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Nov 19
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Customers May Not Like Your Business – Online Reviews

By Food for thought, Local Search, Online Advertising, Online Marketing, Online Reviews

How do potential customers view your business online?

As a business owner or manager, you should be able to answer this question quickly and confidently…and hopefully the answer is “very positively”.  You need to be completely sure of your answer.  If not, you may need more space for that “white elephant” in the room aka “online reviews”.

Today’s customers do not behave like they did just a few years ago, for you to be successful you need to understand behavioral changes. Questions to consider:online reviews elephant image

  • How are MY customer’s behaviors changing in today’s digitally powered world?
  • What effect does new media like reviews and social have on my business?
  • Where do my customers look for my business or service?
  • How much research goes into their decision to purchase?
  • When I search for my business online, what shows up?
  • What does my online review profile look like?

These types of questions have a direct effect on every business operating today, whether you are a roofer, a demolition contractor, or a home service provider.

Google (& others) recognized these shifting behaviors and decided to uncover how buying behaviors have changed over the last few years.  So Google being Google, decided on a large-scale study to find the answers.  The study, called “The Zero Moment of Truth Macro Study (ZMOT)” was in partnership with Shopper Sciences.  The methodology consisted of: Read More

Nov 12
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Review Generation – Are Bad Reviews Hurting Your Business?

By Local Search, Online Advertising, Online Marketing, Online Reviews, Reputation Management
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently” – Warren Buffet

This famous quote was delivered many years ago. Businesses that didn’t heed the warning probably aren’t around to do things differently. In today’s fast-paced, high technology world, businesses not embracing Mr. Buffet’s sage advice won’t need to wait 20 years to establish a sound reputation. Businesses today can develop a 5-star reputation in as little as a year AND lose a stellar reputation in much less time. In fact, Mr. Buffet’s advice of ruining a reputation in five minutes may actually be an eternity in today’s online world.

Why some businesses dislike reviews

The main driver for what the community thinks about a business is reviews. Reviews are great if a business rightly deserves positive reviews. In a market based economy, the market (customer) has the final vote on the success or failure of a business. Fair or not, this is reality, and business owners need to understand this quickly. Businesses that monitor and react to online reviews will be in a far better position to succeed in the future.

Business owners cite many reasons for disliking reviews, here’s a sample: review generation

  •           Inaccurate information
  •           Unfair, little recourse to rectify
  •           Not real, competitor driven
  •           Anonymous or unverified

Reviews are here to stay, therefore, it is incumbent upon business owners to understand their roles in protecting their online reputation. Business owners aren’t powerless (even though it may feel that way), many tools exist to help shape or re-shape an online review business profile.

What is Review Generation?

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Aug 20
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How Much Does Dumpster Rental Advertising Cost?

By Dumpster Rental Advertising, Dumpster Rental Marketing, Local Search, Mobile Responsive, Online Advertising, Online Marketing, Online Reviews
As the waste management industry continues to consolidate across the country, smaller dumpster rental companies experience difficulty competing against the “waste management Goliaths” of the industry. These Goliath companies hire SEO experts, they spend enormous sums on paid search, and due to their sheer size, their operating costs tend to be lower (they own the landfills).

Six Building Blocks to Online Marketing SuccessHow does a local dumpster rental company compete? The simple answer, quite well actually! The search engines really don’t care if you are a big company or a mom and pop. This isn’t to say that competing is easy, it never is. You must still do the dumpster advertising basics well.

The following steps  identify the “basics” for dumpster rental advertising:

Mobile-friendly website – no way around this step. The search engines give priority to websites that are mobile-friendly versus non-mobile-friendly websites. Why do they do this? Searchers now more than ever use mobile devices to conduct searches. Search engines want to deliver a great experience, so they push up mobile-friendly websites in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page). Plus, you want to convey a professional look and feel to any potential customer. Read More

Jul 30
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Hometown Internet Marketing Becomes HometownLocal, Delivering Local Search Marketing Solutions to Home Service Companies

By Local Search, News, Online Advertising, Online Marketing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Hometown Internet Marketing Becomes HometownLocal, Delivering Local Search Marketing Solutions to Home Service Companies

HometownLocal online marketingJuly 30 – Grand Rapids, MI – Hometown Internet Marketing LLC has become HometownLocal, to better align with today’s changing needs for local digital marketing solutions. Local search is the fastest growing segment of online marketing and HometownLocal continues to develop innovative solutions to meet these needs.

HometownLocal has established itself as the gold standard in lead generation for select home service categories since 2008. Over the past year, HometownLocal has expanded from its lead generation roots to a full suite of online marketing services including website design, reputation management, social media, business listing service, paid search, and lead generation.

