Local Search Marketing + Social Media = SEO Success

Once again, search algorithm changes at Google have we marketers and digital designers evolving our search strategies for even better SEO results.  If your business bottoming out in search rankings, here are a few powerful tools that, when used together, could help get your local company information rise to the top and stay there.

Remember, the more you engage and interact online, the better your search results will be.  Your business Facebook page may show up before your website in a search. As could your G+ page. And your SuperPages local listing.  Make the absolute most our of your ‘About Us’ and ‘Company History’ sections.  Fill ‘em up with lots of valuable, pertinent information that will drive buyers to your site.  Give those readers a feel for your company culture. Is it ruled over by a bitter, rejected megalomaniac stunted by a classic Napoleon complex who marks up his products by at least 75%?  
Boost the number of searches for your website through sharing and interaction on Yelp, Google + and Facebook and other social platforms. Share great content and get more eyes on it. Get your brand out there!

More good links are created every time you share a link to your site on a social media platform. Social media accounts are quality sources for links for Google to index, which in turn boosts your SEO ratings.  Keep those accounts in good standing so you don’t jeopardize the ranking you earned.
My favorite…. Google Author Rank.  We should all know by know that Google loves quality content. It spends millions of dollars and man hours to ensure its search results are relevant and filled with with content without a hint of SPAM.  Link any content you write to your Google + account in order to build trust and establish a reputation in your field. Help visitors seeking an expert find your information first through Google Author Rank and boosted rank.

Don’t forget your Keywords. Obviously, don’t keyword stuff.  But don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Keywords, when used properly, are a great way to inform Google exactly what you do, who you want to see you and where you want to be.   Which leads me to the next point…..
Include geographic location information on all your social media accounts and local listings.  Geotag all your images for local search, every time.

Social media can be a powerful tool when used in tandem with local search marketing. Use these tools to get a solid start on rising up through the search results and establishing a firm presence for your brand.

Need help on your local search marketing?  Call or email now to get started.  Fresh Mint Marketing believes in a holistic approach to marketing. 

Sync your search, social, local and print with Fresh Mint.

What Business Wants to Be Invisible?

by Lissa Monroe

We should all know by now that when customers want a local product, they start by searching online. So we should also all know by now that if you are not ranked highly on search engine results pages for the keywords within your industry, you are invisible. As in, not there. As in, you do not exist in the eyes of the people searching for your local product.

You have several options on SERPs (search engine results page).  Organic results on a Google SERP may include:

• Your optimized website
• Quality citations that function as backlinks to your website
• Your Google Maps listing
• Your Google+ Business listing (this may be merged with your Maps)

Google Maps is a powerful tool in local search that should not be ignored.  Especially if you don’t have a website. OR a mobile-optimized website. Local customers can come primarily from this listing alone.  From the snippets of information, potential customers can find links, your phone number, reviews, directions and much, much more on your Maps listing.

Its surprising how many local businesses are just completely missing from SERPs all because they don’t have a Maps listings or have done absolutely nothing with the listing they do have.  You could search directly for these businesses by their name and their listing won’t show up!  Invisible.

But, the good news, it’s fixable.  Follow these three simple steps to keep your local business from being invisible.

1. Create A Business Listing On Google Maps/Places. If you want to show up on the SERPs, you must have something to show!  Be aware, this step alone won’t grant you Top Dog status on Google since there are other metrics used for ranking and relevancy but it’s a great place to start.
2. Provide Relevancy and Authority Through Quality Citations – Providing citations is where Local Search Marketing most differs from traditional Search Engine Optimization. Citations are directory listings for local businesses. In order to prove relevancy, each citation must match the business listing on Google.  Google looks at the provided NAP (name, address, phone) on your businesses listing. The more information that matches, the better.
3. Provide Relevancy and Authority Through Reviews and Activity – It is important for your business listing to have consistent activity. Customer reviews are a great way to provide activity. Scheduled optimization is another. Use enhanced content and promo tools such as coupons or blogs. Not only does this create activity, it can also influence your potential customer.

Ready to take your local search marketing seriously? 
Call or email Fresh Mint Marketing and we'll find the right
marketing strategy for your small business marketing. 

You've Got a Bang-up Website But....

Your website's not showing up in local search results.

Get found with targeted search engine optimization from
Fresh Mint Marketing and Design.

