Understanding Google My Business & Local Search
Entries Written By Mike Blumenthal
Keyword Not Provided Passes 70% as Chrome Makes ALL Searches HTTPS
My keywords not provided passed 70% just as Google Chrome has started switching all searches to secure search (https) for all users. Obviously the technical nature of my readership puts my site at the vanguard of this new reality. But the Chrome switch to HTTPS, which started on December 10th, presages a big jump in not provided numbers …
Google Map for iOS Ships
Late yesterday, as you probably already know by now, Google Maps for iOS appeared in the app store. The product includes, turn by turn directions, transit directions, traffic information, street view and the ability to sync your searches and directions with your desktop. The early (and frequent) reviews are predominantly and overwhelmingly positive. The legitimate …
Google Updates Review Content Policy
Google has just updated the review content guidelines to explicitly prohibit review stations AND employee reviews. The changes to the policy are noted in italics: For instance, as a business owner or employee you should not review your own business or current place of work. Don’t offer money or product to others to write reviews …
The Disconnect Between What SMBs Use Facebook For and What Consumers Use it For
Last week at Kelsey it was reported that an “astounding 41.7% of SMBs surveyed by BIA/Kelsey say they see Facebook most importantly as an acquisition tool”. Astounding is right. That is a huge disconnect with reality. My recent survey of how consumers find lawyers tallied that 2.1% of the US adult internet users would start their …
What Makes for a Good Author Photo in the Local Results? (Part 2)
So which author avatar is the people’s favorite? Yesterday I promised to share the large scale (1500 responses) survey results as to which author avatar consumers would pick from amongst the local search results when they were asked: If you were selecting a lawyer based on these images, which would you select? Surprised? I admit I was initially. …
What Makes for a Good Author Photo in the Local Results? (Part 1)
What makes for a good Author photo in the Local results? Author photos are increasingly showing in Google’s local search results. Since first appearing in local results in February of this year, author photos have slowly and steadily increased in frequency. In most markets you may only see one author photo in the local results …
Local Onebox Display Now Upgraded to New Universal OneBox Display
Ol’ Eagle Eye, Matt Gregory, caught a change that I had anticipated. The Local OneBox has been upgraded to the same format as the other OneBox results. The Onebox display, in general, was upgraded earlier in the week in the week to match the mobile display. Note that the user now needs to click into …
Getlisted.org is Joining Forces with SEOMoz – Local U is growing up!
Good friend and advisor, David Mihm, has just announced that Getlisted.org is joining forces with SEOMoz. From the Getlisted Blog: It’s a great day for us, but we’re equally excited for you guys, our users and audience. Everything GetListed has been about so far–giving away a ton of knowledge and as much great functionality as …
Consumer Survey – Where do Consumers find Specialty Lawyers? Not on Facebook
Moses & Rooth Attorneys at Law commissioned me to help them understand how consumers find specialty lawyers. Their goal was to appropriately allocate their marketing dollars in a realistic way between the many choices. Do consumers go to Facebook? How important was their website? What role do reviews play? To that end, we created a Google Survey …
Why I had to Take Chrome Off of My iPhone
CNET writes that Chrome has gained a foothold in mobile but is a no show on the iPhone. Its not hard to understand why most users don’t give it a try but I went so far as to install it on my iPhone was forced to remove it. Not only did it not do what …
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