15. January 2018 · Comments Off on Online Review Websites: How They Work and Why They Are Important For Your Business · Categories: Mountain Woods Media · Tags: , ,

online review websitesThere are dozens upon dozens of online review websites that encourage participation from both individuals and businesses. These include sites such as Yelp, Manta, City Search, Google+ Local and many more.

Individuals (your potential customers) can create free accounts and use review websites to find more information about your company; get directions and leave reviews, etc.

For businesses, review websites are extremely important in gaining more local customers. Participation is required if you want to take it to the next level with local search engine optimization (SEO).

Here’s why:

  • Review websites, such as Yelp, for example, give your business more visibility to more local customers. Some users are addicted to the Yelp app on their smartphone and only use it for locating businesses or for finding products and services they need.
  • There are approximately 50 (or more) high-quality and high-traffic review websites – all of which give you another opportunity for your business to be found in Google search results and in other search engines. For example, if a customer is searching for “Greenville, SC florist,” your website might be ranked high in search results, but the review website might also be ranked high. This gives your business another opportunity to be on front of a local customer.
  • Participation in review websites gives your business another online source of generating new traffic to your website.
  • Review websites create inbound links pointing to your company’s website. The more review websites your company is listed in, the more links you have gained from credible websites pointing to your company’s website. SEO experts call this “link building” (the act of one website publishing a link pointing to another website).

Unfortunately, some businesses refuse to participate in review websites. Why? Because they fear potential bad reviews might be published for their company. However, individuals (again, your customers) can add your business to any review website and they can also leave reviews for your company whether you choose to participate or not.

As a local business owner, you need to claim and confirm your business profile in review websites and begin taking control of your company’s image in Yelp, Bing Local, Yellow Pages and other business listing websites. Once you “own” your business profile, you can then start optimizing your profile for better rankings and improve online conversations with your customers.

01. February 2017 · Comments Off on White Hats, Pink Hats, Black Hats… · Categories: Blogging, Digital Marketing, Mountain Woods Media, SEO, Social Media Consulting · Tags: , , , , , ,

White Hats, Pink Hats, Black Hats and the White House

Many of us in tech tend to be introverts.  We are passionately engaged with our clients. We feel  and experience deeply but you would never know it as we are reticent to speak up, or cause controversy in order to avoid a drop in web traffic, fewer consulting gigs, or trolls from high school taking issue with a mildly progressive meme involving the color pink.  When Googlers this week finally started “marching” in support of immigrant colleagues, this made me smile and also remembering fondly an SEO conference from several years ago.  The SES event we attended involved a meet and greet icebreaker  which involved identifying your firm as to whether it was “white hat” or “black hat”.   “White hat” meant you used technical skills that were above board, slightly less aggressive in order to earn higher rankings but none which would trouble the search giants such as Google, Bing, Duck Duck Go or Facebook.  “Black hat” meant you were not above being scrappy and slightly nefarious by using keywords hidden in white fonts, misdirected pages, buying followers, or other questionable tech tactics.  We were provided real cowboy hats during the event and instructed to both wear them and mingle.  Surprisingly, it was a 50/50 color spectrum.

But when you have always leaned “white hat” and have turned down more gigs than you have accepted due to questionable client ethics, there comes a point when you need to actually wear your sheriff’s badge and come clean.

In the early 90’s I both interviewed and processed grants for disaster victims, for women at risk who had been violated and burned with cigarettes in the trafficking industry, human rights activists in foreign jails housed in horrendous conditions,  and health professionals who had their hospitals and lifesaving equipment bombed by political factions.  Later, as a case manager and small business developer, I went on to help refugees impacted by similar events try to build small family microbusinesses in order to escape tough working conditions from jobs they had to accept once they had been admitted to the US.  Many of these tiny businesses made it.  Some did not.  I was new to understanding the impact of PTSD on many of my clients and looking back wondered if stronger mental health support would have allowed more of these families to thrive.   One client had been chased by gangs with knives through the jungles of Togo.  He was heartbroken to be separated from his wife.  A large man with a broad smile, he came to my office and cried when he was placed in a job with a meat packing plant.  Idealistic, but inexperienced, it took me several years to understand that the knives in the meat packing plant were probably not helping him recover from his experience of being hunted in the jungles of Togo.

So…as I saw people unjustly detained and then finally “making it” through the gauntlet at so many airports in these United States this weekend to cheering crowds, I was haunted by the man with the broad smile.  He never had a crowd to greet him, just me.  And this is how we continue to work.  If we can cheer for your success (and the standards are high) then you qualify for a sheriff’s badge with our “white hat” team.

 

~  Leigh M. Drake, President, Mountain Woods Media, LLC

07. January 2016 · Comments Off on How One Post Ruined Holly Jones’ Online Reputation · Categories: ORM, Social Media Consulting · Tags: , , , , , , ,

No one plans on ruining their online reputation.

However, in this case, Holly Jones of Indianapolis didn’t think before she posted her New Year’s Eve restaurant complaint on the establishment’s Facebook page.

This is a prime example of how quickly one’s reputation can be severely damaged (almost to the point of zero chance of recovery) and how a business’ posse quickly came to the rescue and defended its actions.

