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Tag: yelp

Word of Mouth in the Digital Age: The Importance of Online Reviews
Having just moved, I’ve spent a lot of my free time shopping on Amazon. From new bathmats to nice wine glasses, a majority of my paychecks have gone towards furnishing my new house. One thing I really needed, though, was a solution to the rock of a mattress that came with the apartment. I needed a mattress topper. Since it was something I would use every night, I wanted the ability to test out the feel of it first. The only negative of Amazon is that you can’t do that. So, whose opinions can I trust other than my own? Fellow customers.

I spent all night (on the rock) searching through different mattress toppers. I didn’t look at the actual toppers as much as the reviews, though. “This one’s too lumpy,” or “This one smells funny” were the words that guided me to finding the perfect topper. And now, I’m sleeping like a queen, thanks to my fellow customers.

In this scenario, I was the customer, and the product was the business. I passed up on a lot of toppers that were probably just as good as the one I ended up getting. Having a lot of bad reviews or no reviews at all were the deciding factors for me, and these things can be the deciding factors for whether or not your business succeeds online.

Why Reviews Matter

According to a study done by BrightLocal, “88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.” Reviews can greatly impact consumer decisions, showing how valuable positive reviews are to local businesses. In the same study, “72% of consumers say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more.” Thus, positive reviews increase conversions.

Negative reviews can hurt business and prevent a potential customer from converting. However, negative reviews can also be a positive thing. Negative reviews give a business unique insight in the ways they can improve, and they can also help eliminate consumer suspicion if there are too many positive reviews. A study done by Econsultancy found that “68% of consumers trust reviews more when they see both good and bad scores, while 30% suspect censorship or faked reviews when they don’t see anything negative at all.” Overall, businesses should leverage the value of negative reviews by working to enhance their business and improve customer relationships.

SEO Benefits of Reviews

Not only do consumer reviews enhance customer experience, but they also provide some SEO benefits:
- Improving local rankings by showing Google that people are engaging with your brand on third-party sites like Yelp.
- Adding new content to your site. Search engines like to see unique content being added to a site regularly.
- Increasing chances of ranking for long-tail keywords. Users reviewing your business tend to use the same terms that other potential customers may use when searching for your business.
  - Add reviews to many pages on the site in order to increase the amount of pages ranking for long-tail terms.
- Adding schema markup for reviews, which enables rich snippets.
Sources:

http://searchengineland.com/88-consumers-trust-online-reviews-much-personal-recommendations-195803

https://www.brightlocal.com/2014/07/01/local-consumer-review-survey-2014/#methods

https://econsultancy.com/blog/8638-bad-reviews-improve-conversion-by-67

https://econsultancy.com/blog/9366-ecommerce-consumer-reviews-why-you-need-them-and-how-to-use-them/
August 24, 2015
Hello Bing, Goodbye Yahoo Local: Moz Local Makes Moves

Moz Local made some small changes to its reporting dashboard over the past week or so. These small layout differences indicted a large change in the capabilities of the tool.

Only announced on August 18th (though acknowledging that updates slowly rolled out over the previous week), Moz has added City Grid (City Search), Insider Pages (not fully rolled out yet), and Bing to the growing list of sites that they can submit information directly to. The tool also removed Yahoo from listings that they find and evaluate for you.

What does this mean for you, a business owner?

City Search and Bing were already available for Moz Local users to find and address, but they have now made the move over to their “Direct Network.” Since both require verification to edit business information, this change could make it even easier to send out your correct business information out into the wild, wild web for customers and search engines to see.

Since Moz Local offers an easily navigated and editable interface, when an address, website, or even hours change, you can modify it in just one place and watch it change throughout the high-authority directories and data aggregators.

What does this mean for you, a marketing professional?

Moz’s removal of Yahoo Local listings in an strong indication that Yahoo is moving away from being a source for native, unique listing information. As it stands now, native Yahoo listings are being replaced/overpowered with Yelp listings with reviews. By not even caring to show a client’s information on the site, Moz is acknowledging that Yahoo is no longer an independent listing source.

By adding Bing to their direct network, Moz could change the amount of sites that require client confirmation. With every client, there is a varying amount of difficulty that can happen with verifying listings. Postcards can get lost. Phone calls can get missed. Moz seems now to give a way to circumvent those problems. However, completely dropping the process of claiming Bing would not be wise. Claiming the listing gives you the power to change information immediately and to see how often the listing is seen.

