“How do people find me on Google?” is a question I hear often. Anymore, that’s THE question of life. And the answer isn’t, “42.”

As it is with search engine optimization in general, there are numerous factors in the “getting found” equation. I’m only going to mention two of them:

1) Google, Bing, whoever, needs to clearly understand what it is you want to be found for. The method of communicating (a.k.a. the code) must be effective and the message (a.k.a. the keywords) must be clear.

2) Others must verify/validate your claim as a relevant answer to the search via links and mentions or citations.

That’s somewhat of an over simplification of the issue, but is, fundamentally, the answer to the question.

Here’s the reward for visiting today:

David Mihm’s Local Search Ranking Factors

…and this deluxe local search info graphic

Web Equity by Mike Blumenthal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.blumenthals.com.

I help people by implementing what is recommended in these 2 resources. Go and do likewise.

To augment what I wrote in that post here are a couple of helpful lists from SearchEngineNews.com.

Top Customer Review Sites (generally speaking)

1. Yelp.com
2. Yahoo Local
3. CitySearch.com
4. Urbanspoon.com
5. JudysBook.com
6. InsiderPages.com
7. TripAdvisor.com

General checklist of things to do/consider regarding your online reputation. (again, from SearchEngineNews.com)

1. Do a search for your business name and the variations your customers use to find you. Look to see what is ranking on the first page of the search results. Everything from Yelp to SuperPages.com needs your attention.
2. Check your business profile in these top review sites to ensure accuracy. If it’s not accurate then claim it as your own and correct the misinformation and be sure the listing (profile) is easy to understand.
3. Set up Google Alerts to track your company name, products and services. You can receive these alerts as they happen, as soon as your name is mentioned via email and rss.
4. If you don’t find your listing on the top review sites - go ahead and add it in there. Don’t add a review to your own business profile, just add it in as a business for others to review. The consumer review site will have a place for you to tell your consumer about your business, just don’t be the first to write a review about your business. Doing so will only make you look desperate to your consumers.
5. Search for other businesses in your area to see what review sites are getting used by Google Places and what is showing up in the search results. Then set up a profile on all the review sites that are active in your area including: JudysBook, CitySearch and Yelp.
6. Monitor and respond to all of your reviews. This shows your consumer base that you are listening and you care what they have to say.
7. Make sure you encourage your consumer base to share their positive experiences on the right review sites: JudysBook, CitySearch, Yelp and any others that are active in your area (these should be the ones you already added your business to above).
8. Give your customers an incentive to share their positive feelings. Encourage them with a 10% discount on their bill, a coupon to use during their next visit or even a free t-shirt. Let them know you care that they’re happy.
9. Have a great customer service team ready to respond to EVERY comment that you get, regardless if it’s negative or positive.
10. You have to pay attention to what they say and where they say it, even if it’s negative. The worst thing you can do is nothing. Ignoring the place where your customers go to vent or rave about their experience with your business can literally boost or kill your profits.

Generic and simple often go together but I do not recommend generic for a proposal. David Maister addressed this issue in an older blog post on his website. Every proposal ought to speak directly to a client’s particular situation or needs. No one wants to be treated generically.

Here are my 3 main guidelines:

• Be clear but not exhaustive.
• Be brief. Get to that point. Try to keep it to one page.
• Be honest. Under promise and over deliver.

What proposal approach works for you? What have you seen be effective?

Paul Greenberg, CRM Magazine, Feb 2010

My primary motive is to be truly helpful to small businesses. What I start with is their website, helping improve it before they run out and buy another one. This involves, in most cases, creating and developing content with a strategic keyword focus as well as promoting the site via social media channels.

Most small businesses are missing out on a lot of great free and low cost internet marketing opportunities. Perhaps there aren’t resources to devote to the effort. Perhaps there is a lack of understanding what to do next. What I offer is the “doing” and the coaching. I can get it done for you or show you how to do it yourself.

Bottom line… if you want help figuring out what to with the internet and your website, I can help. Buy me a cup of coffee and we can talk.