10 Yelp Reviews You Can Dispute

Did someone write a review on your Yelp page that you feel is not fair? Here are a couple types of reviews that you can dispute on Yelp.

1) A review with hate speech, threats or harassment.

2) A post of other people’s "full names" unless you’re referring to service providers who are commonly identified by or commonly share their own full names.

3) Second-hand stories or stories from friends and co-workers. Write firsthand consumer reviews, not what you heard from your co-worker or significant other.

4) A review that exaggerate or misrepresent the reviewers experience. Yelp doesn't take sides when it comes to factual disputes, so Yelp expects reviewers to stand behind their review.

5) A re-telling of a story or review that has been identically posted on multiple review sites. If you'd like to add new insight to an old experience, just edit your review instead of creating a new update.

6) A review that you don't think was posted by a real customer

7) Businesses and their employees are not allowed to review themselves or their competitors.

8) Former employees aren't allowed to review their former employers.

9) Yelpers are not allowed to post reviews in exchange for money, gifts, or other consideration.

10) Intended to promote another business or website.

Can I take down old reviews that are out-dated?
Reviews do not expire, and all of a business's recommended reviews count towards its overall rating. However, the most recent, relevant, and reliable reviews are featured first and foremost.

Also, don't ask your customers to review your business on Yelp. Over time, solicited reviews create bias in your business listing — a bias that savvy consumers can smell from a mile away.

If I can't ask customers to review us on Yelp, How else can I put the idea in their head?
1) Put a badge and link to your Yelp listing on your website using Yelp's review badges.

2) Put a "Find us on Yelp" sign in your place of business, on the front counter or window.

3) Include a link to your Yelp business listing in your email signature with the words, "Check us out on Yelp!"

How do I dispute a review?

$100 in Bing Credits When You Sign Up for Bing Places for Business

Start now and Bing will give you a $100 credit for search advertising on the Yahoo! Bing Network.

Claim Your Listing

Chances are Bing has a listing for your business already. Claim an existing listing or add a new one. If your business has multiple locations you can add them all at once using the bulk upload tool.

Complete Your Listing Profile

Adding complete information about your business helps you tell the best story about your business. You can add photos of your business & services, link to your website, hours of operation, services offered and list the various ways customers can reach your business.

Verify Your Listing

Protect your listing from unauthorized changes by verifying it. You can verify your listings by receiving a PIN at your business address, phone or email. All businesses must provide a valid address, but some types of businesses can hide their address in search results.

Once you are finished with these three easy steps you get a local listing on Bing & Yahoo! Network plus $100 to use on search advertising.

Google+ for Local Businesses

Google+ is Google's answer to Social Networking. A social network that informs real-time search, personalized search, and web search. How can a local business use Google+?

The +1
A metric that used to show on Google search results as an ad extension. A +1 from a person in your network is a signal like external linking to another website. Similar to a "Like" on Facebook, it is an indication that you want your network to see this search result.

Build out Your Network of Circles
Circle other local businesses in your area, local online journalists and others you would like to share with in your local area. Name your Circles appropriately with keyword themes, this will be similar to link anchor text.

Optimize your Personal Page
Google+ profile pages are the center of  activity and content for users. A complete profile offers more opportunities to be seen and to show others that you are relevant to other's network. Use keywords in your profile, reasonably. Add photos to make a visual first impression. Enhance your description with credentials.

Link to Twitter, Facebook and other Social Media Profiles
The more connected your social media presence the more value will be ultimately passed to your search results.

Add Location for Geo-Relevancy
Adding your geographic location makes your profile more relevant to local interactions.

Add your store location or brand as a Brand or Product Page
Everything we talked about previously can be used to optimize your brand or product page.

Comparison to SEO Algorithm Factors:
1) Freshness and increased activity of a Google+ account is what passes the value to your Website.
2) External Links = People who have circled you, +1s, or shares
3) Keyword Anchor Text = Text used to describe circle
4) Link Quality and Authority = Authority of people and companies you are connected to

Why Did Google Take Away Location Settings for Ad Preview Tool

Not sure why Google Adwords took away this great tool. You used to be able to search by location and device on Google's Ad Preview Tool. It was a great way to see how your ads and search results looked outside of where Google sees your location.

What is an alternative?
http://www.isearchfrom.com/ uses the Google Adwords tool to allow a user to input location information and retrieve a Google search. It requires you to visit the website and, unfortunately, doesn’t search on every small town in the US and is a simulation not the actual search but does a good job. 

Know about any other alternative tools to search by location for Google Adwords search results? Please add them to the comments.

Google Confirms, CTR a Factor in Local Rankings

Here are the four factors that influence rankings for local searches in the local 3-pack, as confirmed by Google:

Search history: In the past how many times has the listing been clicked on by users searching with the keyword.

Relevance: Relevance is how well a local listing matches what someone is searching for. Adding complete and detailed business information can help us better understand your business and match you to relevant search results.

Distance: How far is each potential search result from the location term used in a search? If you don’t specify a location in your search, we’ll calculate distance based on what we know about your location.

Prominence: This describes how well-known or prominent a business can be. This is based on information we have about a business from across the web (like links, articles, and directories). Some places are more prominent in the offline world, and we try to reflect this online as well. For example, famous museums, landmark hotels, or well-known store brands that are familiar to many people are also likely to be more prominent in search results.

Make sure to take these factors into consideration when optimizing for local search results.

Linkedin For Local Businesses

Linkedin is another great social media website to interact with your companies audience and great value for your company website. Here are a few ways to improve your Linkedin Profiles and get the most out of them.

The Company Profile

Make sure to create a profile for your company and add a URL to increase the amount of links to your website. Also share updates on your blog or directly on Linkedin. Like Facebook, you can add updates to your company profile. I like to upload blog articles.

