Mike Blumenthal

Google has added a new help page Create a link for customers to write reviews which explains in detail how to use the Google Maps API to generate a URL that can be used to solicit reviews. (NOTE: this page has been removed as of 7/11.) The page is interesting for two reasons. One it …

Local Guides will be able to have photos that they are taking of local businesses “automagically matched” and added to the business listings from their Google Photos collection. The feature, first released on Android but soon available on iOS, only requires you to “turn on the back up and location features in Google Photos to have your photos of places appear in the Contribute tab of …

I have been involved in local search marketing and local seo for much of the last 16 years. I love local seo and would never declare it dead. It has lots of life. But it has never been harder, once you have nailed the basics, to get an appropriate ROI.  The many changes at Google …

I have published a new article in the “Complaint Series” at GetFiveStars: SURVEY: How Quickly Should A Business Respond to a Complaint? Critical to any complaint plan is figuring out the who, when and where of responding to them. I wanted to understand the consumer perspective so I asked two questions: When you complain to a …

You would hope that most customers would speak up and communicate the problems that they experienced. Unfortunately that’s not what happens. Most of them will just remain quiet, you never know of their problems or dissatisfaction and they stop doing business with you. In my third post in the Complaint series (soon I will be getting complaints about …

Join Mary Bowling, Ed Reese and myself as we discuss: What Parts of the Local Pack Will be Monetized? I think that as a local SEO, one of the things you have to keep your eye on is how much is going paid and preparing yourself and your clients for the fact that Facebook and Google …

As part of my ongoing series on the impact of complaints on a business I have published my second article in the series: Survey: 8 Things That Really Cause Consumers to Complain . Handling customer complaints is one of those areas where most local businesses drop the ball. Yet its an area that has disastrous …

I have just published my first of a number of articles (I am at 4 and counting) dealing with the question of customer complaints:  5 Good Things About Customer Complaints. These articles will cover ideas, processes and research to help you understand the whys and wherefores of complaints and how their successful resolution can really …