Mark Stolzenberg is the founder of New York Acting School for Film and TV

changes have made Google better. But there is much work yet to be done.  We have a long time client who offers acting classes in New York City.  Like any other person offering classes, you might be searching for acting instructor, acting teacher, acting school, or even acting academy.

As all SEO folks know, there are also reverses such as NYC Acting Classes, and plurals such as acting schools, teachers, etc.  So how do these minor changes in keywords effect outcomes in search.  The client is New York Acting School for Film and Television with the website being http://www.actingclassforfilm.com.  For acting classes NYC the client is highly ranked on Google Places but on page seven for the website in the Everything pages.  For acting Schools NYC the reverse is true.  The good news for the client is that they are highly ranked for both in the blended everything search.  The bad news is that acting schools is not visible in the Google Places search.

Now it is certainly true that some on page SEO changes might result in changes in these results, and changes in the Google Places listing might also move things around.  However, since it is clearly true that the content of the website effects the results of Google Places, it just seems odd that the two searches came up with exactly opposite results.

We have plenty of other examples where the order of the words, the addition of the state to a city, and the changing of keywords to plurals will change the results.  While this may be somewhat troubling to SEO experts and to the companies whose sales are adversely effected, I currently find other things even more troubling.  So here is my current wish list for Google Places:

1. No unclaimed listing should ever be seen above claimed listings.  This makes no sense.
2. Why does it appear that quantity of reviews has absolutely no effect on ranking anymore?
3. Why are you allowing editing by the public of claimed sites?
4. Why bother to have an additional details section in the listing set up if you don’t use it for anything.

That’s a really short list.  18 months ago I published a list that was far more complex.  A couple of those are still not resolved such as better picture handling with captions and captions for the videos so visitors have some clue as to what the videos have on them.  But I’d settle for the new short list.

What about you?  Do you have Google Oddities that you’d like to add to the list?

Unique Properties Does Great Kitchen Remodels

Unique Properties Company owns a construction company doing remodeling in Dallas.  They do anything from bathrooms and kitchens to complete custom home building in Dallas and for 30 miles around Dallas.  Using 100% white hat approaches, we had managed to get solid positioning for Unique Properties for both their website at http://www.UniqueHomeBuild.com and their Google Places Listing for remodel Dallas and a few others lesser keywords.  This made his phone ring, and he’ll be very happy to tell you how thrilled he is with what we’ve done for him.  But I wasn’t happy.

I wanted him to be at the top of the page for Kitchen, bath, room, and every other kind of remodel.  But his location is not in Dallas, so we were handicapped.  You’ll note that we inherited his so-so url for the website, at least in terms of SEO.  After Panda and the huge Google Places changes of last April, we were looking a little better.  After Venice we really started to pop.  And now, after Penguin, we are on page 1 for almost every keyword either for the website, the Google Places or both.

This is typical of the results we’ve seen.  Clients that have been with us a long time are seeing outstanding rankings right now.  Those that are just coming on board are taking longer than ever to score great rankings, because it takes time to do it right, and the established websites and Google Places listings are those that are already white hat.

Have you had the same experience?  Tell us what you’ve seen?

We’re affecting people’s lives. For example, the client is a restaurant and there is waitress who depends on tips to support her family (two kids, food, rent etc).  These clients pay us to help them not only to stay open for business but to support the people and families that count on them.  The more tables she can wait on, the more tips that waitress can make. You get the picture.

Last year, we were referred to a bakery.  The owners had not taken a paycheck in months.  They were behind in the bills, including rent and taxes.  They were deciding whether to close their second location in hopes of saving the primary location.  A quick look at their financials showed them losing $200 a day, with or without the second shop.

We recommended that they raise their prices immediately, cut back a bit on staff, and push for $200 a day average increase in sales. As a company, we not only look at their Internet presence like 99% of the Search Engine Optimization companies out there but we look at the health and heart our clients businesses.

Now the company is paying its bills on time, taking home some money for the family, has increased staff to take care of the increase in business that resulted from our SEO and other marketing efforts on their behalf.