In a blink of an eye, the story when viral.

In a nutshell, here’s what happened:

Jones and her party were enjoying their New Year’s Eve dinner at Kilroy’s Bar and Grill in downtown Indianapolis. During the evening, a 70-year-old woman suffered a heart attack. Paramedics arrived; took the patient to the hospital, where she is recovering.

Rather than showing a little civility, mercy and care, Jones felt the need to post a message on Kilroy’s Facebook Page and blasted the restaurant; management; the suffering woman (who Jones said suffered from an overdose) and complained about her $700 bill.

Now, since the post was published on Kilroy’s Facebook page, the restaurant could have simply deleted her post. However, Kilroy’s Managing Partner Chris Burton blasted back….big time:

“This poor lady, who was celebrating New Year’s Eve with her husband and son, had to be placed on the floor of a completely packed bar and have her shirt removed in front of everyone so the paramedics could work on her. But I can completely understand why you think being intoxicated a******s that didn’t understand your bill should take priority over human life. I especially appreciate you making your server (who doesn’t curse) cry as well. I’m sure she really enjoyed working on New Year’s Eve just to deal with people such as yourself.”

Burton went on and told Jones that she was “cold hearted and nasty” and that he wouldn’t lose a second of sleep over her pledge never to return to Kilroy’s.

However, the fire storm was just getting started.

Enter local media, Twitter and here you go. Even at 2 a.m., the story was trending (#HollyJones). Holly Jones was getting blasted by those who never knew her; never met her; never had been to Kilroy’s; never had been to Indianapolis or, even been to the United States for that matter. Other Facebook users with the name “Holly Jones” were getting hate mail and anonymous threatening phone calls.

Jones took down her Facebook Page (claiming it had been hacked) and it appears she also lost her job as a hair stylist. Burton and his fans donated $14,000 in funds for medical bills of the heart attack victim

Did Holly Jones deserve it? Did she pick a fight with Kilroy’s and is now paying a huge price for her public post?  Did the restaurant manager go too far? Are the tables finally turning on restaurant review trolls?

Holly Jones

Some of the ongoing reviews and conversations on Kilroy’s Facebook Page from January 5, 2016

 

To see more helpful tips for managing negative business reviews, take a look at our course “Online Reputation Management: Negative Business Reviews” on Udemy.

11. December 2015 · Comments Off on Improve Local SEO, Increase Website Traffic and Earn More Sales by Publishing Videos · Categories: Mountain Woods Media, SEO, Training Courses · Tags: , ,


Customers, clients and website visitors all love videos. In fact, videos are getting more attention these days than photographs.

Videos keep customers on your website longer, especially when the video is informative and entertaining.

Don’t worry: you don’t need to hire an expensive video crew with fancy cameras; giant lights with all the glitz and glamor. And, you don’t have to buy an extra piece of equipment or software in order to create videos for your website.

Instead, for starters, use your smart phone along with free software to help get you started.

Customers don’t need flashy graphics and scrolling text. What they are looking for is information about how to solve a problem or how your company can help them with your goods and services.

Videos can be short (even one or two minutes), but try to keep them under 5 or 10 minutes if you can. Introduce yourself; explain the problem and offer the solution. Done!

Publish your videos on your company YouTube Channel and on your website (like we did in this blog post). Share your videos via your social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.).

You can see more of our videos on our YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBrvlgZtguugEfgmuYD-jcw)

02. October 2015 · Comments Off on Don’t Worry About The ‘Haters’ When It Comes To Business Reviews · Categories: Mountain Woods Media · Tags: , , ,

HatersOnline reviews – both positive and negative – can go a long way when it comes to earning new customers and trying to maintain an ongoing positive online reputation.

Unfortunately, some businesses choose not to participate in the online review process because they fear an onslaught of bad business reviews. Let’s go ahead and put this myth aside:

  • Customers can leave reviews for your company whether you claim and confirm your business profile in Yelp, Manta and other review sites. Just because you haven’t claimed your profile, doesn’t mean it won’t be active in review websites. It’s best to participate so you can communicate with your customers and earn higher rankings by completing your profile.
  • Former employees and “haters” might indeed leave bad reviews for your business. However, review websites (such as Yelp) have algorithms in place to recognize and hide negative reviews from profile view. Even so, most intelligent customers can easily spot a fake review (good or bad).
  • Competitors might also leave your business a bad review. Yelp will automatically remove reviews that are proven to have been written by a competitor.

Overall, don’t let a few worrisome reasons keep your business from claiming, confirming and optimizing your business profile in review and mapping websites. The benefits far outweigh the negatives. For instance:

  • For each business profile you claim and optimize, you’re giving your business another opportunity to be seen by a future potential customer. Overall, there are approximately 50 good review websites that allow businesses to set up free profiles.
  • For each business profile you claim and optimize, that’s one more inbound link from a reputable website pointing back to your company’s website.
  • Many review websites, such as Yelp, rank high in Google on local search terms. Therefore, if your business can earn a higher position in Yelp, it will automatically earn a higher spot in search engine rankings.
  • Since more and more people are relying on smartphones and tablets, they are also using review apps, such as Yelp, in order to find restaurants; coffee shops; hotels and other businesses. You’ll want make sure your business is visible and up-to-date so future customers can find you in various review apps.

