Promote U Guru Blog

Archive for September, 2011

Why Google Places Can Help You Attract More Clients: Online or Offline

September 27th, 2011

Hi All!

The following article is a Guest Blog from Cindy Morus and Christine Wood, Co-founders of BizFinder Local (.com). They help businesses, offline and online, get more customers with the latest technology and online marketing tools, including Google Places.

And in this easy-to-follow article they are going to explain what Google Places is and why you need to take it seriously!

Why Google Places Can Help You Attract More Clients: Online or Offline:

Search for your business on a mobile device and click on everthing that comes up (if nothing shows up, you’ve identified your first problem). Does it look like you’re active and “open for business?”

One of the first things you should see is a listing of 7 Google Places entries. Are you there?

What is Google Places? It’s a huge directory of businesses created by Google. These free place pages are available for both online and offline businesses, and show up when you search for a business.

Even though you mostly serve clients outside your geographic area, are you willing to work with local customers? Then you need a Google Places page!

Virtual Businesses and solo entrepreneurs qualify for a Google Places listing and “puts you on the (Google) map!” If your business doesn’t have a place page your are missing out on a huge opportunity and it’s easy to get one for your business! Imagine having Google promoting  your services to everyone who lives in your area (even if you don’t have any articles and blog posts out there)!

Local and Mobile searches are at the top of Google’s priority list. Did you know that 82% of local searches result in offline action (a visit, a phone call, a
purchase!)? And 70% of computer searchers act within 1 week of the search? Those stats are proof that you should make your business easier to find with a Google Places page.

More people search for businesses online than anywhere else, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to be credible to local customers!

And if you’d like us to do a FREE Google Places evaluation for your business to see how you show up in the search results, contact us today! Many clients who come to us do NOT show up in a Google Places search and that means they are missing out on attracting new business.

Thanks, Cindy & Christine! Great info and great offer!

Lisa

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6 Ways to Make Your Blog Sticky and Popular

September 16th, 2011

Hi All!

You start a blog, spend hours thinking of topic ideas and finding content, pour time into writing posts, and then find that your traffic numbers are less-than stellar. Hence why many people start a blog but then abandon it. They get frustrated and don’t see an ROI for their time and effort.

So, to possibly help you improve your blog, and get you the traffic and audience you want to visit it, here are 8 content strategy tips to consider for increasing the time visitors spend on your blog and can increase the odds of them returning more often:

  1. Post a Topic Series: Instead of writing a really long post, break it into a 2-3 part series that entices people to come back to read the next post in the series.
  2. Have links throughout your content: Make keywords and phrases throughout your posts link to other content that supports the word or phrase you’ve highlighted. You can even have them link to other
    blog posts you’ve written, your online press releases, etc. However make sure they also link to outside sites or pages you don’t own, because that also builds your link-building and also gives your readers more info and content on the topic you’re educating them on. Readers appreciate this because you’ve seamlessly given them more content to learn from.
  3. Build your list: Have a sign up form on your blog so people can subscribe to it. Then you can email them links to the new posts you write.
  4. Add suggested reading: By adding suggested reading with links to your posts your blog will become more than just a place with articles you’ve written; it will be a go-to resource for your readers who are hungry for additional info on topics you write about.
  5. Share your posts through other social media channels: Many newbie bloggers don’t think of sharing their posts and headlines on Facebook or Twitter. Whenever you write a new blog post, send the headline with a link to it through your other social media outlets.
  6. Ask for guest content: Reach out to a variety of experts who have blogs and who write about topics your audience will be interested in. Ask them to provide you with a guest blog post and include their bio and links to their blog and/or websites. They’ll promote the post and that will drive traffic to your blog, plus it increases the chances of them asking
    you to write a guest post for their blog. And they may have big traffic
    numbers!

The key here is also to be consistent. Writing a blog post every 2 months, and then wondering why your traffic is low, is not a good strategy!

Cheers & Happy Marketing!

Lisa

Suggested Resource for On-going Great Blogging Tips:

DailyBlogTips.com

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Posted in branding, Business Tips, marketing, PR and Publicity, social media | 3 Comments »