Melih (“may-lee”) Oztalay is a veteran of the Internet with over 17 years experience and expertise. He is the CEO of SmartFinds Internet Marketing located in Birmingham, Michigan, providing Internet marketing solutions and services to businesses. The agency’s recent focus on Geographic Marketing solutions for multi-location business to reach local consumers through web and mobile searches. Some of SmartFinds' clients include ComForcare Home Care, Proforma, Ziebart Inernational, Kaydon, Soave Enterprises, Delphi, Guardian Industries, McCann Erickson, Wendy's and more.
I think it is fair to say that Google Plus Project, otherwise known as G+, has exploded onto the web marketing scene in a very short time. Statistics around the web indicate that in the first week, 35% of all new links shared on Twitter were related to the G+ Project. At first glance everyone seemed to be declaring that the Google G+ Project would be the end of Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Skype. I cannot...
You probably have heard the black hat search engine optimization (SEO) tactics JC Penny’s pursued in order to be ranked well for various search terms particularly in planning for the 2010 holiday season. The news was uncovered by the New York Times. Although, one has to wonder if the New York Times was tipped to this issue by a competitor of JC Penney. The investigation by the New York...
You may have noticed that a Google search result now shows the local map on the right side and the local listings (aka as Google Places at Google) are part of the organic search results. If you follow the evolution of local business listings on search engines since 2007 you will find that this local marketing tool is invaluable to any business. The disappointing issue is that most businesses have not ...
Have you noticed the number of commercials being run by high-profile tier one companies and websites that are in the local listing industry? For example you may have seen TV commercials for Angie’s List, SuperMedia, Yellow Book, and of course AT&T. If you add Internet advertising that includes but not limited to Google, Yahoo, Bing, Merchant Circle, Yelp and Citysearch many others, you have to start wondering how all these websites...
Many businesses have gone down the path of claiming their local business listing, but we have seen two distinct problems. The first is that while the local business listings have been claimed, they are only claimed at Google. That doesn’t necessarily benefit the overall marketing process on the web, which we will discuss further. The other is that the local business listing has been claimed only at Google and...
Does your business standout to local consumers through local business listings? Is your business dependent upon the local geography for your revenue? If you’re not using local business listings as an additional marketing tool to reach consumers then you are missing out on a significant local marketing tool. Considering that local business listings show up on the first page of search results, in mobile searches and in mobile applications this...
We have discussed the security risks of local business listing hijackings in the past. One of the comments made about these security discussions is why do the geo-listing websites like Google, Yahoo, Bing, and up to 60 others insure the security to avoid hijackings? Of course the question to be asked is why should they provide the security service for a free marketing tool that will ...
Local business listings began with a basic business directory more than a decade ago. Chances are, your business has a local listing wherever you have a physical address location. Check it out -- go to Google, type in your company name. You’ll probably see a map locating your business and an address. Of course all you may find other information too. Local business listings are treated passively by many...
Local business listing hijacking is a real situation that can and will have an impact upon a business brand name. If the business is reliant on the local consumer for revenue, local business listings have evolved into a good local marketing tool. In order to tap into this business marketing tool you have to claim, update and manage your local listing at multiple local listing websites. Local business listings...
One of the more prominent Geo-Listing (a.k.a. local business listing) hijackings occurred in New Zealand. A florist was found guilty for hijacking competitor local business listings at Google Maps. The business owner was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service after it was discovered she changed the business listings of rival companies in Google Maps to direct traffic to her own business. This is a...
Loren Baker
+Ann Smarty
Alan Bleiweiss
David Harry