The Employees Profile

Every employee should create a profile on Linkedin and link their profile to the company profile. The more attention given to each profile the more value will pass on to the company website.

Linkedin Connections

Get connected with other business owners in your geographic area. Get active in your city and make friends. The more connections you make the more value your profile holds to pass on value to your company website.

Linkedin Groups

You have thousands of groups to choose from. Pick 40+ groups that are relevant to your company. You will be able to become connections with anyone in the group once accepted.

Great TV for Local Business Success

Hey Small Business Owner, I watch all of these shows and think you could learn a lot from the lessons told in these TV shows.

The Profit - Self-made millionaire and serial entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis fixes failing businesses to save jobs and to make money. He puts his own cash on the line and doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty to make things right, but once he makes a deal he’s 100% in charge. Airs: Tuesday Nights at 7pm PST



Restaurant Startup - Each week, two teams will pitch their food ideas to TV personality and restaurateur Joe Bastianich and chef and restaurant operator, Tim Love. Joe and Tim will invest their own money in food concepts they believe will make them millions. Only one entrepreneur will receive the opportunity of a lifetime. New Season Coming in 2016



Consumed: The Real Restaurant Business - In a new primetime docu-series, “Consumed: The Real Restaurant Business,” CNBC takes viewers behind –the -scenes of five very different restaurants in the ultra-competitive New York food scene, chronicling their every struggle and occasional triumph. CNBC, please renew this TV Show!



Bar Rescue - In Spike TV's series, Jon Taffer, one of the country's top restaurant and bar consultants, will give failing establishments one last chance to succeed. The show will delve into every business facet of running a bar from creating a profitable drink/food menu to crowd management to music selection to managing disgruntled employees. Airs Sunday at 10pm EST

Yahoo! Signs Search Deal with Google

The latest news in the SEM industry is Yahoo's new deal with Google. Three-year deal to put Google's results and ads into some of Yahoo's search results, Yahoo will have the ability to show search results both paid and organic from Google search results. Under the Services Agreement, Yahoo has discretion to select which search queries to send to Google and is not obligated to send any minimum number of search queries.

What does this mean for my paid search?
Continue to do PPC with Google and Bing. If you max out on search volume and spend then consider Yahoo! Gemini however understand that Yahoo! Gemini will be playing a very small role in the paid search results supplied by Yahoo!

What about mobile?
Yahoo! still has a deal in place that 51% of all mobile search results must come from Bing. The other 49% will be a combination of Yahoo! Gemini and Google.

When did this partnership begin?
The agreement between the two companies went into effect on October 1, 2015. The term of the three-year contract runs through December 31, 2018, and is presumably subject to renewal.

Pinterest for Local Businesses

Pinterest is a visual social medium for users to share photos, videos and inspiration with the world. You can follow friends or companies. You can pin anything that you can think of.

Who should use Pinterest?

The obvious local business to use Pinterest is a restaurant. Pin your most popular dishes or pin the inspirations behind that dish.

What if I am an accountant, how can I use Pinterest?

You don’t have to be a visual business to be on Pinterest. People are searching for information to help them save money, or ideas to be smarter about their taxes—by establishing a Pinterest profile, you enable more people to discover what makes your business stand out.

How do I get Pinterest followers?

Promote through your existing marketing channels, in your store, on your website and on your other social media platforms. Getting your followers involved in your boards (collections of pins) is a great idea for small businesses.

How do I share my location and phone number?

Pinterest just released an update to all 7 million pins currently posted and to all new pins a location and phone number for easy access to pin information.

For local businesses, add your location in the Pin description to improve relevance in Pinterest search results. Pin regularly and make sure your Pins link back to something helpful, such as your website where customers can purchase products.

How can I Network Locally?

Are your customers, your business partners, the restaurant down the street on Pinterest? Look for them (you can use Pinterest’s search or just go to their websites and look for a link). Follow some or all of their boards. Like, re-pin and comment on their pins. Promote their businesses on your local boards. You’ll likely find that they will return the favor!

Bing Ads Remarketing: Now for Search & Shopping

With remarketing in Bing Ads, you can serve ads on Bing and Yahoo search results to users who have visited your website. It’s similar to RLSA in AdWords, but the remarketing extends to product ads in Shopping campaigns as well.

You’ll need to have UET tags set up on your site to get started. Once that’s set, you create remarketing lists in the Audience section of the Shared Library in your Bing Ads account.

A list has to have at least 1,000 users in it in order to be used for remarketing.

Here is a video from Bing Ads on their YouTube channel to learn more about how to set up Bing Ads Remarketing:

Top 10 Twitter Tools for Local Marketers

Want to know how to take advantage of Twitter? Tired of just tweeting to the world wide web and hoping someone is listening? Here are 10 tools that will help you gain followers so your Tweets are heard.

SocialBro - The plan comes with analytics, best time to tweet, follow/unfollow tools, and community segmentation. Uncover and track the quality of your audience, understand crossover between communities, and combine content with relationship analysis. It also helps you track ROI for paid and earned media.

SocialRank - Receive a sorted list of your best followers, most influential followers, and most engaged followers. Useful to track the important people to engage with on Twitter. The easiest way to identify, organize, and manage your followers on Twitter and Instagram.

Bluenod - Find influencers quickly, export data and get more insights on hastags, target topic-related communities, and connect with key influencers to share your best content.

Crowdfire - Prune your list of those you follow by seeing who follows you back, who’s recently unfollowed you, and who’s inactive. For use with Twitter and Instagram.

Manageflitter - Follow/Unfollow in Bulk. Segment your followers according to a number of factors: last tweet, follower count, location, language and whether or not they follow you back.

Rite Tag - Plug in a hashtag and see feedback on the tag’s reach and popularity. Also get suggestions for some alternatives to try.

