That’s a good question, and one for which I do not have an answer. But you can bet they will be redirecting the millions of dollars they have spent on Google Adwords ads into some other medium.
With their deep pockets they will put those ad dollars anywhere they think it will be most productive for them. Their unstated but clear goal is to use those advertising dollars to attract business that might other wise go to local home town independent computer repair shops. ie, the little guys. That’s what the big guys do.
And now that the little guy, no longer has Google adwords, how are they to out advertise the giants? While adwords were relatively expensive, they worked. Now that Google wont accept ads in the niche, is the little guy expected to plunge their dollars into Facebook, the local newspaper, mass media?
In my opinion, no. That could be a mistake. The big boxes will forever be able to out mass market the little guys in terms of sheet budget and reach.
The one possible advantage the little guy has is that they are one of the top three closet (insert keyword here such as PC repair, fix computer, .. etc) NEAR ME.
Near Me is the key change that emerged out of cell phone use. Once people were able to verbally ask for information on the phone they started asking for restaraunts near me, gas near me, etc etc.
And Google has responded in force with its current algorithm that governs its Google Maps and what is referred to as the Google 3 pack on desktop. It is highly location sensitive. While proximity is not the only factor, it clearly is an important one.
And that is why many businesses show up on the three pack for their immediate area. Especially on the owners own computer. This can cause a false sense of comfort.
What many businesses do not understand is that people a few blocks away may not be seeing the same results, because someone else may be closer, or stronger in one or more of the “non-proximity” factors.
Most small businesses get their customers from a relatively short distance from their place of business. And this is the exact angle such businesses need to emphasize. The Near Me, factor is
And while the big box guys seem to be in every community, it is usually possible for the small guy to also get into the Google 3 pack if they have verified, set up and optimized their Google My Business (GMB) Page.
PC Computer Repairmen & Women -Adwords’ Shunned Can Find Solace Here
Google Adwords upends the table, here’s how to react…
Google Adwords will no longer accept ads for computer repair, virus and related services. This has affected everyone from the Geek Squad on down.
If this also happened to you there are two quick points to be made.
First the Good News: Cash in the pocket. What ever you were paying for Google Adwords is now available for new opportunities.
Second, there is a smart way to focus some of that new found cash.
What’s Changed on Screen?
Absent ads, the Google 3 Pack is getting top billing and you want to be there if you are not already. And by being there I mean being there for the top 10-20 keywords relevant to your services in as many nearby zip codes/cities/neighborhoods as possible. Google has gotten hyper local and this has good and bad points. The key to know is that it is powerful way to get new customers from close to you.
Who Am I
My name is Earl Netwal, I call myself the micro business specialist and have been doing internet marketing consulting in Minneapolis for almost 20 years. I first got started with ebay during its first years of existence. Currently, I work with a number of businesses including a couple of computer related firms. One of the two had all his Adwords ads disapproved last week.
If you are in the same boat, I suggest you invest at least half of the saved adwords spend and direct it toward gaining, sustaining or improving your Google My Business page and its visibility. That is where you will most likely get new leads from via Google.
Just because they won’t take your money, doesn’t mean you cannot benefit from the exposure they offer…for free.
My strategy has two elements, once a basic Google My Business Page is properly set up and optimized.
The first is round robin of pre-scheduled Google Posts averaging every 3 days or 12 times a month.
The second part is a silo’d sequence of press releases on a once or twice a month basis.
The combination of regular activity, and regular back-linking from press release distribution points will provide Google with proof of not only activity but importantly, when done correctly market area.
It will take time, but we want Google to understand the actual market we serve. New posts that feature common questions and answers combined with a geographical strategy designed to claim your shops turf will enhance your visibility on Google Maps and the 3 pack.
You will be competing with everyone else locally. For the most part it will take most a while to figure out that they need old fashioned SEO once again. And especially they need google My Business Page SEO support.
For a while there may be a first mover advantage, especially for those who already appear for some searches. An active strategy can help you leap frog you over some of your slower moving local competitors. Remember that the Geek Squad has also lost its very high buck ad words campaigns. You can now out compete them if you dare take immediate action.
This is not new, although it is different.
