Stop paying outrageous web coder fees with this easy Google hack
Making sure that your business website is optimized for search engines can make small business owners feel like they’re swimming upstream against a strong current in pursuit of a destination that is constantly moving further away. Consultants and coders will review your site and make suggestions on ways to improve it and these projects always come with a hefty price tag. It’s welcomed news that Google itself has created an online tool that empowers people with zero coding or HTML experience or knowledge to dramatically improve the way their websites appear in search results. The first step is to have your website hooked up to Google analytics and start using Google Search Console. But before I show you – step-by-step – how to use this tool, let me take a quick side path so you’ll understand why it is so valuable. Structured data Google has started relying on some “extra” HTML coding to create “structured data.” Typically, this coding uses a system of tags called “schema,” which comes to us via Schema.org. The tags help search engines learn exactly what certain things on your webpages area. It’s especially useful for some specific types of information you may be providing on your webpages. However, instead of hiring an HTML expert to go back and add all these tags to your pages, Google has a DIY tool available in the Google Search Console that will do the work for you. All you have to do is be able to select text and choose things from a drop-down menu. The only catch is that you need to be conveying certain types of information on your webpages. Currently this information is: Articles Book Reviews Events Local Businesses Movies Products Restaurants Software Applications TV Episodes I don’t think too many TV producers are reading this, but I suspect many local business owners who have articles on their websites or sell products or schedule events are following along with me – not to mention restaurant owners. Let’s look at what you need to do. Using the Google tool First, navigate to your Google Search Console then select “Search Appearance” followed by “Data Highlighter.” At that point, you’ll need to copy and paste the URL from a page that contains information that falls into one of the above categories. If you are working with a page that is one of many similar pages, be sure to select “Tag this page and others like it.” This is handy if you have several blog pages or product pages that are all essentially laid out the same. Nest, select the type of information that is on the page. With that done, hit return and Google will then pull up that page within the search console. Once your page is on the screen, you’ll need to highlight each instance of information you want Google to know more about. If you went to the contact information page for your local business, for example, you would highlight any of these pieces of information: Name Address Telephone Opening hours Category Department Image URL Average rating Review For your local business, by adding this information, your company’s listing in Google search results would be more “polished” and complete, such as the one this example: If you highlight one page that will serve as...
read moreDoes your small business fit one of my stereotypes?
I was thinking about all the different types of small businesses where I’ve been through my life and began to wonder if I could categorize them – even stereotype them. It has a lot to do with ownership, the kind of business, the management style, the community, and probably several more factors I haven’t even thought of yet. I wanted to capture these ideas, so I started to write them down. Here’s what I have so far; maybe you can add some. Mom and pop. This was the first small business stereotype that came to mind. I’m not sure that there are as many of these around as there used to be. It takes a special couple to be able to work together day in and day out for years on end. It can also make for a very special place to do business. Family owned and operated. A step up in size from the mom and pop small business is the family business. It’s interesting that many family owned and operated businesses will use that label to promote their companies. These can range in size from a small operation where virtually every employee is a member of the immediate or extended family, to the larger operation where the family makes up the management team. Owner operator. I was going to label this the Lone Wolf, but that might have some negative connotations. Today, an owner operator small business could be one person roaming the community in a mobile locksmith truck or one person at a computer running a dozen online e-commerce sites. With the Internet, a single “lone wolf” can have a very large commercial reach. Entrepreneurially ambitious. Some serial entrepreneurs plant small businesses with the hopes that they’ll take off and become attractive to buyers or perhaps they see tremendous growth potential themselves and hope to lead the business to bigger and better things. Local institutions. Almost any of the above categories can, over time, become a local institution. You could probably name a handful of local institutions in your community. They are more often retail than B2B – although in some industry sectors you might find B2B businesses that are local institutions. It’s interesting to think that a family owned and operated business can become a local institution and in the process tremendously boost its value if the owners ever choose to sell. Technophobes. Some small businesses refuse to adopt the latest and greatest technology. It can hinder a business, but in some cases it can add to the charm of a local business. When a local institution sticks with the systems that have given it its success over the years, it can be a winning combination. Customers feel at home and know what to expect. Technophiles. On the other hand, many small businesses live on the cutting edge of technology. This can give them a number of productivity advantages over their competitors and it can help owner operators accomplish much more than they could without the technology. The downside for Technophiles is that they can adopt technologies too early and end up paying higher prices for their hardware and software. They can also adopt technological solutions that are soon superseded by better systems. Can you think of some other stereotypes? The valuable part of this...
read moreWhat to do when Snopes rejects everything you believe!