Warble - Get an email whenever someone shares from your website—even if they don’t mention your username or if they use a link shortener. Warble also alerts you to full keyword, mention, and hashtags. Warble is free to use and integrates directly with Twitter.

Search Marketing City Platform - Post and schedule tweets. Get leads from tweets that match a keyword and are within a radius of your location. Plus, get email alerts when your account receives a tweet, retweet or share. Try it free for 30 Days.

TwitterFeed - allows you to add RSS feeds (yours and others) to be shared automatically through your Twitter, Facebook, and other social media accounts each time there is a new update to them.

WeFollow - One of many Twitter directories that can add value to your twitter account. Just like Google likes links, twitter directories help link to your Twitter account that links back to your website.

Know of any other great Twitter tools? Post them to the comments and share with everyone.

Target Location In AdWords Ad Customizers To Show Promo Ads

Want another way to reach your customers as they drive by your store? With a new update to ad customizers, you can now dynamically tailor ads based on a person’s physical location when they search. This update is very similar to Foursquare and how it renders promotions on mapping software.

Add location-specific information in your ad customizer spreadsheets to show accurate store inventory, store hours, location information, shipping times, and highlight discounts, promotions and events in your Google Adwords ad copy.

The “Target_location” field in the spreadsheet will inform when the attribute is used. In an example showing a Concord location having a sale on the TaylorMade Golf Clubs, the customizers spreadsheet would look something like this:

Using the Brand and Sale attributes in the ad, the ad text would look like this:

{=TaylorMade.Brand} Golf Clubs
www.example.com
{=TaylorMade.Sale}.
Find the right golf clubs for you!

Then when a user in Colorado searches for “TaylorMade in Concord,” they would see an ad like this:

TaylorMade Golf Clubs
www.sportsauthority.com
10% off in our Concord store.
Find the right golf clubs for you!

Now you can advertise a sale or special on your menu to get more customers into your doors using Google Adwords.

Targeting PPC Ads by Email Address in Google Adwords

Google Adwords recently announced this new targeting option for Search and Display, YouTube & Gmail advertising. Customer Match is expected to be rolled out to all advertisers over the next few weeks.

Upload a list of email addresses with only one address per line. Your list can contain hashed or unhashed addresses, but not headers or multiple tabs.

Example:
example@gmail.com
email@example.com
example@example.com
email@gmail.com

Important: The list of email addresses you upload will only be used to match to Google IDs and for policy compliance. It won't be shared with anyone and will be deleted 7 days after matching and the compliance check are complete.

Email Opt Out - Provide a link to the page where people can manage their preferences for receiving email from you, including opting out of any email lists they may be subscribed to.

When it is ready in your account follow these steps to advertise with Customer Match:

Create a customer emails list

1. Sign in to AdWords.
2. Click Shared library.
3. Click Audiences.
4. Click +Remarketing list and select "Customer emails" from the drop-down menu.
5. Enter a name.
6. Select "Upload customer email addresses."
7. Choose a file (see requirements below).
8. Enter an email opt-out link. Provide a link to the page where people can manage their preferences for receiving email from you, including opting out of any email lists they may be subscribed to.
9. Set a membership duration.
10. Check the box "This data was collected and is being shared with Google in compliance with Google's policies."
11. Click Upload and save list. You can view the progress of your uploading file under "Audiences," which can take up to 3 hours to complete.
12. Add your customer emails list to your campaign.
    • To show ads on Gmail, add your list to a "Display Network only" campaign that uses "Gmail Ads" from the "Ad gallery." To do this, open the campaign, click the Display Network tab, click + Targeting, choose your campaign and ad group, click "Add targeting" and select "Interests and remarketing," then click "Remarketing lists" and select a list.
    • To show ads on Google Search, add your list to a "Search Network only" or "Search Network with Display Select" campaign.
    • To show ads on YouTube, add your list to an "Online video" campaign.

Requirements

• File uses the .csv format and is no more than 17MB
• Email addresses in the file are hashed (if necessary) and separated by a comma or a line break
• List membership duration is no more than 180 days
• Email addresses that don't comply with the Policy for Customer Match have been removed

159 Top Social Media Sites: The Ultimate List

159 Social Media sites, Social Bookmarking Sites, Blog Aggregates, News Aggregates, & Email Software Tools.

Where did this list come from? 

Thanks to AddThis.com here is the list of the most relevant and top social media sites as of September 8th, 2015.  Including some more that are not as easy to share with an addthis button but still worthy of the ultimate list of social media websites.

What am I to do with all these social media websites? 

Take advantage of their visibility, pick the social media sites that fit your brand and product, and build a community around your social media. Start a conversation with your followers and give them the information they are starving for. Create a profile and link it back to your website or blog. 

Should I start a profile with everyone of these social media websites?

No. Pick the best social media sites for your business, website, brand or blog and make sure to post to them on a regular basis. Whether once a month or 3 times a week, make sure you are consistent so your followers know what to expect and don't drop off after long absences. Post relevant, informative and interesting content to your social media sites to keep your followers engaged.

What are the top 23 Social Media Sites?

1) Twitter - Connect with your friends and other fascinating people. Get in-the-moment updates on the things that interest you. And watch events unfold, in real time, from every angle.

2) Facebook -  Create an account or log into Facebook. Connect with friends, family and other people you know. Share photos and videos, send messages and get updates.

3) Gmail - Email that's intuitive, efficient, and useful. 15 GB of storage, less spam, and mobile access.

4) Google+ -  a place to connect with friends and family, and explore all of your interests. Share photos, send messages, and stay in touch with the people.

5) Pinterest - a visual discovery tool that you can use to find ideas for all your projects and interests.

6) Tumblr - Post anything (from anywhere!), customize everything, and find and follow what you love.

