As you may have noticed in your searches, Google recently made some major changes to its Places (local maps) user interface. This is typically the section below the sponsored Ads where a map shows up for when you search with local intent. From a user’s standpoint, you may immediately notice the new position of the map, as well as the layout of the map listings returned for your searches. For marketers, it’s a different story. The effects of these changes have swept the local search marketing industry, as several publishers, and (definitely) “black hat” providers have seen major shifts in the positions of their listings – some of them disappearing completely.

Before:

After:

As these screenshots show, major changes to the layout and search algorithm have caused several listings to be removed from the top section of the search. Poorly optimized listings are now several spaces lower on the page, or even on other pages. Outright spammy listings have been completely removed.

North Atlanta Local SEO:

Case In Point

A few months ago, I spoke with a “water damage” business owner in Marietta, who had been the victim of “black hat” SEO providers. They had created several bogus listings for him (which is against Google’s rules) in order to have him ranked at the top of local searches for his niche. Now, there is nothing wrong with being #1 all the time, but you have to make sure you (and your provider) abide by the rules of the game. They had taken the easy route. I explained the danger in the techniques used, but the deed had been done. I checked his rankings shortly after I learned about the recent overhaul, and needless to say, they have all completely disappeared from local map results.

The bottomline is… Google is getting better at telling which business listings are legitimate, and which ones are simply “map spam”. Having your business listed in local searches is an absolutely great way to boost business, but make sure your providers are doing things the right way.

For more information on how to get your business listed and optimized for local search, contact us!

It’s official. According to a BusinessWeek report, the social media boom has led to frenzied hiring by mid-size and large companies alike… but mostly large companies. There is now a huge need to fill new positions created solely to protect and enhance company image on social media sites. The report claims that these companies go through two steps – First, they scramble to hire social media officers. Then, they figure out what it is that social media officers do.

Since there is no real criteria for determining who is most qualified for these jobs, self-proclaimed social media rockstars are showing up at interviews, peddling their high number of fans and followers as proof of experience. Unfortunately, these numbers do not necessarily mean they know how to approach social media from a business context.

Personally, I think each new hire will either sink or swim. Regardless of what wins them the job, the world of social media is changing everyday, and the role of a manager is intense – strategy development, company policy creation, execution, tracking, reporting, etc. New metrics to measure social ROI emerge each day. Social media officers have a huge role to play these days (sigh).

Despite the uncertainty of the profession and industry in general, businesses still need to have a sound social media strategy or risk damaging consequences. So what’s a small business to do? How do you find a middle ground between the intense need and the cost/risk of hiring?

I suggest you find and consult with a person/company with a proven track record in social media, and at least have them develop your social media strategy. Oftentimes, a sound strategy is all a small business needs – the roadmap and guidance to navigate the social media waters in-house. Learn what to do and how to measure your results because ultimately, social media is just another word for PR.

What say you?

Flickr photo credit: silvertje

LinkedIn, the online professional network, announced today that the groups feature just got a makeover (I love makeovers by the way). Now, you can navigate group posts and comments faster and share more content in less time.

My favorite feature – “Top influencers this week”. Just in case you’ve turned off the weekly group email that tells you who participated the most, you can quickly find out by visiting the group home page. Notice how it states “influencers” and not “posters”… LinkedIn is using a more complex formula to determine who made the most qualitative contributions that week. Smart move.

Not yet on LinkedIn? Click here to join now and connect with me!

GETÉ Gourmet is a brand new cheese ball catering service in Atlanta, GA. Founded in 2009, the company’s delectable cheese creations began making waves across the metro area. So when the time came to launch an official website and social media campaign, they turned to Modavate to make it happen.

We got to work, sampling every available cheese ball flavor on the menu (boy, this stuff is good!) until the inspiration descended on us like Queso rain (sound cheesy?)

Anyway, brand new logo, mouthwatering cheese and wine site design, a few brush strokes – Mamma mia!

Highlights:

• New logo
• Attractive design
• Award winning ecommerce platform for online ordering
• Search engine friendly content that drives traffic
• Wordpress blog with uniform look and feel

Visit the site

As an Atlanta leadership consulting firm, BSI offers much needed organizational leadership solutions. The institute provides executive coaching and leadership consulting services to small and mid-sized companies.

Accomplished consultants & authors, Martha Forlines and Thad Green, were in need of a website redesign. They wanted one that exemplified a certain level of excellence. It had to be modern, eye-catching, easy to navigate, and search engine friendly. They also wanted a wordpress blog hosted on the site, with a seamless design.

After a few weeks of design work and a series of logo makeovers, we unveiled the new website. They think we did a good job. We do too.

Highlights:

• Branded and personified design
• Wordpress blog with uniform look and feel
• Easy-to-use content management system
• Search engine friendly content that drives traffic

Visit the site

If you currently offer your products or services for sale via an eCommerce website, then you may be familiar with the issue of abandoned shopping carts. A feature which is present in every eCommerce website that we develop, allows you to view shopping carts with products that were not actually purchased. Your potential customer, visited your website, entered their personal information and added items to their cart. Then they simply abandoned the process for unknown reasons. This can be a very frustrating experience for online retailers because it’s literally money that’s being left on the table.

Have you ever wondered why you couldn’t close the deal? Was there a technical problem with the site? Shipping costs too high or unclear? Did they just go to grab a sandwich and never come back? A new report from Experian, which owns the CheetahMail email marketing business, shows that 61% of items left in an online shopping cart are not purchased.

There are several ways to lure your customers who abandoned their carts, back to your site to complete their purchase. One way is send them an automatic email the next day, reminding them about that valuable item they were about to buy. Research shows that 12% of customers who receive such re-marketing emails, actually return to the retailer’s website. Technology allows us to automate this task for you, while you focus on running your business.

As to why they abandoned their carts? We can help you with that too. Reasons will vary widely, but with the proper approach, you can diagnose the issues and greatly increase the number of your visitors who turn into paying customers.

Do you know what your customers are saying about your business online? Do you even know where to go to find out? Surveys show that brand reputation management is becoming a huge concern for businesses, because online consumers will post negative comments (especially on social media sites) when they are unsatisfied with your service. This is often called “brand bashing”.

As a local Atlanta business owner, you should be concerned – 70% of consumers research a local purchase online first, before heading out to the store. Assuming you are utilizing an online reputation management service – so you know when you have a bashing crisis – how do you handle the issue?

According to a recent eMarketer blog post, nearly one-half of survey respondents said they contacted the consumer directly. This tactic can however backfire if not conducted appropriately.

Online Brand Reputation Management Survey

So how should these issues be handled? It depends.

We can help you monitor your brand online and notify you as soon as you receive any mentions – social media, news sources, blogs etc. We also provide assistance in handling any brand bashing crises, should they occur.

Hello everyone and welcome to 2010!

A new year always means a perfect opportunity to start something new, or make new resolutions. As a business owner, this may be a good time to review your overall strategy and set your business goals for 2010.

Do you want to expand your business? Increase sales within duluth or gwinnett county? Increase repeat business from existing customers? Then you may want to start by reviewing your current online marketing strategy. Do you even have one?

Did you know that a whopping 70% of consumers do some research online first before heading out to a LOCAL provider? So that means if they didn’t find you, they probably found your competitor.

Let us help you review or create your online marketing strategy so you can be well on your way to achieving your business goals for 2010. You can also call us for a FREE online marketing analysis (a $200) value, and we’ll give you valuable information that could make you money.

Wishing you all the best in the new year!

Your Duluth Online Marketing Partner.