Posted on
by Matthew Hunt
in Blog, Google Places, Google+ Local
Watch this quick video (above) I made to prove to you all that the Zagat review system sucks! It’s so obvious to me that when looking at Google Places analytics that ‘actions’ have dropped across the board on ALL my clients accounts once Google Places started using the Zagat review system instead of the old [...]
Posted on
by Matthew Hunt
in Blog, Google Places, SEO
Google decided to recent Google+ Local back on May 30th. It’s been just over a month now and I can definitively say CTR’s (click thru rates) and phone calls are WAY down for a lot of local businesses since they have moved from the five start rating system to their new Zagat review rating system. [...]
Posted on
by Matthew Hunt
in Blog, Google Places
Recently missing Google Place’s reviews has gotten even worse then normal. Missing reviews has always been a challenge for Google Places, just look at all the threads on Google Places forum about it. Not sure if it’s a bug or a really unsophisticated spam algorithm. Personally I say bug. Looks like Google Places is aware [...]
Posted on
by Matthew Hunt
in Blog, Google Places, SEO, Social, Tips
I was just speaking to Mike Blumenthal on Google Plus about his recent blog post titled “Review Management: 7 Tips on Avoiding Bad Reviews“ and it addresses some very important concepts a lot of small businesses are not implementing into their business procedures and I’d like to re-share Mike’s recommendations and add a few of [...]
Posted on
by Matthew Hunt
in Google Places, SEO, Social
Recently over the last 6 months, there has been no shortage of changes with local search marketing. One of those majors shifts is Google Places Reviews. It is apparent that “reviews” is becoming increasingly more important to Google Places and Google Maps. As these updates and changes to the local ranking algorithms have been beneficial [...]
Posted on
by Matthew Hunt
in Google Places, SEO
Google Maps (Google Places) have recently allowed businesses to respond to reviews left by customers on their Google Places listings. This is a very cool gift they have given small businesses. You can only see this feature when you are logged into your Google Places account and then when you go to your listing. It [...]
Posted on
by Matthew Hunt
in Google Places, Social
Recently one of my clients received a poor review and they asked me how they can deal with these negative reviews. I thought what I wrote to him via email could be useful for any business so I’ve turned into a blog post. Here is what I wrote: (Client), here are some great resources on [...]
Posted on
by Matthew Hunt
in Social
Why Teaching Your Customers How to Post a Google Map Review is Essential to Having Great Rankings in Google Places With Google Places showing up in the organic search engines, it’s ever so important that businesses that provide services locally actively pursue getting positive reviews on their Google Maps listings. By doing this, it accomplishes [...]
Posted on
by Matthew Hunt
in Google Places, SEO
Claiming and filling out your Google Maps Listing is the easy part, but it’s usually not enough when trying to rank within the ultra-competitive Google Maps 7-Box. The last place you want your local business to be listed in is the “More results near…such, such city” which might as well say “More results near invisible [...]
Posted on
by Matthew Hunt
in Google Places, Social
One of the dominant trends in the marketplace is the growing influence of online reviews of products and services, whether those of online companies themselves, or traditional "offline" businesses such as hotels and restaurants. As more and more of the consumer population surfs the web to shop, research potential purchases and compare prices, online reviews [...]