Moz is showing that it has a great ear to the ground for changes that may be rumbling in the local citation world, and I know that I will be keeping an eye out for any of the new changes that it says should be rolling out soon.

August 20, 2015
Don’t Give a Dang About a Bad Reputation: I’ve Got No Online Reputation
Reviews are essential to a successful business. Bad reviews can make or break a long-established business or a fledgling one. Companies have even sprung up to help combat bad online reputations. But what of the companies that have little or no online reputation at all? This scenario can be just as detrimental to a business. In fact, there are many websites that can help businesses drive customers to write online reviews:

Reputation.com
- PRO: Along with many other reputation management services, Reputation.com offers in-depth review-garnering solutions. Services range from very hands-off on the part of the business or very hands-on. The very hands-off approach offers the ability to send out emails that can be customized with customer names, employee names, and business logos. It also offers an in-store review option that customers can fill out immediately after a purchase or visit. The online management part of this site gives in-depth analytics of the reviews garnered through its services as well as pre-existing reviews.
- CON: Review management is just part of Reputation.com’s many services. If you already have search engine optimization services for your business, you might be getting more than what you really need to pay for.
Chatmeter
- PRO: Chatmeter monitors any reviews a business may receive online on various websites, and it gives daily updates so business owners can quickly respond to both positive and negative reviews. With constant interaction, customers can see that the business is active and working positively to improve its customer service. This site also gives in-depth analysis of the reviews received so a business owner can see if the reviews are trending positive or negative. Chatmeter also offers the ability to monitor competitors’ reviews and gives insight on what competitors are doing right.
- CON: Chatmeter does not offer the ability to reach out to customers directly from the tool. The business must work on garnering reviews through strictly organic means, which can be a slow-moving process.
Get 5 Stars
- PRO: Get 5 Stars is strictly a review management tool. The tool can be used to monitor existing reviews as well as send out requests for new reviews from customers. This creates a survey for customers to fill out with differing results depending on the type of review. Bad reviews can be managed before they hit any other websites. Good reviewers can be asked to review on any number of sites or to have their review published directly to the company’s website. This tool also offers in-depth analytics to see open rates, success rates, and any problem areas that might be initially overlooked.
- CON: This tool requires a way to collect customer emails, which can be difficult if the business does not have a storefront that customers frequent.
These are just a few of the many ways a business can monitor a fledgling online reputation. Online review management coincides closely with local SEO, since a business needs a presence online before it can build a reputation.

Image sources:

Haters Gonna Hate GIF
June 1, 2015
Amazon Has a House Party, and Your Local Business Needs an Invite

To compete with Angie’s List, Craigslist, Yelp, Home Advisor and other marketplaces, Amazon has recently launched its own marketplace called Amazon Home Services.

What makes this platform different from the others? How could it help you, as a local business, with an increase in leads and improved Google rankings?

Amazon has its own ecosystem: loyal customers and Amazon Prime members. Being a part of this ecosystem means being exposed to 85 million potential customers. “In less than 60 seconds, customers can now browse, purchase and schedule hundreds of professional services from wall mounting a new TV to installing a new garbage disposal to house cleaning, directly on Amazon.com,” according to the company’s recent press release. And your business can be a part of it.

In contrast to Google, which ranks services in terms of the most accurate answer to the searcher’s query, Amazon ranks services in terms of what product the searcher is most likely to buy. This functionality is easier for small businesses. Indeed, Amazon’s algorithm will automatically show the best service to match what the searcher is looking for. In other words, when a searcher is looking for a television on Google, the result will include everything in relation to televisions except a list of local services, while Amazon will include all the repairs/installation services related to a television based on the searcher’s geolocation. That is why it will potentially make it easier for small businesses to rank on Amazon. But there is a catch: to be part of that ecosystem, you need to be invited by Amazon.

So how can you get invited? First, you need to have a strong Web presence, a good strategy for displaying information about your services, a good reputation and finally, great online reviews from your customers. (But really, you’d want all of these things anyway.) On top of that, you need to be licensed and insured.

Are you ready to apply? Don’t jump to it too fast! Google just announced it is going to open its own marketplace for local businesses, which means more visibility for you as well as more leads, since most people search on Google.