7) Linkedin - Manage your professional identity. Build and engage with your professional network. Access knowledge, insights and opportunities

8) Blogger - Free weblog publishing tool from Google, for sharing text, photos and video.

9) Delicious - Keep, share, and discover the best of the Web using Delicious, the world's leading social bookmarking service.

10) Y! Mail - Official site for the email service, which features spam filters, a virus scanner, and interfaces for international users.

11) LiveJournal - A service for journals and blogs, that also offers privacy controls, photo storage, publishing tools, style templates, and online communities for many interests.

12) WordPress - Create a free website or easily build a blog on WordPress.com. Hundreds of free, customizable, mobile-ready designs and themes. Free hosting and support.

13) Meneame - Spanish site where users submit and vote news, to promote them on the cover.

14) VKontakte - Social networking as a means of communication and people search . International service created by Russian developers .

15) WhatsApp - Cross-platform mobile messaging app for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone and Nokia. Send text, video, images, and audio.

16) Reddit - User-generated news links. Votes promote stories to the front page.

17) Stumbleupon - the easiest way to discover new and interesting web pages, photos and videos across the Web.

18) Outlook - a free, personal email service from Microsoft. Keep your inbox clutter-free with powerful organizational tools, and collaborate easily.

19) Instagram - an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures and videos, and share them on a variety of social networking platforms.

20) Snapchat - Using the application, users can take photos, record videos, add text and drawings, and send them to a controlled list of recipients.

21) Flickr - an image hosting and video hosting website, and web services suite.

22) Vine - the best way to see and share life in motion. Create short, beautiful, looping videos in a simple and fun way for your friends and family to see.

23) Yelp - a crowd-sourced local business review and social networking site

The other 136 are in alphabetical order:

2 Tag - Paste your long URL and shorten it for a mobile by making a mobile tag or QR Code. Share it on Facebook / Twitter / etc. so everybody can scan your interesting link.

2linkme - Italian social bookmarking site.

Amen Me! - Social Bookmarking for Christians

AOL Mail - free email address from AOL

APSense - a business social network combining the best elements of business networking with the relationship building power of a social network.

Arto - Chat with your friends, participate in quizzes, share your photos and videos, play games, become member of exiting groups and much, much more.

Ask.fm -Ask and answer. Find out what people want to know about you!

Badoo - chat, date and meet with over 265 million people. Join our community and make friends in your area.

Bebo - makes your regular text messaging app look...well, boring. Start chatting with attitude! Available on iPhone and Android.

Beat100 - Watch new music videos just added to the Beat100 music network, stream your Soundcloud music and YouTube videos.

BlackPlanet - Worlds largest free African-American online community where Black women and Black men meet to chat, discuss and engage on what matters to us.

Baidu - Chinese website and search engine that enables individuals to obtain information and find what they need.

BibSonomy - A social bookmark and publication sharing system that supports BibTeX.

BiggerPockets - Social network for the real estate investing community. Learn real estate investment, get free tips & education, make deals, and grow your business.

Bit.ly - a URL shortening service.

BizSugar - Share small business news, tips, blog posts and information with BizSugar's community of small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Blogmarks - A social bookmarks manager that allows categorization via custom tags.

Blogkeen - Follow your favourite blogs on Blogkeen.com, on Facebook and on your mobile phone.

Blurpalicious - a social Multiblogging platform where you can create, publish and share web content for free.

Bobrdobr - Russian social bookmarking site.

BonzoBox - a home page that you can add a site, (or many sites), to and makes sharing websites and bookmarks with your friends and family fast and easy.

Bookmarky.cz - Czech social bookmarking site.

Bookmerken - A German bookmarking site.

Box - secure content management and collaboration for individuals, teams and businesses, enabling secure file sharing and access to your files online.

Brainify - Russian social bookmarking site for business professionals.

BuddyMarks - The Online Bookmark Manager. The Web's best online personal, group and social bookmarks manager.

Buffer - sharing, creating, analyzing and converting with social media.

Camyoo - a photo and video sharing site devoted to all the picture and video takers.

Care2 -  Largest online community empowering people to lead a healthy and green lifestyle while taking action on important causes such as human rights.

Cherry Share - Fast & Free File Hosting for everyone. 1 step upload and simple instructions for uploading your files.

CiteULike - Search, organize, and share scholarly papers. Indexes over 2 million articles.

ClassicalPlace - Your reference for the classical music. Meet new artists, publish your concerts, share your life in music.

Classmates -  Reconnect with high school friends, browse the biggest database of online yearbooks and/or plan high school reunions.

Colivia.de - German social bookmarking site.

Cosmiq - German social bookmarking site.

Digg - the homepage of the internet, featuring the best articles, videos, and original content that the web is talking about right now.

Diggita - Italian social bookmarking site.

Diigo - a powerful research tool and a knowledge-sharing community.

DoMelhor - Portuguese social bookmarking site.

Douban - Chinese social bookmarking site.

Draugiem.lv - Latvian social network.

Dzone - Programming, Web Development, and DevOps news, tutorials and tools for beginners to experts. Hundreds of free publications, over 1M members, totally free.

EFactor - enables you to connect with fellow Entrepreneurs around the world and gives you the proven tools to help grow your business.

Embarkons - the Idea Network for Entrepreneurs to use Social Media to Share and Post Ideas to find Financing and Gain Traction; to find Employees, Resources.

Evernote - Bring your life's work together in one digital workspace. Evernote is the place to collect inspirational ideas and write meaningful words.

EzySpot - a news/social bookmarking site.

Fabulously40 - The social network for women in their prime. Women over 40. Community, Tools, Games and Resources for people over the age of 40.

Fark - Satirical views on interesting, bizarre and amusing stories, submitted by a community of millions of news junkies, with regular Photoshop contests.

