try it next time with your favorite pastry offering. 

    Coffee being served

    Do You Need Help Managing Your Online Reputation?

    Search Influence can help your local SEO efforts. We’re a digital marketing agency in the Gulf South dedicated to helping our clients optimize their potential through dynamic marketing strategies. Request your free marketing analysis to learn about how we can help drive qualified leads to your business.

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    Smartphone

    Cappuccino

    5 stars

  • “Today in” Facebook feed highlights local news and events

    An image of the new Today In feature that is being tested by Facebook
    Facebook has launched, in a small number of locations, a new “Today in [location]” feed.

    “Today in” will algorithmically identify news and events from the users specified location. For now, the feature is only available in: New Orleans, La.; Little Rock, Ark.; Billings, Mont.; Peoria, Ill.; Olympia, Wash.; and Binghamton, N.Y. It is expected Facebook will roll it out further on successful test of the features.

    Check out a roundup of the major articles I wrote on the LocalU blog.

  • Nothing More Local Than My Pocket #pubcon 2016

    Today I’m presenting at Pubcon on Mobile PPC. We all know mobile phones are ubiquitous, but there are a bunch of great stats which show how important they’ve become to us.

    • 33% of Americans would rather give up sex for a week rather than their cell phones.
    • 70% of Americans would rather give up alcohol for a week than their cell phones.

    Clearly this poll was not in New Orleans.

    And now the presentation.

  • Will Scott Interview on Search Engine Journal

    A quick thanks and a link, for your information, to an interview Mat Siltala did with me on Search Engine Journal.

    Picture of Mat Siltala and Will Scott at SMX West
    Picture of Mat Siltala and Will Scott at SMX West

    Mat and I often speak about search, local, social media and his favoriteviral marketing. I appreciate the opportunity for the exchange of ideas and am always happy to spend time with Mat.

    In the interview we talk about some of the Top Local Business Listing questions we receive.

    For those who don’t know Mat Siltala, his Internet Marketing Firm Dream Systems Media is one of the best in the industry. With customers ranging from small businesses to some of the biggest names on the Internet, Mat and his team are a worthy choice for any business, seriously thinking about online marketing who recognizes that Investment is the first part of Return on Investment.

    Again, a big thanks to Mat and the Search Engine Journal team for helping spread the word about the value of Local search for small business.

    Written at 38,000 ft somewhere over Indiana

  • Facebook Marketing – Sneaky, Subversive, Effective!

    The tactics of Local Facebook Marketing just got a whole lot easier to understand. Sarah Smith gave up the goods in her presentation at the Local Search Summit. It turns out there are some very subversive ways to use current Facebook technologies. Marketing on Facebook just got a lot easier. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="265" caption="Local Search Summit 09"]Local Search Summit 09[/caption] Don Campbell gives a great overview of the ideas presented in our "Using Facebook and Twitter to Drive Local Leads" session. And, I'm looking forward to Aaron Irizarry posting the rest of the video... ... But in the mean time, I'm going to share some ideas based on the Facebook marketing presented by Sarah Smith. I'm so excited by these ideas that we're going to be implementing some of them THIS WEEK with clients. But look, I'm even more excited by what YOU are going to do with them. Please comment and let us know what you think the opportunities are. Ok, ok - so the list:
    • Kinda mundane but still very helpful: Sarah indicates there is now radius based targeting for ads (e.g.: 15 miles around city X)
    • Real-time Search with greater search granularity.
    • Target just your fans or people coming to an event with Facebook Ads (this is definitely cool, and I can see some good applications but not mind-blowing).
    • Birthday Targeting! Holy cow! This is huge. I have a whole program already laid out for this one.
    • 1 to 1 communication with Event attendees/maybes. The pain point here is less obvious - you'll get it when I 'splain it.

    Killer Facebook Marketing Opportunities:

    Birthday Targeting:

    [caption id="" align="alignright" width="199" caption="Happy Birthday to You!"]Facebook Marketing - Happy Birthday to You! Cake Picture[/caption] So, Birthday Targeting - my goodness, how subversive can you get?! Imagine yourself cruising along in Facebook and Blammo
    "happy birthday Bob, click here to register for your birthday gift - good all month".
    Notice, we plan to message "good all month" (or "all week", or "for the next 10 days"). There is still a serious call to action but clearly it's an obtainable goal. The challenge of the Birthday message in Facebook marketing is that if you make it a "today only" deal you may miss those who sign in after work hours or who are otherwise unable to commit today. Maybe they've got a party to go to :D. You can see how this would be a killer tactic for a local business. Let's say you have a non-impulse product. You could make an offer of a $25.00 commodity gift card (Wal-mart, The Gap) or $100.00 gift certificate for your service. Even if you're not perfectly targeted you have the opportunity to start a dialog with a local buyer who knows someone who is.

