'Net Features : local web marketing

Six Link Sources for Event Marketing

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 16:30:00 GMT

Hosting events is a great way to build an audience, establish a positive reputation, and profit – not to mention acquire inbound links. Whether you have an offline presence or operate strictly online, actually playing the role of the expert is the fastest way to build the relevant and timely (as well as timeless) web citations every website needs - and that remains the single best way to achieve SEO success.

Those responsible for supporting businesses on their quest to receive unique visitors from the search engines must think in creative ways about how to acquire links. One proven way to this end is to work with others to aid in the completion of their goals. For example, a search engine optimization professional might reach out to an event coordinator at a local community organization and suggest a presentation, or better yet, an event. Co-sponsoring an event gives you a ready-made audience of sorts to promote your business.

Let’s say for instance that we own and operate a flower shop. In order to market that product we’ll need to have a content plan for the event that will be of interest to our prospective clients. For example, we may decide to hold an event where senior citizens are taught ‘how to arrange flowers.’ Perhaps a Saturday morning class on ‘growing your own flowers’ for kids and their parents would be well received. Maybe even an event on ‘how to buy wedding flowers’ for brides and grooms to be.

The point of those three examples is that you must host events which are useful in purpose, but which also serve an audience that is those closer to the end of its purchase cycle. Turn first to keyword research tools to find what consumers are searching for and are most likely interested in attending.

Start with Useful, Actionable, Quality Content

The content and structure of your actual event is clearly of great importance, but if you are in pursuit of more and better social citations (using events to acquire Web links is addressed below), then there must be moments when you actively solicit that activity from attendees. In the case of the “How to Buy Wedding Flowers” event for brides and grooms, make it a point to acknowledge your social media profile, perhaps even reward them for a specific action such as a ‘like’ or ‘follow’. If attendees like your event, then they’ll share with their audience and you might just get a few new fans and followers.

Building Links with Event Marketing

When building Web links however, it is necessary to go beyond and perform some traditional link building tactics. While online events such as those organized and hosted on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ certainly serve a purpose (generally social awareness), the aim of an actual event should really be to control the conversation and the experience and that’s usually much simpler when you are on your own turf.

Just because you’re serve an offline community (meaning the actual business is conducted in person), doesn’t mean you should promote it that way exclusively. There are numerous opportunities on the Web to promote online and offline events but here are some of our favorites (in no particular order) and the platforms relied on by the best in local Web marketing.

EventBrite.com:

Yelp.com/Events

Patch.com:

Eventful.com:

Zvents.com:

Upcoming.Yahoo.com:

There are numerous other websites that are worthy of submitting your event to including Everyblock.com, Outside.in, Going.com, Eventseekr.com, Schmap.com, and EventCrazy.com. Where else do you promote local events - online or off?

Google Places Delays and Bugs

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Over the past few weeks, Web marketers concentrating in the local space have been bemoaning the slow rate at which it takes Google Places to update description data as well as several other system bugs such as the service reporting it does not support certain locations.

Corrective measures have apparently been taken however, as Google announced a new update cycle which should result in updated data appearing in a few days and photos and videosabout a week according to this forum post.

Google indicated that newly verified listings (including bulk updates) will take a few days, as will updated attributes such as business titles, address, website URLs, pin marker moves, categories and descriptions. Local Web marketers will continue to see several week delays for more significant issues such as merging and duplicate listings.

Do note that if you are waiting for a listing to go live after you make a claim, Google’s system will indicate it does not support the location during the waiting period.

Get Listed Locally at GetListed.org

Pete Prestipino — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:44:00 GMT

There are millions of small businesses that still, despite the obvious benefits it can provide, have not leveraged the Internet for its sales and marketing potential. The arguments against local Web marketing escape me. It certainly can't be cost, as all major search engines generously provide free listings. And it certainly can't be too complicated, because with just an Internet connection and an hour, a local small business owner can do a world of good for the business.

Patrick Sexton and David Mihm launched GetListed.org, and if you're new to the Web, this resource should be one of your first stops. GetListed.org's flagship product, the LocalDashboard™, shows business owners simply and clearly where their businesses exist on major search engines like Google Maps and Yahoo! Local. The tool displays information like business name, address, phone number, and website address as they are indexed by these major engines.

Small business owners see immediately whether their business is listed properly by the search engines, and whether they have claimed their listings. The LocalDashboard provides easy links for business owners to claim and update their information directly at each individual search engine. Additional details such as photos and videos, along with customer reviews, and mentions of their business are displayed as well. These factors combine to form a "Listing Score," a simple percentage that indicates how effectively a business is taking advantage of the tools. A checklist is provided for business owners interested in taking specific steps to improve their listings.

"We hope this tool will help small business owners become aware of the free opportunities to market their companies online, and alleviate some of the confusion many of them feel when it comes to the search engines," commented Sexton.