1. Speak the same language. 

In order for search engines to know quickly and accurately what they need to know about your website to rank it properly it is imperative that your website speak the same 'language.' And how do you do that? Make sure you have your city and state listed in:

• Title tags
• H1 headings
• within your landing page URL,
• Alt tags
• Meta description
• and within your excellent, relevant content

2. NAP

Your NAP (Name, Address, Phone) is also key to ranking well on search engines. Use schema markup language on your landing page NAP for even better results.  Make sure you use a local phone number with area code. No tracking numbers!

3. Citations are a prime factor in local rankings.

If you have missing or incorrect information, it is sending sends confusing signals to the search engines, plummeting your rank and leaving your data in the dust. Find and fix your Tier 1 data providers and Tier 2 local citation sources. Start with the top local citations for this area:

Top Citation Sources in Southeast, AL

• AL.com
• Superpages
• Yelp
• Facebook
• Manta
• Merchant Circle

4. Be where Google expects you to be. 

For a big boost in ranking, embed a Google map on your landing page that not only points to your address but also your (verified and optimized) Google Plus Business Page.

Matt Cutts Comes Out With Big Mobile Data

by Lissa Monroe

Google Mobile Queries May Surpass PC Search This Year

Google's Matt Cutts spoke at SMX West last week and said he “wouldn’t be surprised” to see mobile search exceed desktop queries in 2014. We all knew this was coming..... mobile (and tablet) searches have been steadily increasing since data plans became so much more affordable. That, and there are 2 billion desktops in the world and more than 5 billion mobile devices.

In anticipation of this inevitable eclipse, Google is pushing  (as illustrated in the new SERP layout) for a cross-platform marketing and experience. One experience for all users, regardless of whether they are searching on their smartphone, tablet or desktop.

Is your business still marketing in the Stone Age? What can your business do to tap into this powerful mobile market? Here are a few suggestions....

• Have an optimized, responsive website. If a mobile or tablet user cannot see your website, they will leave. Quickly.
• Claim and optimize your local sites on search engines and directories. The real estate on mobile screens is small and precious.  Make sure you are on it and stay on it with 21st Century Lead Generation.
• Engage your customers on a scheduled, regular basis through a solid Social Media strategy. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and more have developed apps that mobile users use every day.

Ready to jump into 21st Century Lead Generation?
Call or email Fresh Mint Marketing today. 

Let's Move Together (it's that time of year!)

 Let's start with a few sobering facts about arthritis:

• Fifty million Americans or one in five adults plus nearly 300,000 children have some form of doctor diagnosed arthritis. 
• Arthritis is one of the most prevalent chronic health problems and the most common cause of 
• Arthritis limits everyday activities such as walking, dressing and bathing for millions of Americans. 
• Arthritis results in 39 million physician visits and more than a half million hospitalizations. 
• Arthritis costs the U.S. economy nearly $128 billion annually. 
• Arthritis affects people in all age groups including nearly 300,000 children. 
• The risk of arthritis increases with age and is more common among women than men. 
• Arthritis refers to more than 100 different diseases that affect areas in or around joints. 

Based on NHIS data, approximately 67 million people age 18 or older

My own personal involvement began with my grandmother, Mary Jane Morgan, who suffered from arthritis for years. She was  miserable, with little or no relief really available. My mother was diagnosed in her mid-30s and by 45 had to have a full hip replacement.

Who hasn't been affected by arthritis?  Maybe a better question would be who hasn't been affected yet?

I am asking every person, every company, that I know to get involved.  To do just one thing (join the walkers) or the other (sponsor the walkers). You can help fund arthritis research, education and community programs, and get us closer to a cure for the millions who suffer from this debilitating disease.

Please visit the team page and get involved, now.

Why the Average Visitor is Spending Only 15 Seconds on Your Website (and what to do about it!)

by Lissa Monroe

If I have only 15 seconds to grab your attention, then I better have content and design that stands out, and stands out quick!


According to data by Tony Haile of Chartbeat, content on the web isn’t being read the way we think it is. So, instead of tracking article views, maybe we should focus on the time spent on the page, and how much, if any, engagement there is.
But be aware, the data compiled by Chartbeat is comprised of “blog posts and the but most are traditional news/media posts. Also, the term "articles" doesn't include homepages or landing pages; they're the news/content/media posts, pages, stories."
The majority of us aren’t traditional news/media content sources. We don’t all have the same goals, challenges or business models. But we all want to engage our visitors. Here are a few ways that can make that happen. 

People want fresh, relevant content.