The home service categories that HometownLocal specializes in are waste & recycling, home exteriors, demolition, and excavating. A focused approach on specific home services has led to superior marketing results for HometownLocal clients that far exceed what non-specialist, local marketing companies can deliver.

Successful strategy for local search marketing requires a comprehensive approach summed up in HometownLocal’s “Six Building Blocks to Online Marketing Success™”. Read More

Jul 17
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How Much Does Demolition Advertising Cost?

By Demolition Advertising, Demolition Marketing, Local Search, Online Advertising, Online Marketing, Uncategorized
We hear this question quite often from demolition contractors. It usually goes something like this, “I would like to advertise online, but I don’t have a large budget or I’m not sure it is worth it”. Online advertising can be a bit scary, especially if you haven’t had the time to research available options. Many small businesses typically don’t have tons of cash lying around for their marketing budgets and with what money they do have, they certainly don’t want to waste it.Demolition Online Advertising

This article will help sort out available options and to raise your level of online advertising knowledge.

Online advertising falls into a few categories, such as:

Paid Search Advertisements (AdWords) – Google, Yahoo, and Bing

These are small advertisements that show up on the top and side of the Search Engine Results Page (SERPs) based a searcher’s query.  The price is based on a bidding model; you compete for placement on the page. The higher you are willing to bid per click, the more likely a searcher will land on your website. Read More

Jun 06
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If You Don’t Tell Your Story, Others Will – The Value of Online Reputation Management

By Local Search, Online Advertising, Online Marketing, Reputation Management

Online reputation managementFor small businesses, many positive changes have occurred with the creation of the internet. Today, small businesses can compete with the larger, more established companies. There are some negative things that can happen as well, such as spamming and negative reviews. All of these can influence your online reputation, and this is why you need online reputation management.

What is online reputation management?

Online reputation management is a process and strategy that involves monitoring, finding and then influencing the reputation and credibility that you have in the online world. Through good online reputation management you will be able to develop a good reputation thus shaping the online perception of your business. Read More

Jan 26
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Online Reviews – Are They More Important Today?

By Local Search, Online Advertising, Online Marketing, Online Reviews

online reviewsThanks to the increased exposure of the web all over the world, more and more people are turning to the internet when it comes to making important decisions in their lives. Because of this, online reviews are becoming more and more relevant when it comes to searching what customers think about a certain product or service.

Why people read online reviews?

The answer is very simple, because they manage to obtain immediate access to these reviews and at the same time the opinions come from many past customers, which definitely makes reviews more relevant. More than 90% of online buyers are reading reviews for any product or service, which means that if your business wants to generate more sales, it definitely needs to have a lot of positive reviews online in order to get the attention of potential buyers. The #1 landing spot for your reviews is Google. Google likes to see reviews listed for businesses. In fact, many people in the SEO world believe having reviews helps with organic rankings. Google has never confirmed this, but the belief still exists. Read More

Nov 07
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[VIDEO] A Matter of Facts – Mobile Responsive Websites

By Local Search, Mobile Responsive, Online Advertising, Online Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Should I care if my website isn’t mobile responsive?

The simple answer, absolutely! Upwards of 50% of your website traffic is coming from a mobile device. If your website isn’t mobile responsive, research shows you are losing site visitors and ultimately money.

Check out this video and see the facts related to mobile responsive websites and design.



Oct 31
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[VIDEO] What Is An Enhanced Business Listing & How Can It Help My Business?

By Local Search, Online Advertising, Online Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Every business should have an “enhanced business listing”. Why? Search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing rely on signals from well respected directories to build trust, so HometownLocal created DirectFeed.  DirectFeed is an enhanced business listing service that removes the hassle of manually inputting your business information across the many search engines and directories.

DirectFeed sends your business information to over 125 directories for greater visibility to potential customers.  This tedious task can take hours and sometimes days to find and add your business information. DirectFeed can handle this task seamlessly, so you can get back to running your business.

How does DirectFeed work? Check out this video to see DirectFeed in action.

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Oct 10
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FREE SEO Audit Tool – Is Your Website Helping Your Business? Find The Answer Here [VIDEO]

By Local Search, Mobile Responsive, Online Advertising, Online Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The ability of your website to draw traffic depends almost entirely on the strength of your SEO content. As a website owner who relies on revenue from your site, you should be very interested in how your SEO content is performing on the various Internet search engines.

The most effective way to determine whether or not your SEO content is effective is to utilize our SEO audit tool free of charge. This is a powerful tool that will let you know if you are reaching your audience and if your message is being read.



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