Apparently, Google felt the pc repair niche was overrun with scallywags milking unsuspecting consumers, thus lessening the public’s confidence in Google as a search resource.
Google previously clamped down in Garage Door Repair and the Locksmith niches.
I have two locksmith clients. They needed ultimately to prove they were real people with real locksmith businesses. It took one well over six months to get through Google’s “not telling you anything” opaque screens and regain his high 3 pack visibility. (PS he currently has over 300 legit Google Reviews and a 4.9 overall star rating)
Google is using a different approach this time – shutting off a significant revenue stream, basically without warning. What ever will follow will likely be months away, and the clear winner for now are those in the Google 3 pack. They are getting top billing for free.
You can do everything you need to do yourself, or you can allow me to set up and run the system for you.
That helps it know to show us on the top of the page when someone in that market area searches for one of our “keywords” or services.
Call me at 612-408-9924 and leave a message -please give me your website and other pertinent info and a good time to contact you. I will take a quick look at your site before contacting you to better discuss how to proceed. Please allow me a day or two to respond.
Business Owners: Get the Free Magnetic Marketing Course & Report Here $97 Value
A Simple Video Marketing Strategy You Can Create For 5 Dollars A Day. http://yincmarketing.com
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Business Owners: Get the Free Magnetic Marketing Course & Report Here $97 Value
It’s that time of year again when many of the biggest brands in retail are launching their Christmas video campaigns. We take a look at how UK retailer John Lewis has captured the hearts and minds of consumers (with #BusterTheBoxer), and how other brands can squeeze the most out of their holiday ads. [Read More …]
The best way to deal with Ice Dams is to prevent them from happening in the first place, says Nate Rozelle of Above All Insulation of Delano, Mn.
Nate company specializes in Ice Dam Prevention, by installing appropriate levels of insulation and ventilation in area homes from the West Metro area of Minneapolis to St Cloud and towns along the Hwy 12 corridor from Delano to Litchfield and on to Wilmar, MN
He offer professional installation with an eye to quality service at an economical price. Call Nate for a free quote at 320-209-7606.
One of my newer clients wanted a short and sweet video they could post to their Google Plus page. We aimed it at a specific market, Roseville MN although they actually serve the entire Minneapolis St Paul Metropolitan area.
We used Animoto for the video, but swapped out the audio once we uploaded it to YouTube, due to YouTubes third party music concerns.
Here is the video:
Top Notch Sewer and Drain Cleaning has built its reputation by offering Top notch service. It responds promptly to clogged drains and toilets in homes as well as being equipped to deal with commercial and even industrial applications.
While their offices are located in Fridley, MN they have crews throughout the Twin Cities area and can respond promptly to any local needs anywhere in the area.
We chose to focus on Roseville to see if we would be able to get this video to rank for sewer and drain cleaning in Roseville. One challenge to that may well be the existence of Roseville, Ca and other “Roseville”s throughout the US.
We just posted a new video for our newest client, Ability I.T. of Lakeville, MN
We hope to get it ranked on Google searches for the Keyword: Tech Support Minneapolis.
As of today January 10, 2014 there are no videos ranked for this term on the first 10 pages of Google, so this will be an interesting test of our tools and techniques.
Fast Eddys Keys Express has released a new video called, Lockout Service Minneapolis Fast Eddys Keys Express 612-822-3773
I will be doing what I can to try to get this ranked on the first page of Google for a search in the Minneapolis area for the keyword, “Lockout Service.”
If your business website has been built on a WordPress platform, (and a high percentage of small business sites are,) you could be vulnerable to a nasty downside to this otherwise excellent platform.
WordPress’ success is also it’s Achilles’s heel. It’s ease of use, flexibility and the tens of thousands of specialized plug ins that have been created for it, make it knowledgeable developers first choice for light to medium intensity web sites.
Its sheer popularity has made it the target of hackers, both those who hack for fun, and those who hack for profit. The bad news is that there are hacking software sites that make available bots capable of hacking wordpress sites for anywhere from $500 to 7000, and the typical high school hacker, can probably build their own for free.
What’s at Risk?
It depends on your site and the hacker.