Image sources:

Amazon Home Services infographic

Amazon Home Services map

May 26, 2015
Survive Google’s ‘Mopocalypse’ with these Tips for Your Mobile Strategy

Google’s new mobile-friendly update, which I originally discussed in my Search Engine Land column, is rolling out this month, and it’s time to put the focus on mobile. But with all this buzz about mobile websites, you may be thinking, “My website looks fine on my smartphone when I pinch and zoom, so what’s the big deal?”

Well, there’s much more to it than that.

Step 1: Get a Mobile Website

Just because your Web developer tells you your site is mobile doesn’t necessarily make it true. Make sure you’ve used Google’s handy mobile-friendly testing tool to check your website. In Google’s eyes, businesses have three main options for becoming mobile-friendly: responsive website design, dynamic serving, and separate URLs.

So what option is right for your business? The bottom line is this: for businesses with growing mobile traffic that has not yet reached a critical percent of site traffic, a purely mobile version on a separate URL is a viable option. But for businesses with mobile website traffic pushing 50 percent or more of all site traffic, it is time to invest in a responsive website. While a responsive website typically requires a complete overhaul, your customers will probably thank you when your website can display differently based on the screen size.

Step 2: Use ‘Barnacle SEO’

Even before your mobile website is in action, your business needs to attach itself to large, fixed objects, and then wait for mobile customers to float by in the powerful current. I like to call this Barnacle SEO, also known as the “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” strategy. Basically, this means identifying large, high-ranking online directories such as Yelp, for example, and adding your information there in the hopes of “borrowing” some of their page one rankings. And there are many trusted online directories like Yelp out there you can barnacle up to: Angie’s List, Foursquare, Google+, Avvo (for lawyers), HealthGrades (for doctors), even TripAdvisor.

This strategy works well in mobile because these websites are optimized for the mobile experience—providing the targeted information that local customers searching on their smartphones really need. When you perform a Google search for “hair stylists New Orleans,” for example, the top results are mostly from Yelp:

Step 3: Focus on Location, Location, Location

Let’s face it: when mobile matters, location matters. Consider this: 50 percent of consumers who performed a local search on a smartphone visited a store within a day, according to a recent study from Google. So that’s good news for brick-and-mortar businesses with a mobile-friendly website. Those businesses will enjoy the additional ranking factors from the upcoming mobile-friendly algorithm, getting these small businesses in front of their target market at the time and place searchers are looking.

The challenge? Local businesses must break into the top three local results—the ones typically seen on your smartphone. For example, if I search for “dentists,” Google is going to give me dentists near me … and I see only the first three results:

To wrap it up, these are three steps you can get started on now. But remember, as with all Google algorithm updates, stay calm and give it time. April 21 was not the end-all-be-all date. This rollout will likely be a period of rollouts rather than a single-day launch. We usually recommend giving an update 60 days to see the full impact. And even then, there are revisions and updates and you just don’t know.

So what’s your next move? Keep an eye on your website traffic to see if the update is impacting your mobile traffic. If you need help, give us a call at 504-208-3900. We’re here to help ease your “Mopocalypse” fears.

April 24, 2015
6 Methods For Healthcare Providers To Turn Great Service Into Great Reviews
As society continues to evolve into a highly mobile culture, we see how heavily online reviews influence the selection of a practice or practitioner. In fact, among patients who look for online reviews of doctors, an estimated one-third reported choosing a physician based on good ratings, according to a national survey published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Most people trust an online review just as much as they trust a personal referral from a close friend or family member. Maintaining a positive online reputation is essential, because while your healthcare practice cannot control what patients write, you can control your response to their reviews.

The medical industry is highly competitive, so the more positive reviews your business obtains, the more likely it is that your business will be found online. The success of your business heavily weighs on online reviews, so you’ll need to learn how to effectively ask for reviews from your customers. Here are six methods to encourage your customers to leave reviews.

Make Writing Reviews Simple For Everyone

Most people, unless they have a negative experience to share, will not make the extra effort to leave your practice a review. You need to make it as easy as possible for your patients to leave a review for your company, and you can do this by adding links to your review profiles in multiple places, such as in a follow-up email, on a thank-you page, etc.

Get Listed On The Top Business Review Sites

Everyone has their preferred review sites, so it is necessary to have a strong online presence across the most popular ones. All profiles and listings need to be consistent and include as much current information about the practice as you can squeeze in (photos, certifications, awards, degrees, etc.).

Healthcare providers should have a listing on the following directories:
1. Yelp
2. Healthgrades
3. Google+ Local
4. Vitals
5. RealSelf
6. RateMDs
7. Facebook
8. Twitter
9. LinkedIn
Ask customers to leave a review on their favorite site—never pressure them to write reviews on multiple sites.