We do work with larger clients but with the ‘small business’….we really get to see the results of our efforts.

There’s another side to all of this. The client is a locksmith in Dallas, TX. This client screened us before we were hired, just as we did our due diligence on their business. Let’s say we didn’t  investigate their company and did work for a shady locksmith, then the customer who would call the locksmith would get ripped off. Believe me, it happens all the time. It is our strict policy to only work with reputable businesses.

We also only work with one business type per city, state or the US depending on the business type. If it’s a pet store in Bakersfield CA, we would only work with that specific pet store in Bakersfield, CA. You can’t have two #1’s!

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We also offer a Free SEO Analysis

(Source: TMCNet June 28, 2011)

Last week Google launched a new feature within their Google Analytics Reporting Package, which shows the number of people who are accessing your website using a mobile device.
I have reviewed these reports and the numbers range from 10% to 35% (and increasing monthly).
Also, Google can now give us the key terms that people are using to find a desktop website vs a mobile website through their Adwords Tool. The majority of the time the key terms are the same but this reports does show some differences in how people using mobile devices search for businesses and services.

By having a mobile website, your company gives mobile device users a more direct line to your business….actually, your business phone. One great feature is the ‘click-to-call’ button. The user can click your phone number on your mobile website and the mobile device will automatically call your phone number. There are many other reasons to have a mobile website, but one of the other more compelling reasons is that it is designed for mobile device viewing. Standard websites are hard to read and navigate on a mobile device.

Coding a website to automatically go to your mobile website is very important. You can see how this works on your smart phone, ipad or iphone. Go to www.PanchosRestaurant.com (Manhattan Beach, CA Restaurant) and you will see that it is redirected to m.PanchosRestaurant.com. The same goes for www.MauriciosGrill.com (Bakersfield CA Restaurant).  www.RayneDrops.com (Los Angeles Water Softener Company) goes live this week. The mobile device user does not have to do anything, just surf and use the easier to use mobile website on their mobile device. This is called Site Transcoding. Google Mobile, AOL, Windows Live and others use transcoding software in order to give their users a more uniform user experience. In practice this means that they have decided to impose mobile web site presentation standards of their own, and if your site doesn’t conform to them, then they will take your content and repurpose it to the design, layout and format that they feel is best suited to the user and her device.

Of course, almost every local and national business type will benefit from having a mobile website. We are currently rolling out mobile websites in many different business categories but the basic features for each vertical are basically the same.

Many companies have invested hundreds and thousands of dollars on their websites and online presence; however, very few are catering to an ever growing segment of their customer base and prospects…the mobile device user.

The biggest part of the mobile website development is deciding on what content and features you want on your mobile website. The click-to-call button is the most obvious feature but here are more ideas for your mobile website:
1. Embed Google Map – Make your business easy to find.
2. Mobile Website Specific Coupon – Great way to generate additional business.
3. Newsletter Sign Up – Increase your marketing database.
4. QR Code Campaign – Great for tracking marketing campaigns.
5. Contact Forms (Instant Quote, Emergency Service, Order Service) – Make it easy for customers and prospects to contact you.
6. Social Media Integration (Facebook, Twitter) – Mobile devices integrate nicely with social media.
7. Youtube Videos (Promotional, Tutorials and others) – Tell your story in a video.

Your site visitors (and all major search engines) are using the mobile web in different ways and for different purposes. Phones Are Not Built Like PC’s (and Macs).People are accessing the web using a small keypad, predominantly with one hand. This tends to make a difference to their patience thresholds, and makes SEO, usability and ‘findability’ critical to your mobile marketing efforts. Content and presentation methods of the desktop web will no longer apply in the mobile domain. Users are more than likely to be on the go. Being on the move means users are likely to be performing tasks.  They may be searching for location information and/or time-sensitive actions, such as searching for a particular restaurant or a particular piece of information, flight departure time or an emergency service such as a locksmith, plumber and others. Almost every business type can benefit from having a mobile website.