FAVable - gives users the capability to save all their bookmarks online.

Faves - Share and Share Alike, social bookmarking site

Favoritus - save bookmarks online, manage favorites links. Save bookmarks online. Manage bookmarks online. Backup bookmarks online.

Financial Juice - provides real time, fully customisable news via voice and text for traders of all markets.

Flixster -  A community where users share film reviews and ratings [free registration required].

Flipboard - a social-network aggregation, magazine-format mobile app localized in more than 20 languages.

Folkd - Social Bookmarking - Save your bookmarks and links online and search what your friends like.

FreeDictionary - Collection of dictionaries by subject including medical and legal together with free and subscription encyclopedias, in ten languages.

Friendster - A global social network that emphasizes friendship and the discovery of new people. Search for old friends and classmates, and stay in touch with friends.

Hatena - the most popular social bookmarking service in Japan

Hi5 -  The social network for meeting new people

historious - a single-click bookmarking search engine.

Hootsuite - a social media management system for brand management

ihavegot - Add everything you have got and see what your friends have got, share your photos, links, videos, ideas, questions, problems.

Indexor - Bookmark your favourite websites to create a personal homepage service from the UK.

Instapaper - A simple tool for saving web pages to read later on your iPhone, iPad, Android, computer, or Kindle.

iOrbix - a unique social network that makes expressing your life and connections between friends so much easier and fun.

Jamespot - an enterprise social network solution and provide a collaborative platform in SaAS.

Kik - lets you connect with friends, groups, and the world around you through chat

Kledy - German social news aggregator.

Librerio - Easily, visually organize your favorite bookmarks in your own personal library.

Links Gutter - Russian Complete Free Social Bookmarking Portal for Sharing News, Gossips, Photos and Videos

Markme - an online social bookmarking site that works with all browsers and requires no add-ons.

MeetMe - US-based social media technology company catering to Latin Audiences worldwide

Meetup - Find Meetups and meet people in your local community who share your interests.

Yahoo! Answers - Share insights and experience. Get answers, ask questions, and find information.

Memonic - a browser add on to save links for later viewing.

Memori.ru - Russian social bookmarking site.

Mendeley - Easily organize your papers, read & annotate your PDFs, collaborate in private or open groups, and securely access your research from everywhere.

Mixi - an online Japanese social networking service

mRcNEtwORK - Italian social bookmarking site.

MyHeritage -  Create your family tree and discover your family history. Free genealogy software. Get automatic Smart Matches on over 2 billion profiles and share photos.

myVidster - a social video sharing and bookmarking site that lets you collect, share and search your videos.

MySpace - An international site that offers email, a forum, communities, videos and weblog space.

N4G - video game social network.

Nasza-klasa - a large Polish school-based social networking service used by alumni and students.

Netvibes - all-in-one dashboard intelligence platform for real-time social media monitoring, social analytics, brand sentiment, and reputation management.

Netvouz - a social bookmark manager where you can store your favorite links online and access them from any computer.

NewsMeBack - the place for everyone who likes citizen journalism and social news, a place for you where you can put your news, and events from everyday life.

Newsvine - Register to add a news story, comment or write a column. Open source, community news service, which lets members customize the news viewed.

Ning -  An online service to create, customize, and share a social network.

Odnoklassniki - a Russian social network service for classmates and old friends.

OKNOtizie - an Italian social bookmarking site.

PDFmyURL - turns your web pages into PDF with a single click

PhoneFavs - a mobile web portal and phone optimized bookmarking service.

Plaxo - easily eliminate duplicate contacts and always keep your address book clean.

Plurk - a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send updates (otherwise known as plurks) through short messages or links

QRF.in - Create QR-codes on the fly. Simply insert your URL in the box and click Tag NOW. Then you can copy resulting short URL, download QR code or share it

QRSrc.com - Generate and share QR Codes for text, url, sms, phone numbers.

Rediff MyPage - India's social networking site. Connect with people who matter and stay updated by sharing instant info, photos, and more.

RenRen - Social networking internet platform in China

ResearchGate - a social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators.

Scoop.it - Discover, curate and publish great content to get visibility online.

She Told Me - a Digg-like with a 100% AdSense Revenue Sharing program.

SlideShare - Offers users the ability to upload and share publicly or privately PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and Adobe PDF Portfolios.

SodaHead - A site where users create polls to get advice about issues and society.

SpinSnap - a discovery engine for websites, music & videos.

Startaid - Save your bookmarks and favorites online. Social bookmark manager that allows you can use tags or categories.

StudiVZ - a social networking platform for students (in particular for college and university students in Europe)

Stumpedia - a social search and bookmarking site that relies on human participation to index, organize, and review content.

Symbaloo - A free social bookmarking service in the cloud.

Tagged - meet and socialize with new people through games, shared interests, friend suggestions, browsing profiles, and much more.

Tapiture - a visual discovery and social curation platform that lets you share images, videos and products, as well as buy an endless assortment of cool stuff.

The Fancy - a social photo sharing webstore and mobile app

The Web Blend - a community for designers, developers and tech junkies that keeps you current

ThisNext - a social commerce site enabling people to recommend their favorite products and guide others in online purchasing.

Thrill On - Home to the most epic and awesome photos, videos, and gear - every day.

Taringa! -  a social network geared toward Latin American users

Transferr - a visual, web-based bookmarking service that allows its users to save, customise, organise and share their favourite websites

Tulinq - a news aggregator in Spanish (digg style)

Twoo - the fastest growing place to chat, search, share photos and play fun introductory games. Free to join.

Typepad - Service for hosting and publishing weblogs and photo albums.

Viadeo - a Web 2.0 professional social network whose members include business owners, entrepreneurs and managers

Virb - Whether you're a novice or a pro, a photographer, a band, a small business, or anything in between, Virb is perfect for building your own website

VisitezMonSite - French Digg-style site with 100% Adsense sharing.

vKruguDruzei - Russian social networking site.