According to TIME, "Articles that were clicked on and engaged with tended to be actual news."  On the other hand, articles whose activity was as stale as its content, were those with generic, superlative non-changing content such as articles that were “Top, Best, Biggest, Fictional etc.”  This is pretty surprising since these types of articles make up a HUGE chunk of leads and views every month, but then again, we are looking at a definite snapshot of 30 days. 
Newsworthy content will be a shoe-in for first place. It’s relevant. But keep in mind, views will spike when it is new and plummet when it becomes old news.


According to Ginny Soskey of HubSpot, evergreen content and newsworthy content are two different plays -- one for longterm, sustainable growth, the other for quick splashes of traffic. The point should not be to double down on newsworthy content. You longterm, sustainable traffic to your site. Traffic that converts into sustainable growth for your business, not content that brings you business one month and then trickles off.

If you are trying to reach short-term traffic and lead generation goals then cater to both crowds. Have quality evergreen content and newsjack for the fresh stuff.

Apparently, despite how many times your content is shared, people are still not reading it.

Chartbeat’s data on social media's influence on reading engagement showed that out of 10,000 articles shared on social media, they found that there was no relationship whatsoever between the amount a piece of content is shared and the amount of attention an average reader will give that content. 

Refocus to engage only the most avid readers? Find those that consume the most content and spend more time sending them articles?
There are two ways that visitors may have come to your site via social media. They stumbled on a link and something specific caught their eye. They found you passively so small wonder they aren’t the most engaged of readers. Or they found your site through a SERP and are in active search mode already. They are more engaged because they are looking for something specific and will take the time to find it.
Focus on search engine optimization (SEO) to lure those more engaged visitors into your website.  Rethink how you are utilizing the platforms available to you and find out whether you need to spend more time on the optimization of your website.  

Don't use traditional web banner advertisements.

TIME says, "Click-through rates are now averaging less than 0.1% and you’ll hear the words banner blindness thrown about with abandon."

The majority of a visitor’s attention is spent below the fold. It goes without saying that advertisers should probably focus on placing their ads in places people actually look and making them interesting enough to get visitors to look at their for a while.

We, as advertisers, need to look at time and attention instead of views and clicks to get a better ROI.   It all points back to #1, create quality content that gets people to stick around and read your stuff.
According to user testing by the Nielsen Norman Group, no matter what the engagement level, people ignore banner ads. They say, "If users are looking for a quick fact, they want to get done and aren't diverted by banners; and if users are engrossed in a story, they're not going to look away from the content."

Ginny Soskey of HubSpot says it best, “Focus on creating your own quality content. Be the content on the page that keeps people engaged -- not the ad on the side that's either interrupting an experience or getting ignored. Get the pageviews on your site instead of renting out others'.

Call or email Fresh Mint Marketing
to start your custom local marketing strategy today. 

The New Google Search Layout is Here to Stay (even though we are all like, 'really? That's the best you could come up with??)

by Lissa Monroe

First displayed on a limited basis, the new Google search layout is now live to all despite poor reviews. 

The layout’s new font and removal of link underlines also displays the AdWords ads differently. Headlines are larger and the rich snippets are lighter with an adjustment to wider typeface.
AdWords are no longer the familiar light yellow in the background instantly designating it as the advertising space for so many years. There is no shaded background at all in the new layout. Instead, there is an underline separating the ads from the organics as well as a tiny ‘Ad’ next to the green URL. 

Besides the aesthetics, the new Google search layout is having a big impact on your SEO. Headlines are now being truncated.  The new optimized limit is 59-60 characters in a title.  This means having to rework all your titles so your snippet isn’t affected in SERPs which could affect your click-throughs.

Google's explanation regarding the new layout is that they are making improvements for mobile and tables. Unfortunagely, this change also affe carried over to desktop.  Jon Wiley of Google says, this change creates improved readability and a much cleaner look. And there is an end goal of creating a consistent user experience across multiple devices (desktop, mobile tablet):

“Towards the end of last year we launched some pretty big design improvements for Search on mobile and tablet devices (mobile first! :-). Today we've carried over several of those changes to the desktop experience.

We've increased the size of result titles, removed the underlines, and evened out all the line heights. This improves readability and creates an overall cleaner look. We've also brought over our new ad labels from mobile, making the multi-device experience more consistent.

Improving consistency in design across platforms makes it easier for people to use Google Search across devices and it makes it easier for us to develop and ship improvements across the board.”

