ROI Local Search

Idearc’s Superguarantee…Gamechanger

David Hucker — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:55:49 +0000

Idearc filed for bankruptcy recently (not unlike many big businesses, they’re experiencing problems). Not because people aren’t using directional media in print anymore. To the contrary, baby boomers; a growing segment of the population, uses yellow pages more than the ‘youth’ demographic and this growing retiree demo will continue to grow over the next decade or so.

Neg Norton of InsideYP blog comments on how the restructuring will help Idearc turn things around:

When Idearc completes its reorganization, I think it will be well positioned to achieve strong financial results. The company has a new strategy in place and, combined with a more suitable capital structure, should be around for a long time to come.

I have to hand it to the thinkers at Idearc however, they’re using the consumer’s desire for stability, reliability and guarantee when it comes to hiring service providers for certain categories of work. The economic crisis that we’re undergoing is a perfect time to try out their guarantee. Take a look at the sample ad below. I’ll probably post a couple of others after I’ve reviewed them.

Of course this campaign won’t bring them out of the dulldrums of a bk (the reorganization is designed to do that), but it shows they’re thinking and in the game to win the hearts and minds of the consumer. It brings more value to their brand because it brings value to the consumer…and advertisers in these categories will find benefit from advertising online with Idearc. If the Superpages site gets more traffic (wakie wakie Idearc SEO’s…I’m talking to YOU ) then the success will spread from the “Superguarantee Categories” to other well trafficked categories.

Here are the categories that are covered under the Superguarantee. Think its a game changer for Idearc or at lest a game starter? If so, why….and if not, why not?

UPDATE: edited out a few spelling errors.

SuperGuarantee…Idearc to “BBB”-ize Advertisers

David Hucker — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:54:07 +0000

http://www.idearcmedia.com/CammsServlet?assetid=10304

Idearc is currently unveiling their Superguarantee for consumers who register and use their advertisers. Up to $500 in guarantee. Great idea! Check it out

See Superpages SuperGuarantee Video

The “How To” of Saving Money on Marketing Spend…

David Hucker — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:13:54 +0000

Everyone running a small business at one point or another wants to know “What Works??”. I only have so much money to advertise and I want to use it in the most effective way. How do I know what works and what is a waste of valuable resources (ie MONEY)? Well, many small business owners still don’t know the answer to that question even after using several methods of advertising over a period of years. Why not? Could be a variety of reasons, but the long and short of it is….there is an easy way and we can show you how.

Simply make your methods measurable.

What, measurable? How? Easy. Most print media, radio or tv (and some internet) all utilize a problem/solution/call to action/PHONE! methodology. Its that PHONE! thingy that you can use to your advantage….and many small, medium and large businesses are using it to find what works and what doesn’t.

Screenshot of client call measurement cpanel

Here is a screen shot of one of our client’s control panels. It graphically represents how many calls and website sessions (visits to their website) the client (a Chicago HVAC installer/servicer) has had in a given period of time.

Not only does the control panel show the times the calls or web sessions occurred, it also shows the breakdown of each medium it occurred in (yellow pages, internet, newspaper, etc)

Breakdown of media type

For Quality Control Purposes…

Yeah, sure…”quality control purposes” they record the calls. No, really! It is for quality control or the call recording option can be used for other things specific to an ad campaign. I’ve seen plenty of cases where a small business owner had no idea that he/she had so many hang ups. A lost lead can be a killer in a slow economy. Businesses nead to capitalize on every lead they can get. So when I tell business owners “hey, people are hanging up when they get your answering machine. Invest in a call answering service so your potential customer gets a live person. This is imperative in servicing companys like heating and air conditioning, plumbing, roofing etc., as they’re serving clients who have an urgent need (furnace is out, plumbing leak, roof leak) and they need it fixed NOW! Having your incoming calls measurable is easy and cost effective.

Compare Ad Mediums

Once you’ve gotten call measurement numbers on all of your advertising (even flyers…printing and distribution costs add up quick), you can then measure the cost of each method of advertising verses the return on investment that each provides you. After that its merely process of elimination and continuing the quest to find an even better way to get that sometimes elusive ROI!

Carpet Cleaning in Orland Park

David Hucker — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:03:26 +0000

If you need clean carpets, call K&T ChemDry

Ahh Spring!! When a young man’s fancy turns to love and a woman’s fancy turns to…getting the winter salt off of the carpets! Whether its just for a once a year spring cleaning or to get the sludge out of the carpets after they’ve taken a post new year’s beating, K&T Chem-Dry fits the bill.

