Harness the Power of Google Local

What is Google Local Business Center?

Results from italian restaurant chicago

The best way to explain Google Local is by using it. If you Google "italian restaurant chicago" you'll see at the top the 10 local businesses that fit your search phrase. These are results not from the regular Google database, but rather a separate one - the Google Local Business directory. Best of all - they always appear at the very top, and they're FREE.

Note that not all search terms will give you search results in Google Local. For example if you were to Google "italian restaurant hampton" you won't see any Local results. That's simply because the traffic isn't high enough to warrant any listings.

We highly recommend adding your organization to Google Local, even if you don't see any Local results when you search. The reason we still recommend it is because Google Local is tied to Google Maps. If you go to Google Maps and search for "italian restaurant hampton" then you'll see results. So go ahead and add your organization.

How to get listed?

It's easy to get listed - just go to Google.com/LocalBusinessCenter and submit your information. All you need is a Google account. You will get a call or postcard from Google verifying your information but it's fairly straightforward.

I submitted my business. How do I get listed on the first page?

There are several things you can do to help your listing rank higher. Of course there's no guarantee that you will be on the first page. No one is really sure of the exact formula that Google uses, but here are some suggestions that will most likely help.

1. Include a good keyword in your organization name. Example: Say you're targeting the search phrase "chicago children's books". Don't tell Google your organization is "Paul's Bookstore", tell Google that your business is "Paul's Bookstore Children's Books". It doesn't matter if that's not your legal business name. By adding that key phrase, you're helping Google find your listing.

2. Include good keywords in your description. Same as above, but apply it to the description of your organization. Remember that you are writing for humans AND search engines. So don't just list keywords, but also make sure you include them in your writing.

3. Put your address and phone number on every page of your website. This is helpful both for users on your website as well as Google Local. Make sure you use your local number, not just your 800 number. Also a P.O. Box does not help, use your physical street address. Here's an example of a website that does this.

4. Have a Directions/Locations page on your website. This is helpful, unless of course you are a home based business and cannot have foot traffic. Give directions in plain English, with good descriptions. Again, this will help your regular search engine traffic as well as the search engine crawlers.

By the way...don't have a website? See our web design services, including help with submitting your site to Google Local.

5. Upload a few photos. Google seems to place higher ranking on business listings that include photos. At the very least upload your logo and a couple pictures of your building or products. There is no guarantee that this will help, but it can't hurt. At the very least it will look nice to real users.

6. Create a page on your website where you list your areas served. Like several of the suggestions I've mentioned, this will be helpful for real users also. In fact this might even help your organic search results.

Hopefully these steps will get you started with Google Local. Don't forget to check it occasionally once you submit your business to see where you fall in the rankings. And if you need any help with Google, your website optimization, or any other internet marketing services, come visit us at Fresh Look Web Design and we'll be glad to give you some help.

Finding the Perfect Domain Name

How to get started with your website

A common question people have is "what do I need to design a website?" Well the first step is purchasing a domain name. A domain name is simply your website address - www.mywebsite.com where mywebsite.com is your domain name.

Check if the domain you want for your website is available

Before you put too much thought into a name you like, determine if it is even available. A good resource to use is Network Solutions - all you do is type in the domain name you want, and if it's available, it will tell you. If someone already owns it, it will give whatever information is available on that person or organization.

What about .org, .net, .info, etc?

Sometimes the .com extension is taken, but the .org and .net are available. It's ideal to use .com if possible, but if you really love the domain name there's nothing wrong with using .org or .net. It is very common for a non-profit to use .org for their website. We don't recommend using any extensions other than the main 3 - .com, .net, and .org.

Make it easy to spell and remember

This is super important. You want to make it as easy as possible. To test this, try telling a friend what you're planning on using for a domain name one day. (hopefully they won't take that opportunity to buy it before you do). Then a couple days later, ask them if they remember it, and ask them to write it down. If they get it right (including spelling), you've found a really great domain name...at least in terms of simplicity.