So, get used to the new layout ‘cuz its here to stay whether we like it or not.

Having a hard time making to the SERPs (search engine results page)?
Fresh Mint Marketing can help. Call or email today.

If You Ever Wondered About St. Patrick.....

St. Patrick depicted with shamrock
in detail of stained glass window in St. Benin's
Church, Kilbennan, County Galway, Ireland

Just out of festive curiosity and the fact that I must distract myself and my beloved since we have both given up alcohol for Lent, here are few interesting facts about our mysterious Saint Patrick...

• He's not actually Irish. When he was about 16, he was captured from his home in Great Britain, and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family. 
• It's the date of his death we celebrate.  It is celebrated inside and outside Ireland as a religious and cultural holiday. In the dioceses of Ireland, it is both a solemnity and a holy day of obligation; it is also a celebration of Ireland itself.
• He was a bishop and missionary in the 5th century.
• He's known as the "Apostle of Ireland".
• There are two Patricks.  Many of the traditions attached to Saint Patrick actually concerned Palladius, who was sent by Pope Celestine I as the first bishop to Irish Christians in 431 before Patrick was dispatched.
• He had visions. 
• He was charged with some 'shady dealings' regarding money.
• "He converted wealthy women, some of whom became nuns in the face of family opposition" 
• Legend has it St. Patrick taught the Irish about the doctrine of the Holy Trinity by showing people the shamrock. For this reason, shamrocks are a central symbol for St Patrick's Day.
• He did not banish snakes from Ireland. According to National Geographic, Ireland has never had  snakes.  "At no time has there ever been any suggestion of snakes in Ireland, so [there was] nothing for St. Patrick to banish", says naturalist Nigel Monaghan, keeper of natural history at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, who has searched extensively through Irish fossil collections and records.
• He grew an ash tree everywhere he preached. Saint Patrick carried with him an ash wood walking stick or staff that he would thrust into the ground wherever he was evangelizing. According to legend, the place now known as Aspatria (ash of Patrick) the message of the dogma took so long to get through to the people there that the stick had taken root by the time he was ready to move on.

Want to know more?

• biography.com
• goireland.about.com

Sources: Wikipedia

Myth #6- What You THINK You Know About Local Marketing

Custom Social Media Strategies for your small business.

I Don't Need Social Media For My Type Of Business

Were only that true.... marketing would certainly be simpler. Some types of businesses do have an easy time attracting customers through social media interaction, but it's not the norm. Most likely, you are in a category of business that people wouldn't necessarily want (or think) to connect with in social media. Regardless, you really should have even a basic social media strategy in place.  If you're a plumber or an attorney, position yourself as an industry expert among your peers by networking, curating content and commenting on industry-related topics.

Twitter, Facebook and Google+ pages provide assets to help manage online reputations, and can help your business outrank your competition by providing more relevant and authoritative content for search engines to see and rank. Who doesn't want that?? 

Need to set up a Social Media Plan for your business? Email lissa@freshmintmarketing.com to find out how.

Myth #5- What You THINK You Know About Local Marketing

You Gotta Have a Keyword in your Domain Name.

This is a dearly-held myth by many. Especially those businesses just starting out with only a vague idea of what SEO actually is. Yes, it can't hurt, but even with regular keyword search, having a dominant keyword embedded in your domain name really isn't necessary. The real leads come from all the other SEO tactics, such as tagging, inbound links from your local listings, etc.

And most importantly, since the 'endgame' is Branding, the best action is to use your company name for your domain.  You want around half of your search traffic to be brand name searches.

Myth #4- What You THINK You Know About Local Marketing

Be 'King of the Map' with
a customized local marketing plan.

We Must Have a Separate Listing For Each and Every Service Area and Each and Every City that Surrounds Us.

Nope. You don't.  In fact, if you try this by setting up bogus locations in each of your service areas, Google will slap you. Quickly.

It was certainly tempting.... Google was giving preference to companies with physical locations in the city being searched but that is no longer such a strong ranking factor.  (Phew!!)

Local listings give you the tools to select and set your service areas.  If you do have multiple locations, be aware that you need strong, specific and consistent SEO promotion for each one or you will be diluting your efforts.

Here are a couple tips to help dispel this ugly rumor:

1. Claim, verify and optimize your Google Local Page for EACH location. 
2. Set your service areas for each local listing for each location.
3. Build location-based landing pages on your site. Make sure the page content is unique enough to validate its existence.

