Tag Archives: google

Princeton University Gets Hit by the Listing Problem

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At Yext HQ there is a friendly competition amongst the employees regarding which employee alma mater will be best represented. Right now, I believe that MIT and Princeton are tied at 6 a piece with Carnegie Mellon nipping at our heels.

As a Tiger myself, I’m proud to represent my school, not shy to wear a bright orange polo or drink my coffee from a Princeton coffee mug. So when a co-worker of mine pointed out the recent Google results page for the search term “Princeton University” I was angered by what I saw.

Google Places Princeton University

Prominently displayed in the Google results was the description of Princeton University as “Full of Shit University.” This is yet another example of why business owners and institutions need to be in control of their data instead of relying on data aggregators or crowd sourced information. If Princeton had complete control over their local information, you better believe this would have never happened.

princeton university google

Maybe this year when asked to donate to Princeton I’ll offer them a PowerListing instead of money.

Choose Your Own Adventure with Yelp’s Local Search

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David Mihm recently wrote an interesting post calling out Google on its lack of organic results above the fold. Google has always prided itself in providing it’s searchers with the most relevant search results, and they have done an excellent job for a very long time. However, I find it very hard to believe that it is merely a coincidence that Google feels that results that make them money are more relevant than those that don’t. Take a look at the screen shot below to see exactly how little space Google has given to organic results.

Over the years, I’ve seen the area designated towards organic results shrink and shrink. It is yet to be seen, but it is my belief that if Google continues to make revenue a priority over user experience then I believe users will quickly find alternatives for their daily searching activities.

One of the companies poised to take advantage of this exodus is Yelp. Yelp business listings offers searchers a clean easy to use interface that allows the user to decide how to determine relevance. Yelp doesn’t guess that you might want the closest restaurant or that you might want the one with reviews. Instead, Yelp gives the searcher the option to choose for themselves. And take a look at the results page on the same exact search for pizza. Look at how much of the page is designated towards organic results. Almost all of it.

Yelp Search

The flexibility and freedom that Yelp gives its users makes it a great option when searching for local businesses. Not to mention their mobile app which makes finding that delicious hole-in-the-wall restaurant easy as the pie you’re going to enjoy there.

Yelp isn’t the only local search destination looking to capitalize on Google’s greed. There are dozens of local search engines and directories like Yelp business listings whose number one priority is helping searchers find exactly what they are looking for. Do you know how your business looks on these sites? Check for free here!

Google Slips as Search Market Fragmentation Continues

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Where is the traffic to your business coming from? A common fallacy among small business owners is that Google is the end-all be-all of search engine referral traffic. In a recent blog post by Greg Sterling, he shared some interesting data that shows this is not the case.

google search trafficAlthough Google is the leading source of traffic for 23 of the top 30 websites, the overall percentage of traffic to the top 30 sites is declining as Yahoo! and Bing’s share of traffic remained relatively flat.

So if Google is slipping and Yahoo! and Bing are remaining relatively constant, then what sites are picking up the slack in terms of referral traffic?

The answer is everyone else!

While Google, Bing and Yahoo! are still incredibly popular destinations for search, the intent of a searcher can cause them to use a number of different directories, search engines or mobile and navigation devices.

Looking for a specific business by name?

Then it’s likely that a searcher will turn to one of the many directory sites in the Yext Network such as WhitePages, Superpages, or Yellowbook.

Looking to explore a new city?

Reviews on sites like Yelp and tips left by Foursquare users help searchers research businesses before they actually head out on their journey.

Just need directions?

MapQuest has long been a dominant force in the direction space, but with the increase in smartphone and navigation device usage, companies like Avantar, HopStop and Cricket are undoubtedly responsible for stealing some of that market share from Google.

So where do I need my business listed?

The easy answer is everywhere! In order to make sure that your customers are finding you wherever they may be searching for your business, it’s important that your listings are correct and up-to-date across the entire internet.

Luckily for you we let you check the status of your business listings for FREE with our simple local search scorecard. Do you know how your listings appear across the internet? Check for free now!

Google+’s New Feature and Your Business

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google plus for businessGoogle just announced that their social media platform, Google+, will now allow businesses to create brand pages. What does this mean for your business?

There was much buzz when Google+ was released last summer, with many speculating that it could eventually rival Facebook’s popularity. This, however, does not seem to be the case.

In comparison to Facebook, Google+ does not really stand a chance. Roughly 50 million people are members of Google+ so far, while Facebook boasts 800 million users. Besides the huge difference in membership, there is also a big disparity in overall use. Though many people are signed up for Google+, most are not active on it, whereas around 50% of active Facebook users log on to Facebook on a given day.

There are some aspects of Google+ brand pages that are worth checking out, nonetheless. Google+’s “Hangout” feature allows large numbers of people to simultaneously videochat and view webpages together. Google+ will now allow brand pages to “hangout,” letting you connect with customers on a more personal level, perhaps even showing them behind the scenes of your business.

Google+ will also most likely integrate with Google Analytics in some way in the near future, making it easier for you to track and understand how successful your brand page is. Google+’s layout also has the potential for innovative page designs that Facebook’s more rigid design may have inhibited.

Plus (pun intended), being the new kid on the block can’t be so bad; Google+ has the advantage of learning from Facebook’s past mistakes.

Being a successful marketer is about adapting to the ever-changing marketing environment. Google+’s new features offer a number of cool tools for you to try out, but, like anything else, only time will tell how successful it will be.

Have you tried out the new Google+ brand pages? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ccf5GxM7vg]

What Google’s Acquisition of Zagat Means for Local Marketers

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zagatEarlier today it was announced that Google has purchased 32 year old rating and guide company Zagat. This is one of a number of recent occurrences that show how important local is going to be going forward. After Google failed to acquire Yelp in 2009 and then failed once again in an attempt to buy Groupon in 2010, this acquisition shows that they aren’t going to stop competing with those local powerhouses.

Just two days ago the New York Times published an article in which it scolded Google for failing to list accurate information about local businesses. A small mistake on Google’s part could end up costing a small business thousands of dollars. As if in response to the criticism it was receiving, Google is showing that it is ready and willing to increase the quality of it’s local search results.

It is accepted that reviews play a part in the ranking of results on Google. On the surface this seems like an obvious factor that must be considered. However, with how easy it is to create fake reviews of a business, reviews can easily be manipulated to produce desired results (whether negative or positive). The Zagat brand brings a sense of legitimacy and professionalism to local search.

This move by Google will undoubtedly help the quality of their review system, but will it have any effect on the accuracy of other information such as phone number and address? Zagat was founded before the internet was commonly used, and it is unlikely that they will be much help in decreasing the amount of time a business must wait to update its listing information.

One thing is apparent: Reviews are a huge factor in determining ranking and driving traffic to websites found on local search results. How do you think this recent combination will affect local search marketing? Let us know in the comments below.

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