Optimizing a mobile website for search for search engines takes much more thought as you have space for fewer key terms. The planning of this phase is critical to make sure you mobile website is found and clicked. Search engines are using ‘predictive search’ on mobile searches just as they do on their desktop versions but with fewer key terms.

Contact us for more information about building your mobile website and optimizing it. We currently have two full-time developers working on mobile websites. If you’re wondering the cost of a mobile website, you can figure $500.00 to $1500.00 (depending on the features and the amount of content).

800-708-1748
gomobile@page1listings.com

Get a Mobile Website Design quote.

My initial thoughts were dismissive.  Comments, whether text or video, were certainly becoming more pervasive, but most of them were either inappropriate or spam.

Friends of a video channel?  Why would there be any serious move towards folks becoming friends of a channel?  Subscriptions? That made more sense, but other than some big hits, how would that work?  Would more than a few visitors to lesser known videos actually subscribe so that they could be notified of future videos?

We all know how fast things move online, but in that short window, YouTube has gone from being a blip on the social media playing field to the talk of search engine marketing.  What happened?

Ipod, Iphone, Ipad, and their cousins in the Android world.  YouTube is now ubiquitous.  Your friends recommend videos to you. You check out the results of Idol and Dancing the morning after through YouTube.  And most folks when given a choice between learning a new skill or how something works would much rather watch a video about it than read.

Under the radar and with little fanfare, YouTube Channel environments have been upgraded to have the look and feel of Websites or a Facebook page.  Videos created by the channel owner can be mixed with videos favorited and then organized by topic, date, or other approach.  The result can be huge stickiness to the channel as fans of the subject matter watch video after video.

For business owners who have wondered how to get traction on Facebook, Twitter, or their blog, the creation of even amateurish how to videos or product reviews can result in 100′s of subscribers and friends.  With a bit of additional work, these same videos can be the very method by which visitors are drawn to the other social media platforms.

To add to the overall effectiveness, the videos can be embedded or linked at Facebook or blogs and websites, and announced on Twitter and LinkedIn, sending fans from those sites over to the video channel where they might subscribe or become friends.

While this entire marketing environment lends itself more to businesses who have fans who will be interested in getting more content in the future from that channel, there are multiplied other possible targets:

• Professionals who might recommend you and be interested in info from your niche
• Friends of those who need your services find you in these places
• Others in your field pick up your video and show it on their blogs or other sites
• With so much information online, you are far more likely to be found

While many of the content possibilities online can be created as DIY projects by owners with lots of time on their hands, or through the use of employees with a flare for these kinds of things, a comprehensive social media strategy with video as the foundation is not for the feint of heart.  Our staff at Page 1 Listings.com is specially trained to maximize the use of these tools in such a way as they are most likely to result in traffic to your business.

There are multiple reasons why this might happen. Sometimes the owner has been playing with some black hat approaches (or at least gray hat), and Google has finally said enough already. Usually such a banishment is accompanied by comments in the Google Places Account Information. Possible Account Suspended, or “this location is not supported.”

You may run into this same result due to inadvertent errors in following the Google rules. That is why we set up the $100 check under the hood option for our readers. In most cases we can diagnose the issue and have you up and running in no time.

However, there are other times when the issue goes deeper. Fortunately the Google errors have subsided since last year, but they haven’t gone away. When Google has goofed, it can take numerous emails and trips to the forum to get a resolution. Even Google says this can take 6 weeks.

The third possibility is that you have lost out to the competition. This can be for a multitude of reasons having to do with location, reviews, improvement by them in their listings (by someone like me), or just more and more folks claiming their site or being added to the neighborhood by Google.

