TO LIST OR NOT TO LIST?

ENSURING THAT YOUR GOOGLE PLACES LISTING IS NOT REMOVED FROM GOOGLE MAPS

Well, Google is up to it again! 

Recently, they made a significant change to the Google Places Quality Guidelines which affects the 7-pack and Maps-based results. 

How will this affect you? For anyone who lists a business address and has little-to-no actual visitors coming to the specified location, choosing this option definitely impacts your ranking and may result in your listing being removed from Google Maps.

Here’s the latest Google Places Quality Guidelines:

Basically, to ensure that your Google Places listing does not get downgraded in the ranks or completely removed from Google Maps, there are three different options to choose once you log on to your Google Places account.

Scenario 1: Customers are served at the location listed on Google Places. Show your location!

Show your address if your business is a brick-and-mortar establishment and serves customers at the location listed. All you need to do is select: No, all customers come to the business location.

Scenario 2: Customers are served at the location listed on Google Places and also at other sites. Show your location and define your service areas!

Include your address and define the additional areas traveled if you have a home-based business that serves some customers at your home and some at other sites.

First you need to select:Yes, this business serves customers at their locations. Then, select eitherDistance from one location with set mileage or select List of areas served, and then add the areas.

Scenario 3: Customers are not serviced at the location listed on Google Places. Hide your address!

Play coy with your address if you have a home-based business and travel to all customers. Select: Do not show my business address on my Maps listing

Important: selecting this option DOES NOT negatively impact your local rankings!

You might not be sure how your current selections are set regarding Service Areas and Location Settings. Take the time to log into your Google Places account and choose the most appropriate settings based your particular scenario. Identifying the right selection for your business will help ensure that your listing to stay up in the local ranking and not go off the Google Maps’ radar.

PRESENTING ... THE PRIMERO SYSTEMS SITE

We'll make this short and sweet.

Primero Systems, the parent company to Webtreepro, used the beauty of its CMS to design a striking and streamlined new website. Take a look!

http://www.primerosystems.com  

SEIZE THE EXTRA DAY

Happy Leap Year! Today, our calendars fall back into step with our solar system, February puffs out its chest a little bit more, Disneyland leaves on the lights all night, and we celebrate the birthday of a friend born in 1984, who turns a proud 7 this afternoon.

Why not designate today as an opportunity to accomplish those things that never seem to find their way to fruition?

• Call one of your best clients just to say hello and thank you.
• Call one of your most challenging clients just to say hello and thank you.
• Write a blog post.
• Take a critical look at your website. Walk (click) through the pages like a visitor would.
• Design new business cards.
• Read an industry-focused whitepaper.
• Sit down with a coworker and learn what projects are pain points and which are a pleasure.
• Celebrate an extra day before taxes are due.
• Clean out your desk.
• Clean out your refrigerator.
• Take a walk and absorb the architecture of man and of nature.
• Watch the sunset.

12 TIPS TO KEEP YOUR WEBSITE ON TOP IN 2012

We're guessing you have a lot to say about your business. Don't be shy! Your website is the perfect place to tell everything wonderful and true. And with a dynamic CMS, it's never too early or too late. Below are some tips to ensure it's as striking as can be:

1. We said this last year, and will say it again. Update frequently. In fact, take a minute now to make a change on your site. The blog post will wait for you. 
 
2. Do you have a blog of your own? If not, we recommend you start one immediately, and cross-link with your website. On the Webtreepro site, we incorporated this blog into the menu.
   
   
3. Pull ideas for content from anywhere and everywhere on the web.
 
4. Consider spending more time in SEO-land. Your website will thank you. Check out www.localsevens.com for how to take it all the way.
 
5. Make sure your website is visible on social media profiles. If someone notices you there, either through a link or contact, you better be ready to receive them! Likewise, promote your SM pages on your website with either simple icons or interactive widgets.
   
   
6. Write down inspiration as soon as it hits. This can be on the subway, during a five-course dinner, at 3am in the moonlight, or while running for a touchdown in the Super Bowl. You will be glad you did.
   
   
7. Every now and then, ask for third-party feedback on your website. Sometimes they see things that we're simply too close to realize.
   
   
8. And, if you have the opportunity, ask for expert feeback. Neon orange may not be the best color for your website after all. Or perhaps your navigation could use some tidying up. Be flexible to suggestions.
   
   
9. Consider writing some helpful whitepapers or presentations, and use these as lead-generation tools. Promote them on the appropriate pages of your website to capture visitor information and illustrate your expertise.
   
   
10. Make your calls-to-action stand out. Use complementary colors, active words and clear direction.
    
    
11. Find inspiration in other websites, even those that may be in a compeletly different arena. Beautiful design and engaging content transcends industries.
    
    
12. Read the news. This is just good common sense. 

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