Myth #3- What You THINK You Know About Local Marketing

Don't know where to go from here?
Get a customized marketing plan
from Fresh Mint.

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Mobile!

We are right smack in the middle of the smartphone era. If you haven't realized mobile phones (and tablets) are taking over the internet, I'm assuming you also adjust the rabbit ears on your television.

Almost 50% of time spent online is on a smartphone.  That number is only going to grow.  According to the Official Google Webmaster Center, if you aren't optimizing for smartphones, your ranking could be impacted.  This is a local marketing myth that you had better shed quickly.

Myth #2- What You THINK You Know About Local Marketing

Get a local marketing road map
that actually makes sense from
Fresh Mint Marketing today.

Must. Have. Tracking. Numbers. )Because I Want To Know Where Each and Every Call I Get Comes From.)

More data is great. I'm a big fan of data. But.... not at the expense of your business information.  The big (and its BIG) problem with using tracking numbers for each of your local listings is the huge risk of being penalized by search engines for it. Google (and other SEs) use phone numbers as unique identifiers. If you have one phone number on your website and different numbers on other sources that the search engine crawls,  it will challenge them to associate all the differing data with your listing.  Essential, you run the risk of losing ranking power due to lack of association... with your own information!

If you insist on using tracking numbers, use them solely on Pay-Per-Click ads.

For more information call or email Fresh Mint today.

Myth #1 - What You THINK You Know About Local Marketing

I am often in the position of educating local businesses about online marketing. And just as often in the position of dispelling more than a few dearly-held and utterly false notions.  More often than not, those notions can prevent that same business from ranking as high as they would otherwise. It's not surprising that businesses lack valid information since there is so much info out there already and more coming every day.  

Google’s CEO has been quoted as saying that the world is now generating 5 exabytes of information every two days. Every two days!  It's no wonder local business owners get too overwhelmed to keep up with the marketing end. Add to that, search engines make changes to their algorithms daily.  Local SEO takes ongoing attention and experience to keep up and stay up.  Don't be fooled by misinformation.

Don't know where to start?
Call Fresh Mint Marketing. Together we can create
a customized marketing plan that works for you.

Myth #1  I Can Make a Few Tweaks to my Website to Dominate Google Local.

Uh.... no. Sorry.  If you think this is true and you have a competitors,  you have a problem.  Greater marketing power comes with online history.  Multiple approaches are required to rank highly and consistently and get your business information in front of new consumers.  Here are three (can't tell all my secrets) action items that can get you on the right path:

1. Develop an ongoing, consistent local marketing plan.  Plan least six months ahead.  Twelve is better.
2. Claim, verify and optimize your Google Local Page. Use all the tools available. Tagging, keywords, videos, images.
3. Add schema.org to your website.
4. Verify and link your website to your Google Local Page. A great way to say, 'Hey, Google, Look at me!"

And as always, if you have questions or are ready to make your local marketing plan now, contact Fresh Mint today. We love to help.

5 Kick-Ass Methods to Optimize Your Local Search Marketing — #5

Encourage And Respond To Online User Reviews

by Lissa Monroe

User reviews and your responses to them, help build your online visibility in local search results. The reviews must be authentic, beware of scam companies offering 'free' reviews. 

What you can do:

1. Encourage your customers to rate and review your business when they have a positive experience. As your business receives more positive and authentic reviews, the better search rank your business will have in both search and local review sites.
    
2. Provide customers with links to all of your local and social sites to post reviews. This will diversify and stretch your reach.
    
3. Respond quickly and politely to all types of reviews. Express gratitude to the customer if the review is positive. Problem-solve and express appreciation for the feedback and request the customer get in touch with you to address issues if the review is negative. In both cases, encourage the customer to use your services again.
   
4. Never, ever, never-ever post fake reviews. They rarely, if ever, pass muster. You will get caught and your business' online presence will be penalized.

5 Kick-Ass Methods to Optimize Your Local Search Marketing — #4

Engage Regularly Via Social Media

by Lissa Monroe

Your social media activity impacts your business' visibility in search results. A proactive strategy can attract and engage followers which can boost your search rank.

What you can do:

1. Develop a strategy that will engage prospect. Use Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and other networks consistently. As your followers and engagement increase, the higher your pages will appear in search results.
   
2. Post updates on new products, promotions, discounts and giveaways. Only post content relevant to your customers. Respond to any feedback or questions quickly and politely.

