Many of us have been preached about the importance of having an “online presence” or building a “digital footprint,” but what does this really mean? It’s certainly not throwing a website together and bombarding it with irrelevant content. What’s the secret? Citations—online mentions of your business’s key information (address, phone, website)—are like digital business cards strewn across the internet. There are plenty of citation sources, but some carry more weight than others. In this blog post, we help you set up the top five (structured) citations to help search engines understand your business’s legitimacy, location, and relevance to local searches—helping customers find you faster. Why Citations Matter for SEO Citations are like playing a raffle in which the likelihood of drawing your (business’s) name is increased manifold. While they aren’t directly used in marketing content itself, they play a role in supporting your overall business marketing strategy through SEO. […]
10 Questions to Ask an Agency Before Buying SEO
As the world continues to evolve into a global digital enterprise, businesses need to adapt to the changes to maintain a strong online presence, which is crucial for their growth and success. How does a business get ahead of the online competition? Through a robust, intentionally designed SEO plan. Search engine optimization (SEO) has become an indispensable tool for improving website visibility, driving organic traffic, and ultimately boosting revenue. However, with countless SEO agencies competing for your attention, it can be challenging to separate the good from the bad. Before handing over your digital marketing efforts to an agency, you want to ask the right questions to ensure you’re making an informed decision. If you’re a small business, here are ten critical questions that will help you evaluate an SEO agency’s expertise, transparency, and ability to deliver tangible results. What Is SEO? SEO is akin to strategically positioning your […]
How to Generate Leads With Local Service Ads
Standing out as a local business can be challenging with so many competitors offering similar services in the same area. However, with Local Service Ads, you can increase your visibility and attract more potential customers to your business. In this blog post, we’ll go over everything you need to know about Local Service Ads and how to effectively use them to generate leads for your business. What Are Local Service Ads? Local Service Ads (LSAs) are part of an online advertising service that Google offers to local businesses, such as plumbers, electricians, and landscapers. These ads appear at the top of search engine results pages when users search for services near their location. They’re designed to connect customers with local businesses that meet their needs. LSAs differ from traditional Google Ads because they only target users within a specific geographic area. This means that your ad will only be […]
Long-Tail Keywords: How to Outrank the Competition
Forget about using short, generic keywords. The long-tail keyword (LT) is what you need to boost business. In fact, long-tail keywords are what we use to supercharge our rankings and reach Google’s front page. They’re also what we use to get our clients results like these: Long-tails are a powerful, simple tool to improve your ranking on Google. Let’s look at how you can use them to increase your online visibility and outrank your competition. What Are Long-Tail Keywords? At its simplest, a long-tail keyword is a longer-than-average keyword. It strings together multiple terms to create a hyper-specific, ultra-focused keyword based on what users are searching for. This is where the magic happens. Long-tails home in on user search intent. Unlike short, “fat-head” keywords, a long-tail keyword focuses on a specific search query to address a user’s unique need. That need could be an answer to a question, a […]
Why You Need a Google Page for Business in 2020
When it comes to marketing your small- to medium-sized business, a Google My Business (GMB) page is one of the best tools available. Google My Business is designed to make your business searchable on Google Maps. With more and more consumers using their mobile devices to search for businesses located near them, optimizing your Google My Business page should be your number one priority. In this blog, we’re going to explain what a GMB page is, why it’s so important, and how to optimize it to get leads from local searches on Google Maps. What Is a Google My Business Page? When a consumer searches for your business or a keyword related to your business on Google Maps, your GMB page will show up in the search results. It’s like a social media profile that contains everything a consumer might want to know about you before they call or […]
You Can Now Add ‘Services’ to Your Google My Business Page
If you’re not a search engine optimization geek then you may not have noticed, but Google now allows businesses to add lists of services to their Google My Business (GMB) pages. The rollout appears to be happening quietly but also pretty quickly. We’ve tested a few GMB listings for our clients and it seems like about half of them have the option to add service menus. If this change sticks around, expect it to reach most of the North American GMB community in a few days. The change was reported on by various search engine marketing industry blogs over the last week. At LinkNow Media we’re always trying to find new ways to improve our clients’ local search rankings and we expect this will be a great tool moving into the future. What’s Changed? Have you ever performed a search for a laundromat near you? Go ahead and do it […]
Waze Launches Waze Local Advertising
Waze Local: A Powerful New Weapon for Your Arsenal At 6:30 a.m. this morning, I was packing lunch for my two daughters when my phone started buzzing like a hive. SearchEngineLand broke the news that Waze Local had finally launched and the blogosphere took notice. I was so distracted, I almost added my keys to my morning blender smoothie. Readers—this is a big deal. I Don’t Get It. What’s So Exciting About Waze Local? Waze Local is an advertising tool platform that small businesses can use to transmit their locations to users of the Waze app. At LinkNow Media, we’re always trying to stay on top of the latest developments in search engine optimization and search engine marketing. When we hear about a new ad platform, we get excited. Waze Local was in beta for most of the last year, but now it’s open to anybody who wants to promote […]
7 Tips For SEO That Works For Small Businesses
Looking for a boost in business? See how you can get SEO that works with these 7 tips for your small business. Are you aware of how important SEO (search engine optimization) is to your business? It’s not enough to just pull together some social media marketing tools to reach out to your targeted audience. Sometimes you need to delve deeper into what makes a website more desirable in comparison to dozens of competitors sites. What if I told you that having the right SEO that works can significantly improve your website generated revenue? Yes, adding strong SEO keywords that boost your page views will work. These are the 7 best tips for SEO that works for small businesses like yours. 7. Local Search Is Even More Competitive According to Search Engine Land, local search has dominated in 2017 has a highly competitive marketing niche. You need to continue to […]
How to Use Online Marketing to Get More Customers In Your Restaurant
In the restaurant industry competition is fierce. Find out how you can get ahead by taking your restaurant marketing online. The days when we looked up the restaurant in a massive phone book are gone. Today, the internet is our source to find a place for a quick lunch, coffee shop to work, or a restaurant for a family dinner. Digital media has changed the rules of restaurant marketing. And as an owner, you need to keep up the pace. Don’t spend your money on print or radio advertisement. Yes, it might be helpful, but it surely is not enough.You need to have an online presence. This is where your customers are. Your restaurant might be in a perfect spot, but as potential customers can’t find you online, they might never visit. 60 percent of consumers read the reviews of the restaurant or a cafe. And 84 percent trust them […]
Local SEO Tips and How To Improve Your Small Business Rankings
Local SEO Tips for Small Businesses It used to be when you started an organization, you did your advertising the old fashioned way. This meant newspapers, flyers, handing out business cards, sometimes just going door-to-door. With the arrival of the internet, these methods are now out of date. As of 2015, there were 3.26 billion internet users. This makes up 40% of the planet’s population! If a business owner wants to increase the traffic to their website or shop, they need SEO. Let’s jump into some of my favorite local SEO tips! Understanding why you need local SEO tips Just because you know SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization doesn’t mean you know why your business needs it. Just because you know the main purpose of SEO is a marketing strategy doesn’t mean you know how to begin using it yourself. When 93% of online experiences start with the use […]