See if you’ve ever been caught in this personally embarrassing social media scenario: You find something in the news that gets your blood churning because it aligns perfectly with your thoughts and opinions. You post it on Facebook and within about 10 minutes people start pointing out that Snopes or some other fact checker has found the item you posted to be untrue. I hate when that happens! If you’ve gone through this, you’ve been the victim of “confirmation bias.” It’s a fact of human nature that we tend to accept without question ideas that agree with what we believe to be true and we reject ideas that contradict what we believe to be true. I’m sure you know some people who surround themselves with yes-men or yes-women, and it may be more common in business management that in almost any other field. It’s very dangerous because it can cause you to: Reject new ideas, Lose good team members, Fail to see dangers that lie ahead, and Admit and correct your mistakes. I’ve often seen this in business expressed through the “not invented here” roadblock. A new person joins the team and suggests a different way of accomplishing something. The idea encounters stiff head winds. In a perfect world, the idea would be given a fair chance, but people aren’t perfect and due to confirmation bias, the new idea may be shot down. If business leaders allow confirmation bias to reach a toxic level, good people will leave because their ideas are not given sufficient consideration. In fact, the best strategy is to recognize the fact of confirmation bias and take proactive steps to wrestle it to the ground. It’s healthy to seek contrary opinions. We do this somewhat when we make ourselves or others in on the decision-making process to play devil’s advocate. But I don’t think that really goes far enough. Usually when we go through the devil’s-advocate exercise, it’s more of a formality than something we take seriously. Writing for the investment world and using Warren Buffet as an example, Roger Dooley gives two essential steps to take in order to reduce or eliminate the likelihood of making a bad decision due to confirmation error: Recognize the threat and especially your personal danger of falling into the confirmation bias trap, and Go out of your way to seek and understand the opinions and ideas that contradict your thoughts. It takes big people to set aside their biases and honestly examine the other side of issues and ideas. It requires humility and the discipline to always make the effort. Are you up to the...
read moreGoogle’s version of Amazon ‘top reviewer’ and why it’s important for your local businesses
Have you seen the “Top reviewer” badge as you’ve browsed customer reviews on Amazon.com? Comments and ratings from top reviewers tend to carry more weight because consumers feel that these reviewers are serious about their assessments. Top reviewers demonstrate a level of commitment significantly above that of occasional reviewers so they have something of a reputation to uphold. In the world of Google and Google Maps, top reviewers are called “Local Guides” and Google is offering “points, levels, and perks” to encourage people to sign up as Local Guides. Reviewers must attest that they are at least 18 years old, have a Google account, and agree to abide by the program rules. Organizations, businesses, and brands are not allowed to be Local Guides. So far, the main “perks” offered by the program are badges earned by providing various kinds of local information, including ratings, reviews, photos, videos, answers, edits, fact checking, and adding places to Google maps. This seems great from the consumer and reviewer points of view, but the fact that Google has incentivized its Local Guides program also creates a danger for local businesses. As we have learned from the various viral games that have swept through cyberspace, users can get addicted to winning more badges. It’s entirely possible that some less scrupulous Local Guides will rate businesses they haven’t patronized just to get enough points to earn the next badge. This makes it even more important for small business owners to keep an eye on their Google reviews and ratings. Google has a way for owners to flag reviews as inappropriate, so make sure you’re familiar with the system. Further, because Local Guides must have a Google account, there’s a good chance you can determine of the reviewer has been a real client or customer. Finally, although there is potential for abuse, positive reviews from Local Guides should really enhance the reputation of your business. This is especially important because Google’s local business information is becoming so deep and thorough that many local prospects no longer click through to business websites – they just go with the information provided by Google. ...
read moreYou may not be targeting the right people in your social media marketing!
Have you ever had a dream where you’re suddenly in a place where you don’t recognize anyone and don’t know why you’re there? That’s essentially the environment businesses accidently create within their social media marketing campaigns if they aren’t careful. Consider this question: Are you trying to build your authority or do you want to reach prospects? The strategies you employ aren’t always the same to achieve those two goals. Let me give you a simple example. The problem illustrated The owners of a residential plumbing company want to build their authority within their industry. With that goal in mind, the people they want to ultimately reach via social media are the “king makers” within the plumbing industry and perhaps local media figures. This strategy would ultimately elevate the company’s profile within the plumbing industry and the owners might be asked to talk at trade shows and appear on local radio and television when plumbing issues are in the news. The upshot of this is that the plumbers would likely push their social media posts and content creation to “meta” plumbing industry topics. By contrast, if the owners of this plumbing company want to increase their following among potential and current plumbing customers, these authoritative posts about the plumbing industry wouldn’t get the job done. Instead, practical tips for home and building owners would be better, along with occasional special offers. The problem’s impact Not only will the decision about who you want to reach through your social media impact your content, it will also impact the hashtags you use, the platforms you publish on, and even how you set up your accounts. Let’s consider the question of your social media accounts. Some businesses will set up different accounts to reach social media audiences with different interests. For example, Buzzfeed has separate Facebook accounts for food, animals, news, video, entertainment, and DIY posts (among others). Creating separate accounts within one platform may not be the best strategy for most small businesses. In many cases, it is better to find out where the segments of your audience are most active on social media and then focus on those platforms. For example, if our plumbing company wanted to raise its visibility within the industry, it could use LinkedIn – and maybe Twitter – as the core of that strategy then use Facebook – and maybe Pinterest or Instagram – to reach consumers. This would mean more work, but in the long run, it would be a much more efficient strategy. The “shotgun” approach to marketing today doesn’t deliver the kind of results you need to stay competitive. A large social media following is meaningless if it’s a crazy quilt of people with widely varying interests and...
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