5 Kick-Ass Methods to Optimize Your Local Search Marketing — #3

Properly Optimize Information On Your Business’ Website

by Lissa Monroe

Your website is your most important and valuable online asset, so ensuring that it is properly optimized to appear high within search results is key.

What you can do:

1. Use a domain name that reflects your business type and its location.  Don't overdo it though. Keyword stuffing in any form (including your website) will negatively impact your rank.
   
2. Adding keywords on your page titles will identify your business, services and location.
   
3. Put your NAP ( business’ name, address and phone number) on each page of your website.
   
4. Use lots of local information in your website copy to highlight your service and further associate your business within the vicinity.  Include what section of town you’re in, nearby sports teams. This additional info can boost your search visibility as a local business as well as make your website copy more interesting and engaging to your prospects.

5 Kick-Ass Methods to Optimize Your Local Search Marketing — #2

Get Your Links Straight

By Lissa Monroe
Establish authenticity and authority with links to and from website and local listings. Authoritative links boost your business' visibility and SEO. Just don't try any bogus link building, it will damage your visibility and credibility over time.

What you can do:

1.  Share links to your website using Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels. Be consistent. Stick to a schedule. Encourage others to pass along the information as well.
2. Get involved in the local community. This provides opportunities for neighborhood businesses, the local chamber of commerce and charity organizations to link to your website when promoting  activities.
3. Create a local directory of nearby resources. List your favorite restaurants, stores and local attractions. Provide an opportunity to link out to others (and for them to return the favor). 

5 Kick-Ass Methods to Optimize Your Local Search Marketing — #1

#1 Maximize Your Local Business Listings

By Lissa Monroe

IMHO, this is one of the most effective ways to bolster your local SEO.  Claiming, verifying and optimizing your business listing information ensures availablity and consistency. No missed phone calls or lost patrons due to bad info on the web. One bad listing can affect dozens of others, perhaps even hundreds across third-party sources.  

Search engines are constantly sweeping third-party sources to gain a stronger understanding of your business. When your business information isn't there or incorrect or incomplete, this absolutely drops your rank in search results.

What you can do now:

1. Find the leading local listing sites, including root directories, to make sure your business information is there, is correct and complete, that you have claimed and verified your listing.  Delete duplicate listings. Take the time to get it right the first time.
   
   
2. Content, content, content!!  Pack as much key information as you can on your local sites.  Content makes your listings more informative, useful to potential customers.
   
   
1. Website link
2. Videos
3. Photos are great tools for SEO. Geo-tag them with relevant keywords and location information. 
   
   
3. Make sure your business is listed in the correct categories. Your results will be diminished if your information is not properly categorized.
   
   
4. Automate updating your core listing information by using root directories such as Neustar Localeze or Acxiom.
   
   
5. Create separate listings for each location. This is not to be confused with service areas!

A Layman's Take on Schema.org

Let me start off by willingly admitting that I am not a coder. Or a programmer. Or whatever other title you give to the Brilliant Ones that see a bunch of numbers and //'s and  make sense of it all.  That is not me.  But, because I am a web designer, local marketing consultant and SEO'er, when schema.org came to the forefront, it got my full attention. Yes, it's that cool, that necessary and even a bit revolutionary (more on that below).

For the laypeeps, here is a quick, simplified  rundown....

Three very big search engines, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo (uh... what?! Three huge competing search engines working together for the benefit of webkind??!! Revolutionary.), got together to create a structured data markup, (information formatted in a universally understandable way), to improve the web, help understand info on webpages and provide richer search engine results. 

Schema.org provides this common language that can shared and understood by the major search engines.  Search Engines use schema.org to create rich snippets (the few lines underneath a search result). The more enticing the snippet, the greater the likelihood of that impression becoming an action. It is a great way to add more information to your website for users to discover and search engines to use.

To get started, check out these resources:

schema.org
support.google.com/webmasters
www.searchenginejournal.com

And there's even a plugin for Wordpress here. (Don't say I never gave ya nothin')

Be on the Lookout for Review & Confirm Listing Emails from Google Places

From Jade:

    We are making some changes to Google Places for Business and Google Maps so we can continue providing people with the best experience when they’re looking for local businesses. As part of this process, we’re asking business owners to review and confirm some of the information in their Google Places accounts so we can keep showing it to Google users. We know this will be a few extra steps for merchants, and we apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your time.