Wayback Machine - Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future.Only available for sites that allow crawlers.

Webnews - Here you can find news, eyewitness news videos set themselves assess, discuss and comment - or just check out the latest news.

Wanelo - an online community for all of the world's shopping.

WireFan - Sports social bookmarking site.

WishMindr - let's you create wishlists and set reminders to help your friends and family know what to get you!

Wykop - Polish social bookmarking site.

Xanga - a website that hosts weblogs, photoblogs, and social networking profiles.

Xing - a social software platform for enabling a small-world network for professionals.

Yammer - a leading enterprise social network for businesses to get work done smarter and faster.

Yardbarker - Sports news, commentary and humor submitted by fans and celebrity athlete bloggers.

Yoolink - Share instantly your findings on Facebook, Twitter or e-mail! Yoolink is the simplest and most effective tool to share and find again all that interests you.

YouMob - Are you mad as hell? Got something to shout about? Join others in a LIVE mob. Shout out about today's event, gossip or news.

Yuuby - the best way to explore friendships and discover people beyond the boundary of your social network.

Zakladok.net - Russian social bookmarking site.

Know of another social media site, social networking site or social bookmarking site? Add it to the comments.

Google Pigeon Algorithm Update: How it Affects Your Local Business

Launched on July 24, 2014 for U.S. English results, the “Pigeon Update” is a new algorithm to provide more useful, relevant and accurate local search results that are tied more closely to traditional web search ranking signals. Links, On-Page Factors & Social Media play a more impactful role in Google local search results. Google also stated that this new algorithm improves their distance and location ranking parameters.

Neighborhoods not Cities

One of the major algorithmic shifts around Pigeon was the way that geo-location was redesigned. Instead of identifying cities as single geographical entities, Pigeon sliced and diced cities up into neighborhoods. If you’re in a larger city (with neighborhoods), don’t focus your online marketing efforts and search terms exclusively on your city name, but rather on your neighborhood name. Hyperlocal search is more important now.

All Neighborhood Names are Correct

A neighborhood can be known by several different names, depending on who you’re talking to. A map-reading stranger may visit a new area and call it “Uptown,” just like his map tells him. But a local may think, “‘Uptown’? Never heard of it. We call this area ‘The Art District.'” Two names. One place. Which one is right? With the algorithm update, both are right.

More Mobile, Less Desktop

As the users move more and more to mobile search not only has there been a decline in city level searches but the searches will be occurring with Google having a much better handle on the actual users real location rather than a very approximate desktop location.

More than just Yelp

When it comes to Local Directories you have to see what local directories rank for your business type and in your neighborhood search results. Yelp isn’t the only local review site that got a boost. Sites like Urbanspoon, OpenTable, TripAdvisor, Zagat, Kayak, etc. received higher visibility within the search results following the release of Pigeon.

No more 10 or 7 Pack, 3 Pack only

"Recently Google changed the amount of Google My Business listings it shows on every page of search results. In the past, you could have seen up to 10 Google My Business listings. Then it went to the 7 pack of local listings. Google has confirmed that it will only show 3 Google My Business listings in local search results. If you ranked in position 4-10 you no longer show on those local map listings." The Anatomy of a Local Search Result in Google

Conclusion

Traditional SEO is more important than ever for local listings. Local Directories influence local search results and you want to keep them 100% accurate. Focus on mobile over desktop, more and more local searches are performed on mobile. Finally, local search results are becoming more competitive than ever, these are the things you must do to survive in Google's local search results.

How to Take Full Advantage of Yelp

According to studies, 93% of people who conducted research on a review site also make purchases from the business they look up, Restaurants being the highest converters on Yelp at 78%. Yelp gets a lot of visibility on Google organic search results. It is important that you are taking full advantage of Yelp for your Business.

Find and Claim your Business Page - Respond to viewers as the business owner and Measure visitor activity on your page. According to Yelp, "$8,000 is the average annual incremental revenue generated by a business claiming its free Yelp Business Page." Also, "$23,000 is the average annual revenue from Yelp as reported by Yelp advertisers." Sounds like it is worth the time to claim your Yelp Business Page, if nothing else you have access to your Yelp Analytics.

Free Tools from Yelp - Allows you to fully fill out your business page with business name, address, phone, website, etc. It also allows you to respond to reviews as the business owner. You can upload photos to show off your products and create a Yelp  Deal. 

Yelp Deals are, "...prepaid vouchers that offer consumers an attractive discount (e.g., $10 for $20) at your business. It’s an easy way to give consumers who are already searching for a business like yours an incentive to choose you over the competition. Yelp users can buy your deal or gift certificate directly on your business page via the Yelp website or mobile app."

Yelp Analytics - You get business analytics to track visitor engagement and customer leads from your Yelp Business Page.

Finally the free subscription comes with a mobile app to get all of this information on the go.

Self Service Advertising - Wait 30 days from when you sign up to do any advertising. More than likely Yelp will give you $100 or more to test out the self service advertising platform. This level of service from Yelp will remove competitor ads from your business page. You also get the ability to use Yelp SeatMe.

Yelp SeatMe gives restaurants and bars tools for front-of-house management. Yelp Seatme also allows you to capture online reservations without the cover fee, reservations can be taken on Yelp and your own website. Plus you can let people waiting for a table know their table is ready with a quick ping from Yelp SeatMe.

Full Service Yelp - In addition to all the services you receive for the free version of Yelp, the full service version can add a call to action, a slideshow or restrict competitor's ads for a fee of course.

Yelp Review Badges - "You have a website, and you want to show off your Yelp love. Just copy the HTML code next to any of the buttons and paste it into your website. The review counters will update automatically every time a Yelper writes a review of your business."

