Fuzion Fuzion Technology and Marketing are experts in providing marketing services, specialize web, email and social marketing, develop software and database design.

Are The Yellow Pages Are Dead?

Most human beings have a difficult time accepting change. We all have to be careful to avoid the urge to repeat the established and proven, regardless of the result. The temptation to continue doing what worked before is nearly irresistible. Whether it's using your “favorite” fishing lure, driving the same route to work each day, or buying the same meal at your favorite restaurant.

This concept seems particularly true in most marketing strategies, notwithstanding the fact that the foundational idea behind most marketing methods have changed! Most businesses have spent decades crafting messages to deliver to their potential customers. Those methods are known as outbound marketing. But now, your prospects aren't listening…unless they want to. In this present day of marketing, your challenge is to bring the prospective customers to your message, not the opposite. That's known as inbound marketing. Today, consumers choose you…

They Chose You Through The Yellow Pages

Until recently when someone wanted to find a “water damage restoration” company they did one of two things: 1) If it was a reasonable time of day they called their insurance agent or 2) they opened the yellow pages. But the yellow pages evaporated overnight. Instead of potential customers using the yellow pages to find the service they are looking for they now use search engines like Google to find what they are looking for. 

The Yellow Pages Are Dead

The Yellow Pages are no longer a viable capture tool. AT&T even realizes this when in May they sold the Yellow Pages and all of its assets to Cerberus Capital Management. The Cerberus is a Greek Mythological 3-headed dog that guards the underworld. Likewise, Cerberus is known for taking failed companies and chopping them up into little pieces then selling off the remaining assets.

 What Does This Mean

This means that you need to cancel those expensive Yellow Page ads and spend that money on more effective methods! Call us today to find out how we can help you decide how you can reallocate that money and maximize your return on investment!

Google Domination

We call our marketing strategy "Global Thermonuclear Google Domination" which is a bit tongue in cheek, but the reality is we simply love to win.  Here is a case study of one of our clients that we are very proud of.  First, Google for "Water Damage Pocatello".  

There are many Googles

This is a great case study that features the effects of ranking #1 in multiple search engines that Google manages, including:

• Google "Everything"
• Google Search
• Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIN)
• Google Video (YouTube)

Let's walk through the strategy behind this now.

1. Paid Advertising garners about 12% of the clicks on a search result page.  In this case we prepared a PPC strategy that allows us to claim the #1 position on Google Adwords through a blend of good copy, a strong call to action, and prominent keyword relevance (keywords in the title that matched the search query).
2. Social Media gives us a high quality ranking.  Google is now giving unprecedented power to social media pages and sites.  We are adapting to this trend by featuring our clients in custom designed Facebook pages that capture natural search ranking placements on Google.
3. Double Stacking bonus on Google Everything (Google Web Search) which means we have done a good job on something called "canonical hierarchy" which gives us a stacking bonus.  This means that because Google found a "parent" and a "child" page that both seemed relevant to the topic, it was giving us a bonus by listing both pages instead of just one.
4. YouTube domination.  In the Google world, video has extra power.  You will find recently that Google / YouTube awarded us four video placements on this search result page.  This is a combination of featuring topical videos, they have been there for a long time, and they are keyword relevant to the search with positive reviews.
5. Finally we see our #1 ranking in Google Maps or Google Local (as it's called now).  This comes from a variety of tactics that include high traffic, good conversion rates, and positive reviews.

Get a Free Evaluation of your Google Ranking

Check out the leaked video showing the new Gmail cosmetic design with updates!

Please join me for my two seminar sessions on Saturday, August 13th in Ft Lauderdale as I cover the following two topics:

• Funding your Software Project in Two Easy Steps
• SQL and SEO - a DBA's Guide to Search Engines

You can download the seminar materials at the following link:

FundingYourWebProject.pdf (4.66 mb)

Google Implements Site Blocking by User Profiles

If you are logged in with a Google Profile, you can now "prune" your natural search results by telling Google what you are NOT interested in.  This is an interesting approach since it is fairly hidden.  For this example, we google for mortgage companies and we are presented with a list of Google Maps listings integrated into their search results feed.  If you click on one of their websites and then immediately hit the "back" button (what Google calls a "bounce") then Google changes the search result screen to ask you if you want that listing removed from your search results.

This is a powerful feature that further blurs the "omnipotence" of ranked pages because you can basically "vote them off the island" if you want to.  I don't know what impact this has on the website's overall ranking, but it is something you should know when you are ranking your pages in Google.