Be Genuine While Asking For Reviews

Let your customers know that you would appreciate it if they could take a few moments of their time to share their experience on one of your company’s review sites, as their opinion matters not only to the company, but also to other customers. You can do this by saying something as simple as, “Do you read online reviews? We do, and so do other customers. That’s why we’d love it if you would take a few moments to review your experience.” Just be honest; the worst answer you will get is a “no.”

Never Pressure A Patient For Reviews

You should always request that patients rate their experiences, but never make them feel pressured to leave a review. Even if a customer is extremely satisfied with your services, writing an online review may be the last thing on their mind. However, if a client had a great experience with your business, they will probably be happy to share their thoughts when prompted. The best approach is to simply ask your most satisfied customers to add their positive feedback to one of your business review sites.

Consider Your Customers

If your customers are millennials, consider yourself lucky! Most millennials are already comfortable with sites that allow users to share experiences online, and they will likely be happy to share their thoughts on your business without much prompting. Bombarding customers under the age of 25 with requests to post a review will probably push them away. However, if you have older or less social media-savvy customers, they may require direct prompting.

Software Advice, a company that reviews practice management software, conducted a study to better understand online reviews and the processes of researching and writing these reviews. This study found that the largest age group of patients using online reviews ranges from ages 25–34, with males being 25% more likely to leave a review than females.

Don’t Ignore Negative Reviews

While your overall goal is to gather good reviews, unsatisfied reviewers will inevitably make their way online to air their bad experiences. Bad reviews aren’t necessarily a business-killer; it’s how you handle the negative review or situation that defines the impact it will have on your business.

Take note of negative reviews and respond to the criticism in a non-defensive manner. This can be done with a standard, generic reply that thanks the reviewer for the comment. Always ask the complaining patient to contact you directly so that you can further resolve his or her dissatisfaction offline.

Take a negative review as an opportunity to better your customer service and your facility. Many negative patient reviews involve simple issues that can easily be resolved: long waiting times, issues with billing practices, lack of parking spaces, etc. If your complaints are targeting things that can easily be fixed, take advantage of this useful feedback to better your practice.

Provide And Deliver Top-Quality Customer Service

At the end of the day, the best path to having great reviews is to offer a great product and customer experience. If you’re doing everything you can to create a remarkable experience for your customers, there’s no harm in reminding them about the importance of sharing reviews.

Image Sources:

Most Used and Most Trusted Reviews Chart and Patients Using Online Reviews By Age Graph

People Hate Us on Yelp
January 22, 2015
Is Apple Pay Keeping Google Wallet Away? Yelp Gets Posh + More!

1. Apple Pay Launches as a part of iOS 8.1
– Mashable

On Monday, one of iOS 8’s most anticipated features, Apple Pay, went live. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users only had to download the iOS 8.1 update and add a credit card to Passbook to start using the feature. In theory, a user only need connect a card, hold their iPhone to a pay terminal, use their personalized Touch ID and be on their way.

Apple Pay does not link with loyalty cards, nor can it bypass the seemingly never ending prompts you encounter at supermarkets and drugstores. The near field communications (NFC) feature can work with most payment terminals, with most major banks and the list of participating merchants is expected to continue to grow.

2. Google was here first with Google Wallet
– Mashable

Although Apple Pay has greatly overshadowed it, Google has had a similar system since 2011 called Google Wallet. But if Google really was the hipster of cellular device tap and pay, why is Apple getting all the credit (pun intended)?

Apparently, it’s the service providers such as AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile that have been obstructing the visibility of Google Wallet for the past three years. While Google controls the Android software that carries Google Wallet, the service providers control the hardware and carried minimal phones capable of using the feature. Apple, on the other hand, controls the hardware and software of their devices.

Google hopes to gain more media and user attention following the launch of Apple Pay because unlike Apple, Google Wallet is compatible with any bank and any credit card.

3. Drivers for Uber Protest Company Policies
– Business Insider

Drivers for the ridesharing service, Uber, are not happy this week. On Tuesday, drivers organized across the country to protest the company’s policies, including those on reduced fares, tipping, the driver rating system, and driver safety.

Drivers say that because of Uber’s reduced fares, they are losing money and find shorter trips not worth the cost of gas they require. They feel the company’s automatic tipping policy, that requires drivers to deny cash tips from customers that wish to give one, is only adding to their struggles. Drivers also face concerns over their personal safety when dealing with disgruntled or intoxicated passengers.