In my case, when hackers found their way into one of my lesser developed blogs, I pretty much lost all the work I had done on it up until then.
But the real damage was done to my reputation online. In my case, the hackers were professional thieves who hacked into my site to access my webmail account.
Not only did they mail to my lists, they used the site to send out emails to thousands of people phishing for back accounts log in information for Bank America Accounts, JP Morgan and a bank in South Africa.
My email account got blacklisted, and I put people – I knew and customers at risk of having their bank accounts pilfered.
It also cost me a significant part of a day or two to deal with it. In my case, I asked my hosting provider to just delete several sections of one of my main sub-domains.
Anyone who went to my site prior to it being taken down saw what appeared to be Arabic propaganda, but as I couldn’t read the language I couldn’t really say. I felt violated, as well as inconvenienced. And guilty for allowing my lack of attention to security put my customers, clients and friends at risk
There are Multiple Security Issues
The problem is that there a handful of access points to break into your site. You are probably unaware of them, but the hackers know.
The simplest and most common access point is the WordPress admin login page.
While many people will create their own log in name and password, many fail to remove the default log in name when they add their preferred name. And many people just use it, “Admin.”
This leaves a site vulnerable to a systematic attack that needs only work through all possible passwords.
If you have a typical 8 digit password with only alpha numeric characters, a software program can systematically try each possible combination until they find the one that works, and then their are in, and everything you have on your site is subject to their whim.
These attacks are called brute force attacks, because its just a matter of time until they force their way into your site, if you are vulnerable.
The easiest prevention step is to not use the word “admin” as your sites user name, although this is the word WordPress prompts by default.
Once you have established another name as your Administrator, you need to go into the Users tab on your word press dashboard and remove “Admin” as an authorized user.
If you have previously published posts as Admin, you will need to transfer those posts to one of your new users names, before WordPress will allow you to delete “Admin” as a user.
How do you know if your business website is built on a wordpress platform?
The easiest way to determine if your website is built on a wordpress platform is the add the following code to the end of your url: /wp-admin
http://yoururl .com/wp-admin
If your site is built on a wordpress platform you will see a wordpress login page appear:
WordPress Admin Login
Then, if you want to check to see if you are vulnerable to this most common of attacks, type in anything other than the word “admin” in the username box and anything you want in the password box. (Except your actual log in info.)
Anything except admin and actual username
You will get a message like this:
Invalid User Message
Now try again, this time use the word “Admin” as the user name:
Use Admin and a False password like, 123…
You will get a message like this:
Error in password, which means Admin is OK
The hacker, now knows one of the two things they need to know to start a brute force attack against your site. They have software that tries a few possible passwords and if they don’t work they come back later and try a few more.
This is to slide under some of the other sercurity protocalls, and make it less likely anyone will notice their attacks. Eventually, they will come up with the right password.
They are likely not targeting your or your business – they are just targeting all websites built on wordpress platforms where the admin password still is an authorized user.
But whether its a personal attack or “Just business” or “Just for Fun,” the risk and damage they can cause to you and your site are just as upsetting.
Get Your Free Web Security Check
For a limited time, I am offering to do a web security check of Business Websites built on a wordpress platform, because I know what a pain it is to have a site hacked.
This wordpress security scan will provide you with a report detailing the other 7 most significant vulnerabilities most commonly found on small business websites.
This website security check is normally a $39 value. The report you get back will inform you of which if any other vulnerabilities your site may have and instructions on what to do about them.
You can have your web guy deal with them for you, or I will offer my best possible price to do the work for you. You will be under no obligation to use my services, although I certainly hope a fair number of you will. :)
Lot’s of people are not happy with the new tabs on their Gmail Account. The biggest gripes are coming from internet marketers, whose posts are showing up with all the other junk in the “Promotions” tab.
But a lot of us, just plain don’t like the change at all as gmail users.
It is easy to change back to the old system.
3 Easy Steps to Restoring the Single Tab System
Find the Settings Wheel on the top right side of your Gmail Account, Click Configure Inbox, and then if you want it back the old way, unclick everything except “Primary” and Save.
One of my clients, Fast Eddy of Fast eddy’s Keys Express has made a new video. This time focusing on one aspect of his business, door security.