Give me a call and I’ll help you with your Google Places Listing or Listings at 310-987-2909

Enjoy…

Hi Oliver,

I will make it really simple.  Go to the big gate, if it is locked, the combination is 1549875 divided by the square root of 612 as an integer. Once you get inside the gate you will see a black tarp covering a piece of electronic equipment.  Ignore that. Go to the compressor.  Spin the flywheel on the compressor two full revolutions (this is just for fun).  On the side of the flywheel you will see a series of letters.  If you take the alphabet and write it out backwards then each letter refers to an inverse number. Take the algorithm of “x” times the sum of all the digits and multiply it by the negative power of the one number that is on the flywheel.  That will give you the combination to the lock box that holds the key to the door of the main electrical panel.  Be careful not to touch any wires in that panel as it is 220 volts three phase.  Wedged between the 200 amp breaker and the 100 amp breaker there will be an envelope.  Open that envelope and it will tell you where I hid your check.

I won’t be in phone range so if you have any problems with this, you are on your own.

Best,

Steve

Cataldo’s Pizza Restaurants in Bakersfield and Tulare CA hires Page1Listings to help them increase their online visibility on Google Places for key terms related to their pizza restaurants.

Cataldo’s Pizza is known for having fresh, delicious New York style pizza.  They hand toss their pizzas in a brick oven, and rotate them during the cooking process. You may have to wait a little longer, but the quality and the savory pizzas made are well worth the wait, therefore ensuing their motto: ”Wassa Matta U! U wanna Good Pizza U Hava Wait!”

Cataldo’s Pizza has everything from pizzas, to jalepeno poppers, to lasagna, to much more!  Not only does this pizza place have appetizing food, but they serve beer, and provide the entertainment with big screen tvs! Not feeling like heading out? Then take advantage of their delivery option! In addition to that, Cataldos’ Pizza provides catering! Check out Cataldo’s Pizza at www.cataldospizza.com

Call Today or Contact Us Today For A Free Consultation

800-708-1748

Personal referrals are extremely important to general contractors, but by using a combination of website galleries and Youtube videos, trust could be built without the personal referral.  We also use testimonials on the website, on videos, and reviews on Google Places to provide more belief in the contractor.

It is getting harder and harder, though, to get visibility outside the natural few miles around the address of the business.  We now offer our PowerOnSEO product to generate landing pages in every city for up to 50 miles around.

In addition, we have brought CraigsList into the mix of tools.  Consumers are no longer going to the services section of a daily paper to find a contractor, so CraigsList is the new way to get this exposure.  Our CraigsList tool provides constant visibility in the sections we target.

Our websites for contractors include quote forms on the front page, and other action stimulation tools.  The website is supplemented by blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In.

Call Today or Contact Us Today For A Free Consultation

800-708-1748

When we started helping The Nail Shop Maui, Judy Stockwell and her daughter, Jamie, had just taken over the nail and skin care spa in Kihei, Maui.  The shop had suffered from the recession and owner fatigue, with sales falling almost 50% from their peak in 2007.  As with any destination travel location, sales were effected by the loss of tourist trade and because the local clients were impacted by the poor economic conditions.

in addition to the locals and the tourists, an important part of this nail spa’s income came from snow birds that only come for a few months in the Winter.  The Nail Shop Maui is upscale and the prices reflect that.  So the wealthier clients that can afford to spend a few months in the island are the core client.

Starting with improvements to the website and blog, then moving to Facebook, the shop now has great visibility in the area.  We made sure they had at least five reviews on Google Places.  This combined with seven reviews on Yelp has added to their phone ringing more frequently.  YouTube videos of the grand opening has been a huge hit.  Other YouTube videos zero in on specific products that clients are likely to run out of while on vacation. Oh, did we mention that The Nail Shop is ranked #1 on Google Places for ‘nail shops maui’.

Nail shops are particularly positioned to take advantage of both search engine marketing and traditional marketing.  The Nail Shop Maui has created an incredible look in both the shop and their advertising materials.  They have also created a great email list, and through our efforts generate almost 50% opens on each months mailing.

So if you have a nail shop in Des Moines or New York City, we can help you bring customers to your door through our extensive Internet Marketing expertise.

Call Today or Contact Us Today For A Free Consultation

800-708-1748