Uber has yet to comment on the matter.

4. Yelp Adds Hotel & Winery Reservations to Business Pages
– MarketingLand

Remember last year when Yelp teamed up with OpenTable to make booking a restaurant reservation as simple as a tap of a button? Instead of food, this time it’s rooms and wine. Early on Monday, the company announced that business pages would now do hotel bookings, via Hipmunk, and winery reservations, via CellarPass. Yelp has also expanded its booking services to a number of other third party delivery and reservation services.

While Yelp does not charge businesses directly for access to these features, the third party providers do and give Yelp a share.

5. Maps Connect – An Aspirin for the Maps Corrections Headache
– Search Engine Land

On Tuesday, Apple launched Maps Connect, a free service that allows small business owners to manage listings on Apple Maps via their Apple ID. The process requires a one-step verification phone call. After that, the business owner is free to manage their listing or listings seamlessly. Updates or newly created listings show up within a week or sooner.

The service does require an Apple ID, so those without it will need to download it. It also is intended for small business owners themselves, or authorized representatives, but not third party agencies.

Currently, Maps Connect is only available stateside, but Apple plans to expand overseas in the future.

Image Sources:

Thanks to Mashable for the Apple Pay photo, Maya Kosoff of Business Insider for the Uber protest photo, and Search Engine Land for Apple Maps Self-Service photo.

October 24, 2014
New York Hotel Fines $500 For Negative Online Reviews. How Can They Fix It?

A Hudson, NY hotel has a perplexing way of dealing with bad reviews. According to Page Six, instead of using bad reviews as constructive criticism, the hotel charges wedding couples $500 for each bad review their guests post online.

“Please know that despite the fact that wedding couples love Hudson and our inn, your friends and families may not,” reads an online policy. “If you have booked the inn for a wedding, or other type of event . . . and given us a deposit of any kind . . . there will be a $500 fine that will be deducted from your deposit for every negative review . . . placed on any Internet site by anyone in your party.”

As expected, this caused the Internet to go into a frenzy. The day the story broke, the company’s Yelp page was flooded with over 500 bad reviews causing their review rating to plummet.

Since Yelp recently received a well-deserved boost from Google in their search results, Yelp reviews can significantly help or hinder a business.

Here are a few ways you can handle bad reviews without charging a $500 fine:

1. Respond to good and bad reviews:

Respond to all reviews, especially if they are asking a question or expressing a concern. When people take time out of their day to review your business, they like to be recognized. Responding to reviews lets consumers know that you care about your customers.

2. Strive to be great at what you do:

If you provide an all around excellent experience, you will get great Yelp reviews. It’s that simple!

3. Calmly address the Reviewer’s Issues:

When addressing a bad review remain polite and respectful. The reviewer is someone that gave your establishment a try and wasn’t happy with their experience for whatever reason. Hear this person out. If you respond in a negative way, it only makes your business look bad to other consumers. Not only can you ruin the chance of the reviewer changing their review or revisiting your establishment, this can also cause you to lose potential customers who choose businesses based on online reviews.

4. Offer a remedy:

If you think there is a way to rectify the situation, try to offer the person an incentive to come back. Send a private message that includes a coupon for a free milkshake or discounted service. Yelp users can use the update function to change their initial review. Everyone likes to feel that his or her opinion matters, so feeding a disgruntled user’s ego can sometimes quell the fury, and may lead them to reconsider their initial opinion of you.

5. Bad reviews should be used as constructive criticism

Never take a bad review personal. Bad reviews that are rational and deserved are not completely a bad thing. Use that negative review as a way to improve your business. Once you have fixed an issue or improved your business based on critiques, let the Yelp community know. They will be happy to know that their concerns matter and that you are listening.

September 9, 2014
Five For Friday: Facebook Mobile Ad Tracking, Promoted Video Tweets, And More.
Facebook rolls out new way for advertisers to track engagement with mobile ad campaigns. User suspicion on the rise as updated Messenger app gains greater access to personal information stored on mobile devices. Twitter begins testing promoted video posts for brands. Yelp and Bing join forces in the name of breaking down international language barriers. New addition to Google guidelines marks the end of guest blogging. Get the scoop with this week’s Five For Friday.