Visit their landing page to get 10% off of carpet cleaning for your home or office. We just finished it for them and optimized a search engine ad campaign for them. K&T Chem-Dry has a patented carbonization cleaning process. They promise a Faster, Deeper and Healthier Clean. To reach them by phone, call 708-336-4230. Here is a short synopsis of their services:

Carpet Cleaning
Upholstery Cleaning
Oriental & Fine Rug Cleaning
Pet Urine & Odor Treatments
Tile, Stone & Grout Cleaning
Leather Cleaning & Restoration
Commercial Carpet Cleaning
Water & Flood Damage Repair & Restoration

Google Maps or Mapquest: Which Has More to Explore?

David Hucker — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:50:57 +0000

Mike Blumenthal makes the point that Google Maps is gaining if not having surpassed Mapquest in users, but points out that users stay on Mapquest’s site longer (see Hitwise graphic at Mike’s post).

Mapquest has more results content than Google Maps?

I surmise that this very well could for a few different reasons:

that there is more actual content on Mapquest’s search results page (see Graphic posted below)
that people may do a ‘local search’ and not delve any deeper than the Google 10 pack, thus grabbing a few phone numbers by which to get the ‘best price’ etc.
that if a searcher does get to the actual http://maps.google.com page to view results, that page is not as crowded as the Mapquest results page. (there’s a lot of stuff on the MapQuest page! See for yourself.)

All Politics is “local”..so use local keywords!

David Hucker — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:18:40 +0000

Adding a Local Keyword to get you that local search engine traffic is key now for all small businesses. Even political blogs understand that if their core readership is a local constituency, then you have to have keywords that help catch the local readership’s keyword searches. If they’re likely to add a geographic identifier in their search, you’re going to come up somewhere in the search results.

Gotta respect the idea. Use the power of local search seo in polical blog. We’re not promoting ‘political blogs’ but I do like that the person behind the article “gets it” when it comes to understanding the power of optimizing your blog for search locally. Even if it is a political blog:

Add a Local Keyword

As you’ve figured out by now, LeftyBlogs.com tries to figure out if a post contains local content - and then displays it on the local page for each state. It’s all based on keywords. (For example, every time it seems the word Blagojevich from an Illinois blog, we know it’s about the governor.)

Now, we’re using the power of the community to improve the logic. You can submit your own local keywords.

They recommend adding a local keyword, your state, general local issues, local politician names, etc. All of this is for Search Engine Optimization, so searchers will be able to find the specific blog by it appearing in relevant searches that have some of those local Buzzwords like “Blagojevich”. Interesting, no?

Widget Update - Snapshots Installed

David Hucker — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:35:41 +0000

Pretty Cool. Now when I blog about a client and what we’ve done for them, you’ll get a neat little snapshot of their website or whatever website we’re talking about. Just roll your cursor over one of the hyperlinks in the page to see what I mean.

Example - Furnace Repair in Chicago (Arctic-Air Heating and Air Conditioning)
Another example: Air Conditioning Installation Chicago

Get your very own SnapShots Wordpress plugin!

Insurance Marketing on the Local Level

David Hucker — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:44:13 +0000

Can’t have too many of these… thank you letters from clients. Some would say ‘testimonials’ but that sounds a little presumptuous. Nonetheless, it is gratifying to get them. This particular client had a challenge to overcome. His agency was a Brooke franchise. Brooke Insurance was new in Illinois in 2008 and I helped several of their agencies get some marketing traction in local search engine optimization. Getting optimized in local search was a great step forward for Daniel Walsh’s Brooke agency. Unfortunately, a few months after he got up and running as a Brooke franchisee, Brooke Corp filed for Bankruptcy protection….. This left many of the franchisees without much in the way of support. Like most professionals, Daniel fell back and regrouped as “Walsh Insurance Services Inc“. We were able to help him rebrand in the Search Engines and many destination IYP sites to which we transmit his data.

Here is how he stands in the most heavily used search engine local search results for:

Business Insurance in Oak Lawn, IL GOOGLE-#1 Yahoo-#7
Auto Insurance in Oak Lawn , IL GOOGLE-#1 Yahoo-#1
Health Insurance in Oak Lawn, IL GOOGLE-#3
Life Insurance in Oak Lawn, IL GOOGLE-#1

He’s already gotten a number of policies sold. One Business insurance policy and seveal others:

Read his testimonial

Walsh Insurance Services in Oak Lawn, IL

“I have now received two calls from clients who found me on the internet. I know it doesn’t sound like a lot, but that is two clients I would not have otherwise had. The client that called me yesterday found me on the internet after becoming frustrated trying to inquire about health insurance on-line. She did a search for Health insurance in Oak Lawn and found me. She liked the site you designed for me and wanted a local agent. She came in today and purchased two health insurance policies. She will be back tomorrow to move over her home, auto, umbrella and rental property insurance.

