Google Places – Great SEO Implications for Small Businesses

Small businesses that focus on getting local business should care about Google Places, a lot. What Google Places is all about is localized search, if you search for just 'Pizza,' the Google search engine now figures out his or her address and location and returns localized results. For me, sitting in Nanaimo BC, I see local Pizza restaurants when I search for Pizza. You will see Pizza restaurants for your own local community.

Google Places is a great concept; it blends two important but very distinct concepts:

• Localized search. When I search for 'Pizza' I am not interested in learning about 'Pizza.' I am probably looking for a local pizza joint!

• Reviews. We are often interested in what others in our community are saying about 'Pizza' and not in general, but with respect to my local pizza place.

Search Engine Strength

A great benefit of having your Google Places set up and then optimized is being found. Google Places listing are shown at the very top of search results. This means that your company name, phone number and website are right at the top of search results. If your prospective customer is looking to contact you, your Google Places account will provide what they are looking for.

Using smart phones like IPhone and Blackberry is getting more and more popular. Google places are also the top listings that are shown on a mobile phone. Even if you do not have a company website this can start getting your business found by search engines. Optimizing your account for all the various categories and areas of business that you can be listed in is key to having people contact you.

Reviews

This is what makes Google Places great! See reviews that have been left by people about that business to help guide you to make your decision. You are more likely to call a pizza place that has a 5 star rating from 20 or so people then one that is unrated. Reviews can be pulled in from your Google account, Trip Advisor, Urban Spoon and a few others. It's all about getting listed and getting (good) reviews, and if you should perhaps get a review that is less than favourable you can add a comment to it or take the time to solve your customers concerns.

Claim your Google Places listing today by calling Webacom Media Corporation on 1-877-376-4240 or 250-756-1846

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http://www.webacom.com/

Twitter And Business

Social networks have affected and reshaped every part of our lives in recent times, all thanks to the internet. The need to keep in touch with friends, families and loved ones has created the movement of different networks that help us make these relationships possible. Though majority of the participants/users of these networks are teenagers and youths who see and perceive the need to keep in touch with one another, the number of social network users is amazing.
 
As at December 2007 according to MarketingProfs, it reported that 1 out of every 6 people on the face of the earth would be using social media in 5 years (MarketingProfs 14 December 2007).
 
In recent times social networks have advanced from just being a means of keeping in touch to being business tools for promoting products and services. This is possible due to the viral effect these networks have developed. The long numbers of hours the participants of these social media spend on them per day shows how much people are into it. However, some of these networks have been used negatively by extremists, exposing how the use of social media can be abused. The success of these networks is what different businesses have adapted to and added to their strategies to lead them to success in the growing technological generation.
 
Growing up, yahoo messenger and other forms of email services like one box, msn , were what we got introduced to but they had their limits in focus: they were not aimed and targeted towards viral awareness and social networking. The creation of networks like Hi5, Facebook , Myspace , Nimbuzz, Foursquare, Twitter, Linkedln and a list of others where people can create profiles and send each other messages and chat in real time has given a different perspective to social networking.
 
Twitter as a social networking site, is fairly new and coming up was not fully accepted because of the concept behind it. A handful of social media participants found it a little out of the ordinary; a 140 character limitation, and concept of following (or being followed) , wasn’t popular with other social networks.
 
Apart from following up with status updates from celebrities, organizations and businesses have seen twitter as a very useful medium to promote their business, services and products. The major reason for this is the viral effect twitter has generated over the years. This is so effective that television and radio Stations also use it as a medium of interacting with their viewers and listeners.
 
The number of users as at 2008 that were over the age of 18 were 6.0 Million Users (11.1% of adult Internet users.) and in 2009 they were 18 Million Users (3.8% of adult Internet users.) showing about a 200 percent increase in number of users (About.com 11 January 2010).
 
Some of the advantages and effects twitter has had on business and advertising could be summarized as;
 
Intimacy with Customers: The 140 character medium brings both consumers and advertisers in direct and intimate contact with one another. With these updates, consumers and potential customers can know what new product or new development the company has and they can send direct messages to the company. Except if the message is private, other followers of the customers would be aware of the interaction between the company and the consumer thereby making inquisitive and potential customer want to find out the purpose of the interaction.
 
Real-time Feedback: With this new found intimacy advertisers have with their consumers, they are now able to receive feedback in real time. The creation of smart phones like the iphone and black berry with twitter application makes it possible for these entities to communicate on the go.
 
Speedily Ignite Word of Mouth: This is what every advertiser wants; to get their ad talked about. With just an update, buzz travels at light speed throughout the twitter-verse. This characteristic of twitter is what gives it its major relevance as a major advertising tool where just a word of mouth or a status update can stir up viral attention over the world.
 
Aids with Brand Relevancy: A brand that is talked about, over the twitterverse, becomes a memorable brand. The worst thing any brand or advertiser wants is to be forgotten. This means the more the tweets sent about a brand the longer it stays in the mind of customers and potential customers keeping it relevant and updated in the mind of its followers. This makes it easy for new developments and new products to go round when it is being twitted about.
 
Companies and businesses can also use this as a medium to follow up with each other’s updates and progress since identities could be made up on twitter.
 
Many more advantages have been developed from the use of twitter so much music and shows promoters also use it as a medium of creating hype for a particular show or concert that is about to happen and they can get feedbacks from followers to know if it is going to be attended or not.
 
These advantages can be summed up to equal the fact that twitter and facebook are the most power social networking trends/tools in various industries and their uses and potentials have not been fully exploited.
 
References
 
MarketingProfs (14 December 2007) One Billion Social Media Users by 2012? [Internet], Marketing Profs. Available from: [Accessed 2 October 2010]
 
About.com (11 January 2010) Twitter Statistics [Internet], About.com. Available from: [Accessed 2 October 2010]
 
By Akerele Joshua, Vancouver Island University student taking his practicum at Webacom.