1. Facebook introduces new ad data tool – Marketingland

Facebook announced on Wednesday that they would begin allowing advertisers to track the click through rate of promoted posts and sponsored ads on mobile devices. According to a white paper written for Facebook by Altimeter Group titled, “Why Mobile is Essential for Brand Marketing,” users spend an average of 40 minutes per day on the Facebook mobile app. The white paper also revealed that users check their mobile phone nearly 150 times per day, and that 51% of mobile users say they prioritize checking their notifications over other messages. Aside from confirming the fact that most people are more attached to their smartphones than their own shadows, the research reveals just how important it is for businesses to be able to reach their target audience with mobile ads.

Conversion tracking helps businesses measure the return on investment for their Facebook Ads. The conversion reports on the actions people take after viewing and interacting with an advertisement. Marketing Land discusses the implications of the new cross-device feature, including that it enables advertisers to closely track mobile browsing behavior and allows them to better understand how customers are reacting to their campaigns. While Facebook already allowed for advertisers to target specific users, the new cross-device report amplifies an advertiser’s ability to view more detailed metrics on mobile conversions.

What does this mean to you? Now, using this cross conversion report, businesses can track the success rate of their ad campaigns. Ads that were previously unsuccessful among PC users may be working well as a real-time mobile marketing tool. These ads can be tracked based on location as well, so get excited for better campaign analysis!

2. Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook Messenger spy game – Mashable

You’ve probably noticed a recent influx of paranoia popping up on your news feed, this time about the “permissions granted” required to download the new Facebook Messenger app. The concern is based on suspicions that the app can access your smartphone camera and microphone along with a plethora of other private information stored on your device. Considering the PRISM program’s deal with Facebook, as revealed by Edward Snowden just one year ago, the public is beginning to feel more aware of apps having increased access to personal information. The origin of these suspicions seems to be based off a 2013 Huffington Post article. Some of the app’s new capabilities include:
- Facebook can read your phone’s call log, including info about incoming and outgoing calls. Who have you been calling? How long did you talk to them?
- Facebook can actively track your GPS location, approximate location, or precise location.
- Facebook can actively record video and audio from your phone and take pictures as well as view all files stored on your phone.
Mashable breaks it down for us in a different way, explaining that a lot of the permissions allow the app to have all of its convenient, user-friendly sharing capabilities:
- Facebook Messenger requests permission to access your camera and microphone so the user can share images and record videos right from the app.
- Facebook allows users to directly call people with the app. It needs permission to access your device’s call log so that it can identify who may be calling you via the Messenger app.
- Facebook requests permission to access your GPS location so that you can check-in and share your location with friends and in posts.
Now that we’ve walked through two perspectives on the issue, what do you think? Is this just a ploy to monitor the 250 million users on Facebook, or is it another step toward providing an optimal user-based experience?

3. Twitter introduces promoted video sharing – Mediabistro

Twitter has introduced a new nifty feature where businesses can better communicate with their followers using promoted video sharing. According to the Twitter blog, “by using Promoted Video, it’s easy for brands to upload and distribute video on Twitter, and to measure the reach and effectiveness of this content.”

What does this mean to you? As a business, you’ll have more options when it comes to competing for user attention and interaction. If your business is already actively using Twitter, statistics have shown that promoted videos gain more viewers than ever before. The cost-per-view ad model includes ample opportunity to see viewer analytics, including organic as well as paid posts. Overall, this means a much more engaging Twitter feed and increased opportunities for businesses to reach targeted audiences.

4. Yelp introduces Bing translation– Marketing Land

How nice would it be for everyone to communicate with each other as needed, especially about food? Well, that day seems to have arrived, as Yelp has now introduced a Bing translator capability, according to Marketing Land. Yelp can now translate up to 15 languages, which is sure to help travelers that can’t seem to navigate through restaurant menus, reviews, and directions that are posted in different languages. For international eateries looking to attract tourists with local customer reviews, this app update is perfect.

5. Google updates guideline violations – Search Engine Land

With the ongoing battle for good content, Google+ has now updated their listed standards for determining what is considered spam. Guest blogging, a common practice used for SEO purposes, is now on the Google radar. Search Engine Land reports that guest blogging has been used as an attempt to cut-corners around Google’s algorithm, so if you are using low-quality guest blogs to increase the results of your Google page search results, then it is definitely time to stop. Certain guest blogger sites have already been removed from the Google-ranking loop, as reported by Search Engine Land back in April.