    We have sent business owners affected by these changes an email entitled “Action Required: You have 3 weeks to save your Google Places Listing”.

    If you did receive this email, don’t worry. Please log into Places for Business, take a look at your business information, update it if necessary, and click “Submit.” You’ll need to do this for all listings in your account by February 21, 2014, so they can stay on Google Maps. Otherwise, you’ll need to add your business information and undergo PIN verification using Google Places again.

    If you have any trouble going through the above steps or need assistance updating your business information, please send us an email, and we’ll gladly assist you.

    Thanks again for your time.

    Jade Wang, Google Business Community Manager

#5 The Google+ Widget

By Lissa Monroe

The most under-utilized Google+ feature in the universe.

Embed this fantastic script in for a company page or personal G+ page directly in a website page or post. The widget allows you to show visitors of your blog or website that you have a Google+ account. A great opportunity to grow your follower base!

For yours, visit widgetsplus.

Need help? Email lissa@freshmintmarketing.com.

Good Googley News!

Google is now offering a 'preview' of an unpublished, unverified Business Page. Prior to this change, owners were unable to see how the Page would look until the verification process and publication time was complete. Often, three to five weeks would pass before seeing finally seeing the hard work in pixel.

A big plus to this change.... since you can preview before publishing, watch for any awkward images or wording you would previously have sees post-publication.  Sparing you the agony of editing the content and waiting another few weeks for the changes to publish.

From Jade (Google's Local Expert and liaison to people like me):

    If you’re creating a listing in the new Places for Business dashboard, now, you won’t have to wait to complete PIN verification before you can see the +page, for most businesses. Just follow the link from your dashboard to see the new page. You will be able to use Google+ social features on this unverified page, but please note -- you still need to complete PIN verification before the page will start showing up in Google Maps and across other Google properties.

    If you’ve got an unverified local Google+ page (made using Google+ in the local business/place category), then we still encourage you to PIN verify this page so that it can start appearing in Google Maps and across other Google properties.

    If you’re creating a local Google+ page (using Google+ selecting the local business/place category) for a business that we think is already in Google Maps, then you may need to go through both PIN verification and our admin request flow before you can manage the page.

#4 Rock the Vote

 By Lissa Monroe

Install the Google Plus (+1) voting script on your Homepage.

Social sharing buttons are not used enough. They're simple, effective... and did I mention free??  Attract new followers and garners some pluses on your page just by installing the script. No brainer, huh?

If you need assistance installing sharing buttons on your site, please email lissa@freshmintmarketing.com. We'll be happy to help!

#3 Be Organic

By Lissa Monroe

Avoid a B*tchslap

Having 1,000 active and engaged followers is a whole lot better than 10,000 inactive, bored, irrelevant or fake followers.  This also protects you from the Penguin-style Google bitchslap for  abusing circle shares and fake follower schemes

In terms of SEO, your goal should be to organically build a collective group of followers that actually want to follow you for your content, comments and shares.  By working to build a quality-based following, you can create a super-channel for content distribution that will amplify discussion and rippling effects….all of which filter back to Authorship which in turn helps SEO.

#2 Join the Party!

 By Lissa Monroe

Join and participate in your niche community.

Find what interests you and your audience. Communities are great places to comment, plus and actively share great content. Follow people and pages and get followed back. Expanding your audience and helping build others' follower count.

Find your niche community, engage the super-engagers. Participate on a daily basis. If you can't find your community, start one!

Some Google+ Love and Advice

By Lissa Monroe

Yes, the argument is still hot about how much G+ actually affects search engine results. What is not up for debate however, if it does. Yes. The answer is yes. Authorship alone has an undeniable impact... your head shot and content showing up in the SERPs!

It's easy to get seduced by follower counts (whoever has the most Tweeter followers wins!!), but  Plus-ers aren't Twits (no offense intended). You must have a different, solid and long-term approach to both your current and targeted audience.

Here is the first of five simple, effective strategies to maximize your G+ impact on search results.

#1 Install Authorship script on your website.  

 An active Authorship strategy is skyrocket your SEO.  It's been speculated that, '...organic ranking will shift from “pulling” SEO value from the Internet to a website into “pushing” SEO value to a website via Authorship."

Authorship gives personal branding with an image, free effective differentiation within the SERP, shows the follower count and will help to attract more of your targeted audience.  Looks like a win-win-wind to me.

Need help establishing Authorship?  Email lissa@freshmintmarketing.com.

