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Google Places – Don’t Steal An Account

This blog post is especially pointed to consultants or agents who share the same office. Did you know that only one person in your office can own the Google Places account tied to your physical location, and that person really should be the corporation not an individual agent? Here’s an example, let’s say you are a real estate company, did you know that the first agent who claims your Google Places account tied to the office address, will own it? That means no other agent in the office can create a Google Places account using that address even with a different suite number and for that matter neither can you the legitimate business owner.

If an agent has tagged your Google Places account, you the real owner, cannot claim it and other agents in the office are at a real disadvantage due to the agent who has grabbed it who will then not share potential leads. You as the legitimate business owner do have the right to ask the agent to relinquish ownership of the Google Places account so you as the corporation can then claim it and then share leads throughout the entire office.

To do this the agent simply needs to go into their Google Places account click edit and then click delete this places account with the selection that this account has been linked to you in error. The main office can then claim the account rightfully.

If you are an agent who has claimed the office account be aware that if you are paying a service for Google Places services you will lose your money that you have invested as the account was never really rightfully yours to claim. You may benefit from its use initially, but if asked you WILL have to relinquish access. So just be careful and take this as a word to the wise.

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Is Your AdWords Account Too Big?

It is a good plan to structure your AdWords account using themes with a different theme or service in each ad group, but make sure that when you are structuring your account that you plan to grow in an effective way.

I have seen in the last couple of weeks a few accounts that simply got carried away with the idea of creating new ad groups. One account had over 20 ad groups with several competing between themselves, another account did not group products together and had 50 ad groups with some that had only one or two keywords in the ad group. Another I reviews, had so many campaigns that the budget for some campaigns was so ridiculously low that it was no wonder that they had no impressions for the entire month.

If you self manage your AdWords account, you have the opportunity to create as many ad groups as you want, but when you have 15 to 20 ad groups and you want a professional such as myself to manage the program for you, you will pay your account manager to open each ad group and manage each program. It typically takes us three hours of our time per month to work on a program with 10 ad groups and that is on a once a week schedule. That’s after the account is really performing. If you have a program that is not performing, double that time for management – that’s six hours. You can just get carried away creating ad groups that you really don’t need that will bloat your account, parse your budget too many ways, and compete against each other.

When we create ad groups we definitely want themes, but also keep an eye on the budget and the time it will take to manage your program. We want your full AdWords program including management to be an investment in your success not to be an expense.

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When Was the Last Time You Redesigned Your Website?

I am often asked to perform code optimization services on websites in an effort to improve organic search placement. One of our determining factors of if we will consider a project as a good match for us, is how recently the site had been created. If your website is three, four, or five years old, it is by far better to invest in a website redesign with a firm that focuses on organic placement than it is to try to put an SEO band-aid on an old website.

Content creation and optimization services are not inexpensive. It is not unusual for a 15 page website to cost over $2,500 to optimize plus including new website pages and content as part of the process. However if the website looks dated, is not using new technology, or is not built with reader and search engine friendly code, we will typically not take on the project as it is not providing good service to the client in the long run.

The look and feel of websites have changed over time and it is important that your website have a contemporary feel. Content is one of the most important factors in getting organic placement. If your website has very little content and has a website design that does not allow site growth (both in the navigation and amount of content on the page), the money that would have been earmarked for code optimization should be saved for redesign and new content creation.

Be smart about how you spend your money especially when it comes to your website.

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So You Are Updating Facebook But How Can You Get More Fans?

So you are doing everything right, you are updating Facebook regularly and trying to interact with clients and customers there. You are sharing photos and occasional videos, but are concerned that your fan base is just not growing. What can you do?

First, your social community grows by a combined online and offline effort. Yes, it is important to make sure that you have something valuable for fans and potential fans to read when they hit your Facebook Business Page, but your fan base will not grow all by itself. To grow a Facebook fan base you need to be doing the following to drive traffic and create your own “buzz”.

1. Make sure you have a Facebook icon on your website and blog. You would be amazed at how many people forget this important step.

2. If you are blogging and you really should be, make sure you are blogging about what you are doing on Facebook and link in your posts as well.

3. In your newsletter, which you should be doing also, you need to link to Facebook and also talk about the valuable tips and tricks you are listing there or the other things you are routinely sharing on Facebook.

4. On Twitter, which you should be doing as well, you should be driving traffic to your Facebook page. Again talk about value and link to the videos or pictures you are sharing.

5. In your email signature you should be linking to all your online properties: website, blog, Facebook, and Twitter. Let everyone of your emails be an advertisement of how people can connect with you online.

6. If your fan base is still stagnant after aggressively pursing these avenues, now’s the time to consider a Facebook contest, giveaway, or even Facebook pay per click ads.

There is great value in building your Facebook fan base. Doing so allows you to market using the Facebook encapsulated email client directly to your fans’ inbox bypassing spam filters. You want to consider this access as a special trust. Don’t spam your users and really try to have your notes provide value as well as highlight service offerings.

The more you work your network, the more it will grow, but remember it does not grow over night, it does take time. If you need help getting started on Facebook, I invite you to check out our services.