Google ends their Google Maps Location Tags Program in May 2011

Is it the end of an era? or just a way to kill off some competition?  Google maps had implemented a very quiet method of promoting your business (for free initially!) with the use of promotion tags.  These tiny yellow icons that would show up next to your Google Maps listing were very inexpensive and defied the pay per click model by offiering them up for a flat fee of $25 per month per location.

Why are they ending it then?

Google figured out that locations were one of the most dominant influencers in buying decisions for local businesses.... after the Groupon fiasco it became patently clear that local business search is where it's at.  We were early adopters of the Google Tags system for First Option Mortgage, David and Associates Dental, RPM Automotive and many other clients that used the Tags for bringing in local customers.

Despite our early adoption, Google finally came out with a program that would more effectively eat up our budget which they now call Google Boost.  While we love the program and we enjoy the "boost" in sales, the $780 per month price tag came as quite a big pill to swallow.  Needless to say it's worth it and that traffic converts really well.  I am suspicious that it likely cannibalizes some of our existing free search traffic, but leaving your Google Maps listings undefended to other Boost competitors simply isn't wise.  Best to just pony up the dough and make it happen.

Happy Googling!

Jared Nielsen
[email protected]

Google can't ignore the rejected acquisition of Groupon for too long... so to coincide with the transition of Google CEOs, Mashable is reporting that Google is launching a Group coupon buying site.

Generally if you are already taking advantage of Google Checkout, Gmail, Buzz or other Google offerings, you are in a good position to push your own offers into the Google Offers system.  Google Checkout is a "relationship" arrangement so if your business is not already setup with Google Checkout, you should be.  This is not a setup to be taken lightly however... We have personally witnessed horror stories when dealing with customer transactions through Google Checkout where there is no 800 number to call to sort out issues.  Google takes a relatively heavy-handed approach to dealing with customer issues, generally meaning that the merchant will have their Google Checkout account revoked without explanation and all escrowed funds returned immediately to the customers.

To avoid running afoul of a permanent Google ban when using Google Checkout, be sure you have a generous returns policy and ensure that you require each customer to personally go through the hoops necessary to link their personal email directly to their own Google Wallet.  Gone are the days of taking a credit card over the phone and processing it manually... at least through Google Checkout.

Google Offers builds upon the territory already carved out by Google Maps, Google Adwords and Google Boost.  For a complete explanation of all of these programs, please call us and we can explain them to you and help you capitalize on them to your best advantage.

While Groupon prepares for its $15 billion dollar IPO filing, expect to see some aggressive moves by Google and you want to be riding that wave (and taking advantage of Groupon by the way) so you're not letting a competitior get the jump on you.

My name is Jared Nielsen and I am the principal of the FUZION Agency with 32 years of experience in online marketplaces, database driven web applications and building Internet businesses.  Thats a lot of talk that simply says that I "get" technology AND marketing.... not one or the other.  To my friends I tell them that I'm a geek that knows how to speak English... a rare commodity these days in the technology field.

Your business will be out of business without a comprehensive Internet marketing strategy, so let me do a free analysis for you and help you take advantage of the latest resources and tools available online.  Call me right now to get started.

Jared Nielsen
[email protected]
904-638-2455

Google announced today the launch of the beta of www.Boutiques.com which takes search engines to a completely different level.  Since most products on the planet are listed with the Google / Froogle search engine, Google now has unparalleled access to create new types of search engines that defy the typical Search Engine model.  This new search engine is called "Visual Search" and is the result of a visual search engine company that Google bought out last year called Like.com

Try out www.Boutiques.com and see for yourself!  Google will find out about you and then match clothing from various online retailers to match your body type, preferences and other style considerations (whether the items will match, etc).

This is NOT an online store so it doesn't compete with manufacturers, so online retailers should be sure to syndicate their product data to this unique online comparison shopping site.

As a qualified Google developer, we can help you accomplish this as we already have the database expertise necessary to deliver your products to these new comparison shopping engines.  With over 400 comparison shopping sites at our disposal we can help ladies apparel vendors get the jump on new opportunities like this.

Contact Jared Nielsen at 904-638-2455 immediately to do a walk through.