So I just wanted to say thanks for the great work and let you know I am a very satisfied customer. I was skeptical at first that this would not work. But so far it has been an investment well worth the price.”

Daniel F. Walsh

Walsh Insurance Services, Inc.

10730 S Cicero Ave. Ste. 201Oak Lawn, IL 60453

Phone (708) 499-6100

Fax (708) 422-1093

www.walsh-ins.com

Other former Brooke agents we’ve helped:

Ed Courrier’s Family & Friends Agency– New Website and local search optimization. He’s optimized superiorly for Auto Insurance in Chicago –#7 in Google 10 Pack. Tracy Givens, optimized for “Auto insurance in 60643″ #1 in the Google 10 Pack. That’s not too shabby…

New client Orlando Argueta’s Family & Friends Agency– We did his new website and local search optimization uploads this week. We work nationwide to help our clients dominate their loal markets. Any other former Brooke Insurance Agents feel free to call us for a consultation.

Increasing Value of Retail Spaces=Increased Leased Spaces

David Hucker — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:21:26 +0000

Increased ROI for Tenants: Making the Most of Locations in a Down Market

What every prospective tenant wants to know, but is afraid to ask… “What makes YOUR retail space better than the one down the street? You’re apt to give the old stand by reply, “Why my good man, Location, Location, Location.”

Yeah….pfft! Stop right there. That answer may have gotten you by in good times, but SMB tenants are more sophisticated than ever. That just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Stand Out From the Crowd

And boy, is there ever a crowd of vacancies. To make your spaces stand out from the crowd, you’ve got to show how your location is going to help BRING IN BUSINESS for the tenant. Even if you have a back-end plan to help increase value to your locations, most real estate leasing posters don’t convey it. Drive around and take a look at the increasing number of vacant store fronts and street level office spaces and you’ll see what I mean. Store after store, you’ll see the persistent “Space Available, Call 888-555-5555″. B-O-R-I-N-G…. Is it lack of creativity on the part of commercial leasing firms? Doubtful. Real estate practitioners (both residential and commercial) are some of the most creative minds I know when it comes to intuiting market trends and separating out the ‘what works’ from the ‘what doesn’t work’. More often than not, its fear of the unknown. “Will changing our marketing style attract more tenants…or will it (shudder)..MAKE THINGS WORSE??” Well, things can hardly get worse right now, but they can get better. IF…you can show a prospective tenant how you’re space is better than the Jones’.

Tell Them Your Story: Don’t simply put another repetitive BORING sign out front. You have an opportunity to set your space/leasing program apart. Take it. There is an old proven axiom: “A picture says 1000 words.” The image above is just one example of the many types of signage that work. ROI Media has coupled the ability to provide leads to small business owners with the geographic location making a powerful combination that Commercial Real Estate management companies and REITs can use to attract and retain good lessees. This accomplishes a few things.

keeps your buildings full of profitable lessees.
turns adversarial lessees into grateful ‘clients’.

Michael Sexton of Trump University repeats another old axiom for success: “Identify your competitors’ weaknesses and target them directly” He discussed how to spend your marketing dollars wisely back in the summer of 2007, but his point is even more important in the current economic climate. Don’t make the same mistake ALL of your competitors are. Set yourself and your locations apart from the competitors by taking service to the next level. ROI Media will partner with you to help ensure that your tenants get their share of SMBs who are using the Internet to search for retail and office space.

We have 2 programs currently running depending on the tenants needs and we pretty much tweak every program somewhat to get the highest and best utility for the lessee. Each lead is trackable by phone call or click to your client’s website. Give us a call for a demonstration of how we get these leads for your client or any other questions you may have. (708-361-1600) More on this topic to come…

SEO vs Local Search Optimization

David Hucker — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:20:05 +0000

I think most of us know by now the buzz around the term “Local Search”. Heck, I even capitalize it. Here is a screenshot of a Google Trend comparison:

Seo vs. local search trendline in Google Trends

Good news for SEO companies and for everyone who’s savvy to the benefits of a good SEO program. Let us know your successes with SEO or maybe some of your failures with it.

Any great local SEOs out there give us a shout on the comments section, and don’t forget to leave alink to your blog as well.