Get Call Tracking, Easy and quick Via Google Voice

May 11, 2012 5 Comments

I started a niche website end of last year, just to provide pictures and video around the community of Claremont called Around Claremont. Well, after some time and some gains in traffic I’ve decided to branch out and refocus the website to be both a resource for the community as well as a source for people looking for Claremont Real Estate and picked up a handy tip about Google Voice!

Google Voice is AWESOME

Here’s some a quick win for those of you out there who are planning on taking calls from their website, go to Google Voice. It’s a free service that will let you select a area code specific unique number, and setup a forwarding service. This way you can identify what calls are coming in to your from your online properties and advertisements. Be sure to go to settings and record a custom voicemail greeting and forwarding then you are ready to go in under 10 minutes without any cost whatsoever!

Filed under Google

Quoth the Raven SEO Tools, “Nevermore.”

February 9, 2012 1 Comment

  •  Do you still have to check your ranking by hand? Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”
  • Do you use Excel to try and keep track of websites you’ve gained links from in the past? Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”
  • Do you have to log separately into Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter to see their statistics and measure your engagement with clients?
  • Do you struggle with finding a trustworthy source of cost effective content writing for your website copy? Then the bird said, “Nevermore.

Listen to me, I’ve been a believer in Raven SEO Tools since they gave me a free T-shirt 3 years ago and I logged into their platform for the first time. It gave me access to track keywords, build a profile for each client where I could log links I’d built and gave me analytical tools to improve those client’s websites. They have improved since then, with UI updates, and new features and capabilities that have changed with the boom of social media.

So, trust me when I say they are awesome. They’ve got a 30day trial thingy, and here is a non-affiliate link http://raventools.com. You won’t be dissapointed. (BTW…if you waaant to, your can use my affiliate link, it”s not mandatory, but certainly appreciated.)

P.S! I nearly jumped out of skin, as I was saying out loud to myself  “Then the bird said, “Nevermore”, I hear TAP! TAP! TAP! On my office window! It was THIS GUY!

(I named him Steve!)

(I named him Steve!)

Filed under Search engine optimization Tagged with ,

Notes on adding Photos to Google Places

January 10, 2012 1 Comment

As a business owner:

  • Add photos of a a logo with contact information
  • Source: It’s important to understand that the interaction of a Google Places with photos is different depending on the source of the photo. When you upload your photos logged in to your Places account, then it will gain a stamp
    “From the owner” .
  • Add photos of your location from the street, so those seeing your brick and mortar will be better able to pick out your business, in case they have to park elsewhere if parking space isn’t available.
  • Add photos of your products and service being fulfilled

Filed under Local Search, google places Tagged with ,

Lessons from messing up your Google Places Settings

December 15, 2011 Leave a comment

I took up a job to find out why these paralegals in Riverside were suddenly no longer ranking for local oriented searches. After a little poking around, I found that they had changed their Google Places setting:

Google Places Settings

They had changed this setting to be “Yes, this business serves customers at their locations”, instead of serving at their location. If you have a brick and mortar, your site/business and citations are treated differently! If you DO have a location, then make sure you play that card for all it’s worth. Otherwise, you need to make sure you’ve got enough area specific keyword references backing up your listed service areas if you don’t have a brick and mortar address.

Filed under Local Search, case study Tagged with ,

Around Claremont – New Project!

December 8, 2011 Leave a comment

Around Claremont

Get a Feel for the community of Claremont, CA

Oh! By the By, if you’re looking for information and pictures of local businesses in Claremont, California, then stop by my newest project: Around Claremont

Filed under case study Tagged with ,

Troubleshooting Local Rankings

December 8, 2011 Leave a comment

I’ve decided to keep a log as I troubleshoot this Local Rankings issue for a client, for the term Riverside Paralegal. They were ranking in the first page of mapped results for that term, and dropped off the map! Time to Troubleshoot!

Affordable Document Services 

 3516 9th St., Suite K, Riverside, CA 92501
 (951) 682-8523 ‎http://www.affordabledocs.org

Filed under Local Search, case study

Using Search Intent to Build Content

November 3, 2011 Leave a comment

“Query intent can be classified, according to Google, as Action (“Do”), Information (“Know”) or Navigation (“Go”)”

Well, it turns out that Google’s “quality raters” checklist got leaked, and while it wasn’t a bombshell of secret information, it does provide some useful insights (thanks for the 16 points of insight SEOMOZ!)

Do you have information on your website for all 3 different types of intent on your website? Here’s some ideas to be sure you actually cover with content on your website, this example is for a real estate site, but just think it out for your own industry.

Action: Search for a home, Get CMA, List a home, get a buyers agent, get a sellers agent
Information: Learn about community, learn about home buying/selling
Navigation: Your Office/business location, contact info

 

Filed under Content, content on google searches Tagged with , ,

A Word About Words

September 16, 2011 1 Comment

The in-exactitude of a message is equal to the amount of time taken to write the message multiplied by the expediency of the medium of communication

Words, Words, Words they’re everywhere and everything when it comes to your online marketing!  But, when you get down to the nitty gritty, the down and dirty, you may have realized that the content you so easily spit out in rapid order over IM or a chat window in Facebook seem to be a little less valuable than if you had taken the extra time to put those ideas and expressions of feeling and thought into a blog post, or even a static page of content on your website.

The average human being hand-writes at 31 words per minute for memorized text and 22 words per minute while copying”  -Brown, C. M. (1988).

So much more so the hand written letter, if the average person copies text at 22 words per minute, you can guarantee that most creative writing is more full of creative pauses and thought since you can’t just “backspace” over your error.

You should also consider that even the most well crafted sentence, if said in person, could carry so much more weight as you emphasize different syllables, stress the different nouns and elongate the sounds of a word to make it fit your exact feeling.  Be sure that you’re using all forms of for your business, from expedient chat messages, Facebook posts, emails and face to face conversations be sure to convey yourself and your business’s principles in your dealings with your clients honestly and openly you never know exactly what may turn someone from a client, to a fan and advocate who will help your business much more than a single financial contribution to your bottom line.

Filed under Content

Facebook Username Error – Still need 25 Fans?

September 15, 2011 2 Comments

I was happy as could be when I saw the post that stated that you no longer need 25 fans to get a facebook Username for your profile or page! So I hopped over to my profile, and created a Facebook Username “AroundClaremont” for my Around Claremont project.

Creating a facebook username

Creating a facebook username

So then I jump on the wagon for another one of my pages that hadn’t quite yet reached 25, and while it took me through the first steps it gave me a Whoah, hold on there” error, and now it says I still need to get more fans!

Still neeed facebook fans

Still neeed facebook fans


Trying to put together from others who tried to make Facebook Usernames, and find a pattern. It could be limited by page Type, activity of the profile owner, # of pages, or other criteria.

Can you give all your of your less than 25 fan pages Usernames? If you can’t post a link, and it’s category maybe we can spot the trend!

Filed under facebook Tagged with , ,

Control Your Facebook Preview Image

August 17, 2011 1 Comment

I was trying to post a link on Facebook, but it wouldn’t select any of the images I’d used and wanted to pull a picture from my template layout. This inspired me to find out how to control that, and thankfully the information was available on their Faceboook development page, and is done via “Open Graph” tags.

<meta property=”og:title” content=”This will be your Title” />
<meta property=”og:description” content=”This will be your description” />
<meta property=”og:image” content=”http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3217/2762458387_31207c1a81_m.jpg” />

I am still testing this myself, and it seemed to work initially.. Let me know if this works for you!

Filed under facebook, social media Tagged with ,

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