This update is just another example of Google’s ongoing mission to deliver meaningful, authentic content to Internet users. If you haven’t already, take the time to review your business’s blog and website. The real moral of this update: Consider the ways your products and services cater to your audience’s needs by publishing content that is unique and informative!

Image Sources:

Red Five Image

They’re Trying To Read My Thoughts Gif

Tony Hawk Twitter Video Gif

Belle Tasting Food Gif
August 15, 2014
Five For Friday – Off With Your Map Packs: Google Changes Algorithm, Yelp Is An SEO Genius, And More!

1. Upload 12 Second Videos Via Yelp’s iPhone App

As promised back in May, the roll-out of Yelp’s video review upload for iPhone users happened this past Monday. This update allows local businesses to add 3 – 12 second videos via the Yelp Mobile App. We don’t want you to get confused though, these videos aren’t your typical spam annoyance. These videos are more than just “video reviews”. They offer business owners the opportunity to give their visitors a short glimpse into what their company is truly about (the atmosphere, employee interaction, etc.), and all before ever stepping foot in the business.

While there is no determined roll-out date as of yet, don’t frown Android users. Your video claim to fame will be coming soon via Yelp’s Android app.

2. Moz Updates to Local Search Query Triggers 23.4% Drop In Google 7-Packs

MozCast has attempted to set their search query so that it accurately reflects what viewers are looking for. As a result, the seven map-packs originally provided in search results have now dropped an estimated 23.4% due to the Google Local algorithm change. Some queries, such as wedding makeup, train tickets, bed & breakfasts, etc., seemed to have actually lost local map packs all together.

We aren’t sure what other changes this update will bring to the table, but we do know that its impact on the search results for small, local businesses has substantially been affected. Overall, it is unfortunately resulting in decreased visibility. All we can do now is wait on the real world results of this update, and come up with a solution to advise our clients accordingly.

3. Yelp: Seo Genius or Manipulative Mastermind

Ever wondered how Yelp, the business review site less formally known as “online urban guide”, could possibly outrank Google in its own search results? Whether it be amazing SEO tactics, pure manipulation, or sheer luck, we suggest that you jump aboard the Yelp train. Go out of your way to claim, optimize, and actively manage your Yelp listing. Whether it is by encouraging satisfied consumers to leave positive reviews on the listing, or just making sure all your information is completely accurate and consistent, glam it up as much as you can.

Until further notice, a good SEO strategy is having a good Yelp strategy.

4. What Are You Really Exposing When Logging In Socially?

We all are guilty of it, signing into websites using social media. It’s quick, simple, and there are fewer logins to remember, right? Wrong. Logging in with social media basically allows anyone to access the map of your road trip through life. Any personal information you have throughout your social media accounts, whether it is public or hidden, can be accessed when agreeing to login socially. While this may not be as alarming to some as it is for others, it can be kind of creepy.

Whether it stems from attempting to save your precious time for something more valuable, or if it’s just sheer laziness, no one bothers to read further into what they are actually signing up for. Next time you decide to “Login With Facebook”, take a few minutes to login into the nifty Social Profile Navigator created by industry leading social login provider, Janrain. You’ll be surprised at the data you’re allowing these websites to see.

5. Where Do Your Consumers Leave Their Online Reviews?

Getting positive reviews can be a grueling task, but is ultimately worth it due to the positive effects it can have on your online visibility. Owner of GetFiveStars.com, Mike Blumenthal, strives to provide insight to local businesses and connect them with their consumers to ultimately create a strategy based on leveraging only positive reviews to increase their online visibility. Mike conducted a study to better understand what percentage of consumers actually take the time to leave reviews, as well as to find out where they prefer to leave reviews online. Out of the 2,671 respondents, a whopping 22.2% admitted to actually leaving reviews at least once a year. Then, they were asked where they preferred to leave their online results. Here are their answers:

There is no surprise that Google comes out on top, but take a look at who even trumped Yelp, the SEO mastermind and the top business review site. Without even having any designated section to place reviews for a business, consumers prefer leaving reviews on Facebook. Most consumers feel extremely comfortable when navigating through Facebook. Users are more likely to leave a review at their own free will because of Facebook’s non-threatening environment.

Although Facebook currently has no way of leveraging these assets in a concrete way, we believe that its popularity in the local review space on the web will continue to grow and remain a strong contender in the future months to come. We strongly encourage your business to partake in this natural (and free) SEO strategy — before competitors begin to catch on!

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August 1, 2014