Other articles talking about how Google's Computers want to Dress You:

CNN - Google's Computers want to Dress You

ISEdb.com- Google gets into fashion shopping with Boutiques.com

techshrimp.com - Google launches Boutiques.com : a new way to shop for fashion online

PC World - Google gets into High Fashion with Boutiques.com

Jacksonville SEO Meetup discusses Using Articles to Get Great Backlinks

Jared Nielsen from the FUZION Agency is attending a wonderful seminar by Michelle Chance-Sangthong as she introduces the concept of creating quality articles with great backlinks to your website...  Articles are an important component of good search engine optimization because they provide highly viral content (content that people will link to and syndicate to their own websites) and will increase the influence of your website in the form of PR (Page Rank) value on your website where the articles are provided.

There are many websites where you can syndicate articles for publication and syndication:

www.EzineArticles.com

www.ArticleBase.com

www.GoArticles.com

www.iSnare.com

Matt Bacak is a resource article writer who scribes articles and resource boxes at the end of the article that makes it look like the article has continued into his resource box with a direct response conversion site at www.PromotingTips.com.

Matt Cutts was recommended as a good resource for google know-how about "Gadgets, Google and SEO" at http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/.

It struck me as they were talking about how to come up with topics that you should write about and I thought about how I come up with my own articles.  Generally I decided to slow myself down and whenever I discover a new way to do something, or I come across a new way of looking at something, I simply complete my work and then document what I discovered in the form of a blog entry (like what I'm doing now).

www.Copyscape.com was recommended as a method of verifying the information that you create to ensure that it's not listed as duplicate content.  The theory is that uploading it to EzineArticles first is the best plan because they check to ensure that the articles are unique.  If EzineArticles.com detects duplicate content, they may ban your account.

Some discusssion included information on using broad match versus exact match keyword phrases in anchor text.... so when you generate content and put back links to "SEO Expert Jacksonville, FL" and compare that to backlinks that are easier to integrate into the copy like "Jacksonville SEO Expert" the overall conclusion was that dropping the ", FL" didn't seem to have a negative impact.

www.Fixya.com is a website where Michelle would become a master "answerer" and has earned a high enough rank to have her responses accepted so her backlinks survive.

www.CruiseCritic.com is a website where they critique cruises.  This is a place where you can answer questions and obtain backlinks.

The Best Spinner was recommended as a quality tool to let you interactively go through an article in an semi-automated way which prompts you to replace certain phrases and words with valid words and phrases from the thesaurus and idiom directory.

Lots of tips were presented about using the resource box as an extension of your article in a way that targets (individually) specific keywords and phrases that will drive traffic to a more esoteric internal page rather than always linking to your main root domain name.

Spend time working on your anchor text as well..  Instead of using the non-descript term "Click Here" or "More Info" you should include many subtle variations that "tell the truth" about where the link is sending you.

The conversation turned to canonical sturcture to your data which I generally call "stacking".  This means that Google is not only trying to determine what your page about but it's trying to decide if the "parent" of the page is "canonically" superior or over-arching to the focus of the present page.  This gives you a "double-tap" in google where it shows your current precise search result and then its canonical parents.

The theory of 1 hyperlink per 200 words.  Google Alerts were also discussed where you put your own company name in Google Alerts so you can know where your company is being "chatted about" online.  Once you see a flare of activity, then you bump up your content on those sites where they are being discussed.

Tracking your articles is also a good technique where you use highly unique titles for your articles and then you go back and google for that long article title name.  This will tell you how many results you are attracting as the article spins through the web.

You can also put those article titles into your Google Alerts to track the ongoing activity about your specific articles.  You can also discover new websites that you may decide to partner with or that you may be interested in advertising on.

Marketing Profs was mentioned as a good resource for marketing tips and search engine optimization techniques.  You can subscribe to www.MarketingProfs.com and check out their articles that lately covered how to create viral videos that will help your SEO efforts.

Other websites are more tolerant of product mentions including:

www.Squidoo.com

www.HubPages.com

These sites will allow you to feature products and content without too much intervention and filtering (unlike many of the article submission sites).

Wordpress and BlogEngine.net are designed to silo content into pages and blog entries.  My recommendation is that you put more permanent, encyclopedic content that you want to earn a permanent PR ranking position while you focus your blogging content on more temporary and more transitory that will penetrate the pingback networks more effectively.

The website www.Xomba.com was mentioned as a possible local source for article referral marketing but the concern was they were prone to hackers.

Very cool meetup!

Google appears to be working on a Facebook competitor called Google Me which is including the game provider Zynga (Farmville et al).

While some claim it is a rumor, several credible blogs seem to have inside knowledge of this new Facebook replacement.

Know anything about Google Me?  Email me and let us know what you know...