We have upgraded his approach with this video in a number of respects.
We have added a short but effect intro and exit, that he can use on all future videos. This will help better brand him, as well as provide an automatic call to action at the end of each video.
Fast Eddy wants prospective customers to call his, and thus that is exactly what we have added to the back end of the video.
Like many businesses, Eddy has multiple products. The most difficult to rank for on Google is his main keyword, Locksmith Minneapolis and/or Minneapolis Locksmith.
Working together, we have managed to get him listed both on organic search and most significantly in the Google Plus Local Pages 7 pack.
These are driving a lot of business to him on a daily basis.
But despite our ability to rank videos in a lot of other niches, for some reason we have been stymied in getting his earlier videos to rank for Locksmith Minneapolis and/or Minneapolis Locksmith.
So back to the drawing board.
In this newest video, I have added a couple of new ideas to assist in the ranking. Before uploading the video, I tagged it using MP3 Tag Software, which is a new trick I recently learned about.
This is in essence meta tag information on the video itself and includes our keyword in the title of the video itself, and in the tags associated with the video.
Also, I substituted my own captions for the automated captions Google’s voice recognition software came up with. The automated stuff has a long ways to go yet.
I also paid more attention to the tags I used on YouTube itself, making sure I listed my highest priority tags first.
These are new or newer steps I have not always done in the past.
I also used multiple annotations in this video, for some of the tags, specifically Minneapolis locksmith, maxi plate and super maxi plate, as well as a couple of additional annotations for effect.
My primary goal for this video is to get it to rank for Door hardware Minneapolis. Now most people who see it there are probably looking to buy hardware for do it yourself purposes. However, some may come to see Eddy as a possible resource. The good news for Eddy, is that it is likely that his video, once it is ranked is likely to stay ranked for months and years to come.
The secondary goal is to possibly rank for Locksmith Minneapolis, where we were unsuccessful in the past. Time will tell, whether the additional steps taken to rank this video will be enough to break through.
The ace in the hole, is that in addition to having this listed on his YouTube Channel, we have now started a YouTube Play List.
We will combine all of his current and future videos on this playlist. As time goes on, the play list itself can rank.
All of these efforts combined over time will lead to Fast Eddy’s Keys Express dominating the Google rankings for Minneapolis Locksmith.
One last comment. The video is what we call a “Talking Head Video.” For many businesses this is the easiest and also the most effective style of video.
One of the reasons it is so hard to rank for locksmith Minneapolis, is that their are tons of generic videos made by “lead Generation” sites that do not actually do locksmithing, but rather collect leads that they sell to locksmiths for a fee.
The talking head video in contrast shows a real person, and authenticity that converts into action a lot better, than animated videos that may be slicker, and or more engaging, but lack that essential element of being “real.”
[tags]locksmith minneapolis,fast eddy,video marketing, youtube marketing, google ranking, video ranking[/tags]
They offer Asbestos Abatement, Asbestos Surveys, Lead Paint Abatement, Mold Remediation and Fuel Oil Tank Removal Service in Minneapolis, MN and the West Suburban Communities of the city.
Our strategy to grow their business is to create a series of four videos targeted on these services and attempt to get the videos to rank for their specific keywords.
The first video is called: Gravity Octopus Furnace Removal Minneapolis – a sexy title don’t you think? Well maybe not, but I bet it works to attract just those people who Bergo hopes to serve.
The Second Video of the series is called Lead Paint Removal Minneapolis and it uses the same template and music as the first.
The third video in the series is called Mold Removal and Remediation Minneapolis. That way I was able to get both of the major keywords, Mold removal and mold remediation in the title.
Where or where do I come up with these cliff hanger titles? :)
You can watch it here:
While my titles may be boring, the results are actually pretty exciting. In the time it took me to create this post, at least one of the videos is already ranking on the first page of Google results for the title phrase.
Now I use a couple of addition secrets to get this done. but sometimes a good (of boring) title is all it takes. But not always. If there is a fair amount of competition in a given niche it will often take my entire kit bag of tricks and some time to get a video to rank.
If you would like to get some Youtube visibility for your business, contact me at enetwal @ gmail.com .