    Event Focused Permission Marketing:

    Facebook event invitations are becoming much more prevalent. And, it turns out given this new feature, they're a sneaky marketing opportunity. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Ant Party"]Ant Party[/caption] One of the problems we've had with "Fan Pages" vs. Facebook Groups is that there is no way to push communication to your fans. You can post something which will show up in their feed but  you can't get into their inbox without a more personal connection. So, Sarah says that all you've got to do is get someone to respond "Yes" to your invitation (or "Maybe", I think - hopefully Sarah will clarify) and you can then message them up until the event. But wait, there's more: You, the group owner don't necessarily have to initiate the "Event" invitation. Meaning that you can easily convert the Fan to a Friend with much less restriction on continued messaging. I'm not going to tell you how we're going to put this one into use 😉 but I'll tell you once we're done. --- As you can see, these two opportunities, "Birthday Ads" and "Event Focused Permission Marketing", enable much greater attention getting behavior on Facebook. Marketing through these channels can get you past the banner blindness of the usual ads and may even get you into the Inbox. With the rate of adoption of Facebook and Twitter we'll take any opportunity, the more sneaky and subversive the better, to build community and then hopefully move that community offline to buy something. We'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on how to best leverage these new Facebook marketing opportunities and any of the others Sarah detailed at Local Search Summit. --- Related Posts: Image Credits:

  • Use Twitter for Business? Tell Us About It

    UPDATE: At the suggestion of Terri Troncale I want to invite submissions for non-profits as well. Please, please – fans, recommend your favorites! I’m really happy to have the businesses self-submit but I want to get rid of these iTunes cards 😀

    Also, my original limitation on location was because of driving distance to http://socialsouth.org. Please submit anyone, anywhere using Social Media to drive sales, membership, contributions, or any trackable outcome.

    —

    Twitter Bird - Tweet, Tweet, Tweet
    Twitter Bird - Tweet, Tweet, Tweet

    Let’s get one thing straight right here: I’m not above buying your love. (Just ask David)

    I’m going to be taking part in a couple presentations at Social South in a few weeks and in preparation I’ve been asking: who’s doing it?

    The “who” I’m talking about: Small businesses in the Southeast United States (hopefully within a day’s drive of B-Ham (that’s Birmingham Alabama, you dig) and non-profits?

    The “it” is – using Social Media to promote their business or organization.

    So in other words, do you know a small business or non-profit in your area who is trying to use Twitter for business (or Facebook, or LinkedIn, or Orkut, or YouTube, or Blogging)?

    Now, a couple caveats:

    • I would prefer local businesses/non-profits: plumbers, lawn guys, doctors, spas, hair salons and organizations trying to promote local causes
    • I may feature home-based businesses but I’d rather they have a product sales or membership action component

    Cash Register goes Cha Ching
    Cash Register goes Cha Ching

    What’s in it for the small businesses? First, I will do an email interview and a follow-up phone call which will be featured as a blog post on the Search Influence blog. Those which represent the best case studies will also be featured on Local Search News (and may appear on Search Engine Land).

    And, I will do a half-hour interview follow-up in which I’ll make recommendations and offer ideas for other promotional opportunities. And hopefully we’ll all learn better how to use Twitter for business (and other social platforms).

    And, finally, a select few will get an opportunity to join me on-stage at Social South to talk about their experiences.

    What’s in it for you? (I know, I know, it’s all about you) I’ve got a stack of $10.00 iTunes cards burning a hole in my pocket, y’hear. I will give a $10.00 iTunes cards to 10 randomly selected participants – in other words, comment below including a link to the business in question and their Twitter account page (e.g. Nancy’s Corner, New Orleans Gift Baskets, Nancy’s Corner on Twitter).

    [Ginsu Style] But wait, there’s more – 1 lucky entry will win a $150.00 gift card / certificate to the business of their choice from the entrants listed (small print – I need a minimum of 20 entries to execute on the $150.00).

    So, please, let me buy your love – help me find participants for this great panel at Social South, I’ll help you get a little more enjoyment out of life with the gift of music and we’ll both help a local business get a little more exposure online and learn about how to use Twitter for business.

    All you have to do to enter is comment below with a link to the business (home page or online profile page is fine) and a link to their Twitter, Facebook, or other social media profile.

    Oh, and you should definitely Tweet about it – here’s a good example: RT @w2scott: Know a small biz or non-profit using Social Media? Promote ’em 2 win great prizes – details: http://bit.ly/vQqTA Please RT

    Don’t want to copy and paste, if you’re logged in to twitter just click here to automagically retweet (may not work while Twitter is having issues).

    Look, this is serious, I’m trying to help others understand how to use Twitter for business (and Facebook and LinkedIn and the others) and you can help a local small business get a little further down the road with this internet stuff. And, like I said, I am willing to buy your love.

    Thanks in advance for your help!