Posts

Yellow Pages versus Google 20th August 2012 12:00 PM

True enough
I realise people don't understand it but I also think a lot of very small businesses use it when they're bored. They use as a way of communicating with the outside world and enthusiastically promote their business. The problem is when they're busy they go quiet and you get no consistency across the message they are giving.

I'd agree with you on that, bang on the money.
Here's an interesting take against the use of Social Media:

"Three quarters of business owners said they have been
Planning for Christmas 20th August 2012 9:31 AM
If its actually a Christmas shop and it sells all year round that's not as crazy as starting in July

Speaking from experience it depends on what you are planning for.

Now, one of my businesses (link in signature) plans for Christmas right after Christmas, as stock needs to be decided upon, manufactured and shipped which can take 6 months from start to finish. Plus, the products need to be decided upon and live on the site as some customers like to get their orders in by April/May to guarantee they will have stock themselves.

Retailers however plan a little earlier than what the shopper would expect to see in the windows, specifically if times are tough and they are looking to use the feel good factor to boost sales and get feet through the door.

Personally, I leave my own gift shopping etc till last minute!!
Google local/place problem 20th August 2012 9:23 AM
Yesterday I got a phone call from Google, asking If I received customers at my home address. I am a carpet/window cleaner, so I told the gentleman that it would be unlikely that anyone would need to visit my premises (home). The next day I found that there was no trace of my business listing. What have I done wrong? What can I do? I feel so angry and frustrated.

A few months back now Google made a policy change in their handling of go-to-client business models such as plumbers, maintenance men, carpet cleaners etc etc.

As a result Google wants this type of business to use the 'Hide Address' function in Google Places.

What you need to do:

Select the “Do not show my business address on my Maps listing” option within your dashboard — if you don’t hide your address, your listing may be removed from Google Maps as in your case. Changing this setting has been shown to make the listing re-appear (in most cases).


Clarifying Your Business Model, According To Google:

Type A
Your business is brick-and-mortar and serves all customers at its location. Show your address.

Type B
Your business is home-based and serves some customers at your home and some on the road. Show your address and use the Service Radius tool.

Type C
Your business is home-based and does not serve any customers at your home. Hide your address.

Hope this helps!
Chrome overtakes IE globally 16th August 2012 3:57 PM
Great, I love Chrome - lots of useful extensions most of which I use daily.

However, its usage varies depending on what you read. For example statcounter say: "In addition to grabbing a third of the global browser market, Google Chrome has also apparently become king of the hill in Europe last month, surpassing Firefox for the first time".

But...

Net Applications say: "Google's Chrome browser lost usage share for the fifth time in the last seven months, while Mozilla's Firefox gained share for the second consecutive month"

This is a pretty decent post:

Browser wars: four years of PC Pro site stats | Analysis | Features | PC Pro
Google penalizes Google! 15th August 2012 11:27 AM

Damn, you nailed me
Google penalizes Google! 15th August 2012 10:35 AM
Ha,

I don't think this is an isolated case either, If memory serves me then they have hit themselves previously - i'll try and dig the story out.

But good to see they make it known to the public. Perhaps its more of a PR move to re-enforce their stance?

I doubt though that other companies hit with similar penalties would be returned to their original good graces if (presumably) some of their most valuable links where stripped. Surely if these links are stripped, it would be lower down the pecking order than it once was?
Its the likes of these spammers that give the industry a bad name and make 'proper' SEOs roles within the industry much more difficult.

We rank no 1 for our target (local) terms for web design, and since we hit no 1 we are bombarded with similar emails.

You can usually tell they are junk by the way they 'tell' you what you need to do for your clients, with their basic site analysis.

Here is a classic I received a few days ago (on the crackers site, their email in red and my response in black):

Hello my name is Ophelia Parker and I am an Internet and Website Specialist.
I was looking up websites in Google under the keyword search christmas
crackers wholesale and came upon your website Christmas Crackers & Luxury Christmas Crackers | Uniquely Crackers. I
see that you are not ranked on the first page for your primary keyword
searches.


Now for one, I rank quite highly for my target keywords given the site is young. And how the heck do you know what my target is?

There is no reason that you can
Google Plus custom URLs 14th August 2012 11:31 AM
The long awaited custom URLs for Google+ - Watch this space!

Google+ Begins Rolling Out Vanity URLs

Interesting! There are a few tools out there that allow you to do this already, such as Gplus.name | Google + Link Shorter | SEO Friendly Link Generator.

HOWEVER, before you rush in to the above link and change your name there have been some discussions as to whether using the likes of the above link actually strip your G + 'link juice' (hate the word, but not many better to describe) by 302ing your profile. Here is a decent article about this to help you decide if its worth the risk: Is Google+ URL Shortener gplus.to Keeping Your Link Juice? | Cirrus ABS

What do you think?