#5 - Vintage is Not Cool in SEO

Antique strategies can easily translate
into Black Hat SEO.
Bottom Line: Don't use vintage SEO.

By Lissa Monroe

Keep the focus on the page,
not the keywords. 

I know we've been attached to ranking keywords for a long time now. And sometimes its hard to give up what seems like a promising metric. Remember, the one constant is change.

There is so much more to Search strategy than ranking keywords. And anyone who's familiar with Google Analytics and seen Google  officially making all of it’s keyword data “(not provided),” knows there is little usable measurement or consolation available here.

Keyword-centric SEO strategies are just not going to cut it anymore.

Your SEO has to become page-centric. Focus on designing pages with quality and shareable content, engaging the user. Then measure the traffic and conversions at the page level.

#4 - No More Nonsense

By Lissa Monroe

freshMINT marketing and design offers fresh ideas
and innovative strategies for your local marketing

Semantic Search

Another product of the Hummingbird update is search is all about meaning and understandability. Google’s newest algorithm is equipped to understand the meaning of search in context. Keywords are no longer king of the hill.and they should no longer dictate your SEO. Don't get me wrong, keywords are still integral to your SEO strategy but in different ways now.  Tag your images and blogs (for example) but don't list a bunch of random, seemingly relevant words and expect results anymore.

Use everyday language (that your clients actually use!) to create content and SEO strategy.  Be conversational. Market to your customers, not at them.

#3 - Dude, Get Your A*$% on Google+

freshMINT Marketing and Design takes
local optimization very, very seriously.

By Lissa Monroe

Seriously.

Sorry to break it to you, but Google + is not going away.  

Among the many, many, many reasons to embrace Google's social network, there is authorship. Google’s authorship system enables authors to build trust based on their content, quantified by Author Rank. Author Rank is a metric comparable to Page Rank  correlated to social shares, +1’s and other signals).  Some in the industry foresee Author Rank  significantly impacting Google’s evaluation of sites. 

You already know Content is King (again), this year, make sure to have your content team on Google+. Focus on Author Rank and quality content and the Page Rank will soon follow. 

Another reason to embrace Google+... it is integrated with all Google products and services; making it as important, if not more so, than Facebook or Twitter for SEO.

#2 - Link Building is Soooo 2013.

freshMINT Marketing and Design offers
custom blogging service and social media management.

By Lissa Monroe

Content, once again, is King.

No surprise here, to be honest. Search Engines want to crawl quality content, not link after link after meaningless link.  This need for content is a trend that will only grow in importance for the rest of the year.

With updates designed to penalize black hat SEO, Hummingbird has effectively ended the era of link farms and link networks who once earned bogus high page ranks by detecting bad link patterns and rewarding authentic value.

In this new year of the Horse, only the creation of original, relevant and quality content will turn Google's fickle eye. But don't discard all your links yet.... authoritative sites such as Google+, Yahoo and Bing Local, local directories and root data providers will definitely feature prominently into your site's ranking factors.

Work on shareable content such as blogs, Google+ posts, tweets, Facebook content and YouTube.  Inspire links by creating compelling, shareable content.

Make Search Marketing a Priority in 2014

By Lissa Monroe

The one constant in Search is change.  It continues to innovate, evolve..... algorithm updates, search patterns, most importantly best practices.  All of these factors keep us search marketers on our toes, adapting and revising our strategy to fit Google's shifting criterion for ranking sites. Best practices once used to score a high page rank are now verboten, with more traditional SEO tactics falling out of favor after Google's most recent update, Hummingbird. 

Don't freak out yet. In fact, we should welcome these changes with open arms! Despite the changes, website SEO and ranking on search will not be that difficult.  It can even be argued that it will be even simpler.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be focusing on five big changes that can guarantee SEO success in the new year. 

Make Local Optimization
a priority in 2014.

1. Local Is Everything. 

20% of searches are related to location and 56% of mobile users search locally.  These numbers tell us it is more important than ever to optimize for local search, and new Google features like Plus Local and Carousel* drive that point home even more. It is loud and clear.... local is everything. If you are a local business or service , create a clean citation on Google Plus Local, and be sure to localize content, Geo-tag your images using Picasa or similar program and use social and rich snippets. 


*Google Carousel is the row of images across the top of the Google SERP. The carousel contains up to 20 results and appears primarily in results for travel, hospitality, and restaurant queries but we are seeing it appear more often for other industries such as sports, entertainment and education.