Of course this will often depend on your company name, but if your company name is hard to spell then get creative. Try using abbreviations...or use a call to action as your domain name. For example if your company is "Medodie's Bagel Shoppe" and you find that people always use a 'y' instead of 'ie' in 'Melodie' then try www.getbagelsnow.com. It's not your company name, but it's still a good domain name, and it could even turn into a slogan.

Does your domain name include a good keyword?

This is overlooked probably 99% of the time. Most people don't know that Google and other search engines put a lot of importance on what your domain name is. So you want your domain name to have a important keyword, if possible...especially if you're building a small business or non-profit website and could use the free advertising from Google.

Here's an example.

At Fresh Look, our domain name is www.freshlookwebdesign.com. So when people Google "fresh look web design" we are near the top, for the sole reason that our domain name is the same as the search term. It also helps us because the term "web design" is part of our domain name and an important keyword.

There's give and take to this strategy. For example, www.freshlook.com might be a better domain name than www.freshlookwebdesign.com because it's much shorter. However from a search engine's perspective it lacks the keywords "web design". So just keep that in mind - if the domain name you want is taken, you might be able to include a good keyword in there that will help your search engine rankings.

How much does it cost?

A domain name is the smallest part of the cost of a website. At GoDaddy.com you can pay around $15 for a domain name. Just remember it is a yearly fee, and the more years you buy at one time the cheaper it gets.

Keep control of your domain name

A pitfall that many non-profits and small businesses fall into is that they don't realize that their web developer has control of their domain name, not them. In other words, they don't really own their own website. To avoid this problem, make sure that you purchase your own domain name, or if you have someone purchase it for you, ask for the user name and password to manage it.

Conclusion

Sometimes finding a domain name that is available and you like can be challenging. It takes creativity sometimes, but don't get discouraged. Keep brainstorming ideas and one of them is bound to be available.

3 Keys to Web Usability

In a future post, I'm going to talk about the 3 Pillars of an Effective Website. One of those pillars is usability. There are probably a lot more keys to usability than just 3 but here we talk about 3 of the more important ones - consistency, intuitive, and easy.

Consistency - It's vital that a webpage remains consistent from page to page. The navigation menu needs to stay in the same place, the banner should remain the same, etc. That doesn't mean the design has to be boring or EXACTLY the same...but the layout certainly should. One thing to keep it interesting is by having different pictures on different pages...or using a random function to produce different content on different pages.

The reason you want to keep it consistent is because you don't want to lose your web users. If they click a link that brings them to a page on your site that throws them off, they're likely to get confused and leave.

Intuitive - The idea here is to make things easy to predict. You want your web users to feel confident in what will happen when they do certain things. You also want your navigation to make sense. If you have a "Get Involved" link - you want the sub categories under that link to be things like "Donate", "Volunteer", and "Join". It should just make good sense.

Make sure that any links on your sites leading to other websites (such as a resource page) open in a NEW navigation window. Your web users will click it, read it, and close it. If it opens in the same window as your website, they just closed out your website. Not a good practice.

Another thing to remember in making things intuitive is that you want to make the links throughout your site LOOK like links. Don't give regular text color or underlining if it's not a link. Users will try and click it to no avail which will simply frustrate them. See? That was a cruel trick. Make sure links look like links.

Easy - One of the common phrases in web design is "Don't make me think". Things should be easy: easy to find, easy to navigate, easy to interact, easy to leave. Always keep this in mind when positioning elements on a page. This is similar to the intuitive concept, but takes it a step further. If there is information on your site that is important that users see...put it on the front page! No sense in hiding it somewhere they may not find. Make things easy on them.

If you're having a web developer create your website, just make sure that what he's creating is easy on the user. Oftentimes a developer will create something that is easy on HIM, the developer...not your users. Don't let him get lazy - if it seems like your web users have to be internet experts to use your site then you need to change some things.

Hopefully these ideas will be able to get you started on making a really user friendly website. Stay tuned as more posts will be coming out in the upcoming weeks.