I got a bad review, what do I do? If your customers have posted legitimate complaints, don’t be afraid to publicly apologize, be sincere. Also, Describe what has been done to correct the problem.

Lastly, you get a weekly update of your analytics sent to you by email. Easily keep track of how many impressions and clicks you get for your Yelp Business Listing.

Google Adwords Migrates Video Campaigns into Main Interface

What happens to my video campaigns?
Your current video campaigns and campaign data (statistics, settings, targeting criteria, and remarketing lists) will carry over to the upgraded view. You will not lose any data.



A single AdWords buying experience (All campaigns in one place)
If you also have other campaign types such as search and display, your video campaigns  will be unified in a single location in the left-hand sidebar.

• Columns - All will be unified in a single view in the data table. New columns for Conversions (if enabled), Google Analytics (if linked), and more will be available.
• Filters - With advanced filtering tools, you can filter your campaigns by data in any column and save that filter for later use.
• Segments - You'll still have access to current segment types such as device, network, time, view type, click type, and conversions (if enabled).

Targeting groups replaced by ad groups
Like a targeting group, an ad group is a set of targeting criteria and bids that you can manage together. Currently, targeting groups are created independently of video ads. Going forward, an ad group will contain video ads with common targeting criteria and bids.

Also, an ad group can only have video ads with the same format. If you want to run in-stream and in-display ads, you will need to create two different ad groups. Your current targeting groups will be automatically restructured into ad groups. But, the original targeting criteria for your targeting groups will carry over to their updated ad groups.

Improved bulk management tools

• Bulk edits - With bulk editing tools, you can simultaneously update multiple items in one campaign, or across multiple campaigns.
• Bulk uploads - With bulk uploads, you'll be able to download spreadsheets, make edits offline, and then upload the updated spreadsheet back into your account where your changes will be applied.
• Automated rules - You can make changes in your account automatically, based on settings and conditions you choose. For example, you can change your ad status, budget, bids, and more.

New home for video shared library tools

YouTube account linking will merge with other types of linked accounts within the AdWords settings menu.

Video remarketing will be available in the unified AdWords shared library. Remarketing for other campaign types will continue to be available under 'Audiences' in the shared library.

When is the deadline to migrate?
October 12th, if you haven't upgraded already there will be an auto-upgrade of your video campaigns.

The Anatomy of a Local Search Result in Google

Recently Google changed the amount of Google My Business listings it shows on every page of search results. In the past, you could have seen up to 10 Google My Business listings. Then it went to the 7 pack of local listings. Google has confirmed that it will only show 3 Google My Business listings in local search results. If you ranked in position 4-10 you no longer show on those local map listings.

What can you do to combat the Local Algorithm Shift?

Focus on all the ways you can show up for local search results. Here is the anatomy of the current local search query in Google search results:

Google Adwords - The easiest way to show up on local listings is pay for placement in Google Adwords. Depending on what a customer is worth to you will dictate how much you spend per click. Calculate the LifeTime Value of a Customer multiple it by your conversion rate and you have your max cost per click. i.e. $100 x 2% = $2 Max CPC

Google My Business - The second easiest way to show up for local search queries is to register your business with Google My Business. This is a free service offered by Google. This is were Google changed the local algorithm from a 7 pack of listings to only 3 listings as you can see in the screenshot. Support your Google+ account with 100s of other local directory listings to improve your ranking in Google local search results.

Yelp - Google favors Yelp for local search queries. As you can see in the screenshot there are 3 listings that top the organic section of the local search query. Yelp is free to join and they even send you a weekly update of your listing if you claim your business. Some search queries will list yellowpages.com, whitepages.com and foursquare. Don't forget to submit your local listing to the top 4 databases that distribute local listings to 100s of local directories to capture more local search visibility.

Website SEO - The last thing you can do to capture customers from local search queries is optimize your Website with SEO-Friendly URLs, title tags, body content & as many good links as you can find.

Conclusion

It is important to do all 4 tactics to capture visibility in local search results. Never know when Google will decide to change the algorithm and you want to have all your bases covered.

8 Must Use Tools for Social Media

When you are optimizing for Social Media it is always better to use tools that can save you time. Here are 8 tools that can do just that.

Search Marketing City Platform - Manage all your social media and local directories all in one place. Schedule posts and tweets, update the top 4 databases that feed 100s of local directories, and do it anytime 24/7. Also get alerts when new posts, tweets, or reviews show up on your profiles so you can respond quickly. Studies show that after 4 hours an unanswered post can actually hurt brand equity. Finally get leads from Twitter and Facebook to promote your products and services.

Argyle Social - Helps you better understand the value of leads and build stronger relationships. Merge social data with sales numbers to identify prospects.

Facebook Insights - Visualize the last 30 days of your Facebook interactions. This too is free of charge.

Tweet Deck - a desktop solution to monitor and manage Twitter feeds. Also, get notification alerts for new tweets.

Tweepi - Helps you get rid of un-followers and inactives. Plus you can reciprocate followers with the touch of a button. Helps you manage your visibility on Twitter.

Social Bro - Browse your community and identify key influencers, figure out the best time to tweet, track engagement and analyze competitors. Pricing starts at $14/month.

Crowd Booster - Social Media analytics with suggestions and resources to boost online engagement. Get recommendations for tweet timing, audience insights, and content scheduling. Pricing starts at $9 a month.

Tallwind - Track engagement and growth of your Pinterest account. You can also connect Google Analytics to track conversions. Pricing starts at $29/a month although a free version is available.

Found any other great social media tools? Post them in the comments!

10 Link Ideas for New Businesses

As a new business you are looking for ways to get the word out and get a critical mass of customers. Some things you definitely want to do will also increase the amount of links to your new website and get you better rankings in Google organic search results. Unfortunately some of the opportunities cost money but are worth the money.

1) Chamber of Commerce - Utilize your local Chamber of Commerce to increase the amount of very value links. You will get a profile page with link to your website. The Concord Chamber of Commerce, which I am a member of, allows press releases to be uploaded to local new outlets. This can cost you and depends on your cities annual dues.

2) Crunchbase - Not only is this a great free directory to get links to your business website and personal blogs, you even get a link. Plus, it will rank on your business name so you will capture more organic real estate alongside Facebook & Linkedin for your business name on Google organic search results.

3) Facebook, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter - You can create all of them if they make sense for your business. Facebook and Twitter for sure, Linkedin for your business professionals, Instagram for pictures of products or food from your restaurant, and YouTube for videos that promote your business, the products you sell or the services you offer. Don't forget to add a link back to your new business website in these profiles.

4) A Blog - I have been blogging since 2008 and SEM has changed dramatically since that time. What hasn't changed is the link value I get from my blog interactions. The more posts, comments, followers and back links I get to my blog the more value it gives my website. You can also add all your social media profiles to your blog to give them some value too.

5) Yelp - This is a no-brainer. Billions of people search Yelp for new places to eat, shop at or do business with. Yelp also dominates many local search queries. Try this test, type "plumber in concord" in Google and see the two to three listings Yelp has on the top of organic search results. Just under those Google My Business listings.

6) Foursquare - Find the best places to eat, drink, or shop. Your customers can access over 75 million short reviews from local experts. Many of the impressions foursquare gets is from users that download the app and walk around the city and see pins for locations near them. Great place to get a link.

7) Google+ - Go to Google My Business and get seen on Search results, Maps & in Google+. Share posts, updates or images with your Google+ followers. The more interaction the more value Google's algorithm gives it for your links.

8) Local Newspapers, Blogs & Reviews - Ask the journalists and bloggers in your area to do a story on your grand opening. I am sure you can think of something unique about your business. Try starting a conversation with them about something they have written in the past, then when the time is right tell them about your grand opening and unique value proposition.

9) Friends, Family & Industry Colleagues - Do you know the association president of your industry? Do they have a resources page on their website? Great link opportunity. Does a friend or family member blog? Have them interview you about your grand opening.

10) Press Releases - You are probably wondering how a press release relates to SEO and getting links? If you pay to have your press release sent to reputable web newspapers and press release aggregates you will get 1,000s of links from 1,000s of different domains. When I started my business, I didn't rank for my own name because it is somewhat generic. After my press release I shot up to Position 3 for my name on Google organic search results (with more link building I am now in Position 1).

Remember to include a text link in your press release. It is worth the extra money to use your business name as the link text for your homepage. A great place to start is PR Web, they charge about $249 to send out your press release to 4 different geographies.

Conclusion

There are a lot of ways to get your name out into the world and get valuable link value back for your website's search results. Some of these may cost a few dollars but it is well worth the value you get back.

Bing Shopping Campaigns for All

Do Google Shopping campaigns perform well? Want to duplicate that success? Bing Shopping campaigns are now live and very similar to Google Shopping. You can even import Google Shopping campaigns into Bing.

"Bing Shopping Campaigns will soon become the default campaign type for running your Product Ads on Bing. The traditional way of managing Product Ads will sunset this fall, so be an early adopter and check out all the new functionality that Bing Shopping Campaigns has to offer right away! Not only will you be able to manage your Product Ads more efficiently, but you’ll beat the transition rush later this year." According to Bing

What Should I know?
You will need to migrate your Bing Shopping campaigns by the deadline, which is this fall. Eventually PLA Campaigns will be removed.

UPDATE:

Just recently tried to import my Google Shopping campaigns to Bing, no go. Seems as though Google is playing dirty and made them incompatible with Bing. Bing is trying to catch up. You should be able to import from Google shortly.

Google Upgraded URLs Deadline Close

Starting Early September, Google Adwords will fully transition into Final URL upgrade. This means if you have not upgraded your destination URLs to final URLs your ads may stop running. Google is auto updating all they can. The difference is you have a landing page URL or final URL and tracking parameters. This way you don't have to get ads deleted and re-approved every time you change tracking URLs.

From Google:

Upgraded URLs offer several benefits for advertisers, including: 

• less time spent managing URL tracking updates
• reduced crawl and load times on your website
• new ValueTrack parameters that help you gain additional insights about your ads

Destination URLs today 

If you use URL tracking today, you’ll notice that Destination URLs are made up of two components:

1. Landing page URL This is the URL that customers see in their browsers when they get to your landing page after clicking on your ad.
2. Tracking This section includes information like redirects to third party tracking services, ValueTrack parameters, or custom creative IDs.

What’s changing with Upgraded URLs

Upgraded URLs let you enter the landing page portion of your URL and your tracking information separately in AdWords. Now you have the option to update your tracking information at your account, campaign or ad group without having to re-set your ad stats.

Bing Ads Discontinues Content Ads

Starting August 1, 2015 Bing Ads will no longer serve Content Ads on Microsoft, Yahoo and partner websites. They will, however, continue to serve them in apps for Windows Phone and Windows in the U.S. market.

What are Content Ads?
Content Ads are text ads shown next to relevant content on Microsoft and Yahoo websites, across partner sites and in apps for Windows Phone and Windows.

Why the change?
Discontinuing Content Ads on websites is part of a constant effort to improve supply and deliver great results for our customers. According to Bing Ads.

How does this affect you?
If you are running Content Ads, you may experience a drop in clicks and spend in your Bing Ads campaigns. Content Ads represent less than 2% of the total network traffic available through Bing Ads, and most customers should see little to no impact to the overall clicks and spend in their Bing Ads campaigns.