Learn more about online reputation management; Yelp and earning more local traffic to your website by previewing (free) these courses in Udemy.com:

“Online Reputation Management: Handling Negative Reviews”
https://www.udemy.com/online-reputation-management-negative-business-reviews

“Promote Your Business and Earn More Sales By Mastering Yelp”
https://www.udemy.com/mastering-yelp

“Earn More Sales By Increasing Local Traffic To Your Website”
https://www.udemy.com/earn-more-sales-by-increasing-local-traffic-to-your-website

 

 

21. September 2015 · Comments Off on Many Positive Reasons For Being A Sports Writer · Categories: Blogging, Training Courses · Tags: , , , ,
Many Positive Reasons for Being a Sportswriter

Look for these type of teasers to find freelance sportswriter gigs” “We’re Looking for Freelance Writers to Help Us Cover LSU Football & More ”  Photo via 1130thetiger.com in 2013

If you’re looking for a new writing opportunity – either freelance, part-time or full-time – there are many positive reasons why being a sports writer might be the right ticket for you.

First, however, you’ll need to meet one, or both, of the following requirements:

  • You have writing skills.
  • You like sports.

A combination of both creates an ideal situation. Sports enthusiasts envy sports writers. You’re close to the action; you get to interview coaches and athletes; your name is in print (or online or in other media outlets such as television, radio, etc.) and you can earn some extra income.

Sports writing on a freelance or part-time basis won’t take up too much of your time. In most cases, you’ll be asked to attend and cover a local football or basketball game during the week and report the results.

However, there are other opportunities in writing sports profiles or feature pieces.

Many times in my sports writing career, I could easily find other sports article ideas that I could pitch to newspapers and magazines (before the Internet, mind you). Some of these included articles about sports injuries; health and diet as it related to athletes; how to select the right sports equipment (golf clubs; racquetball and tennis racquets, etc.) and how to build your own basketball court; racquetball court, etc.

Now, with many online publication and blogs, there is even a greater need and opportunity to be a freelance sports writer. Blogs need content in order to earn higher rankings in search engines and increase readership. More readers equates into more blog advertisers as businesses are happy to pay for an ad that gets their business in front of more potential customers.

For more information on how to earn extra money by being a freelance, part-time or full-time sports writer, check out our Udemy course at https://udemy.com/sports-writer.

18. September 2015 · Comments Off on Use These Local SEO Strategies To Earn New Customers and More Sales – Part I · Categories: SEO, Training Courses · Tags: , ,

local SEO claim your listingsLocal businesses – including everyone from plumbers; heating and cooling specialists; lawyers; dentists; accountants and restaurants – need local customers in order to survive and grow.

Here are 10 ways local businesses can increase sales; improve website traffic; add new customers and keep the telephone ringing.

  1. Claim and confirm your business listing in review and mapping websites such as Yelp, Manta, CitySearch, Google+ Local, Bing Local and many others. Customers who “live” on their mobile devices constantly use location based review apps, such as Yelp, in order to find local products and services. Make sure your business’ profile is accurate and complete.
  2. Update your website’s content. There’s no need to re-design your website. Instead, you probably need a content refresh with new and expanded information about your company and its products or services. Your website isn’t a brochure. It should also reflect what’s going on with your business; new staff photos and bios; etc. Also, make sure your business hours are correct and always include your full business contact and address information. A map is always appreciated by new customers.
  3. Create and write a blog. We can’t stress this enough. A blog is like a diary or sorts, but it should be all about your business; what’s new in the industry; how you can help new customers; offer ideas; tips (like this blog post!) and much more. If you don’t have time to write a blog, get staff involved or hire an intern or local freelance writers. Try to include pictures with your blog. Blog posts should be around 300 words or more. Strive to publish two or three blog posts per week.
  4. Always be looking for ways to improve your website’s content. A blog is a great way to start this process, but update and improve your other website pages on a regular basis. Typically, the pages we see with the most content update opportunities include the About Us page and the Contact Us page.
  5. Don’t let your website developer slow you down. Content updates, especially simple ones, should be easy for anyone to correct and publish. If your website developer is S-L-O-W to update new content and new pages, then it might be time for a face-to-face chat or begin the process in looking for a new website developer. Recently, we helped a company re-write page content for their entire website. Six weeks later and the website is still missing these fresh content changes. That’s not good for the local business that needs to inform local customers of new products and services. Don’t let your developer hurt your business.

For more information on local SEO, check out our course on Udemy at https://www.udemy.com/earn-more-sales-by-increasing-local-traffic-to-your-website/

16. September 2015 · Comments Off on Press Release: SEO Workshop on Ten Effective Ways To Improve Google Rankings · Categories: Mountain Woods Media, SEO, Training Courses · Tags: , , , , , , ,

SEO WorkshopMountain Woods Media, LLC, an Internet consulting and content development firm, has released a new SEO workshop course on Udemy.

The course “SEO Workshop: Ten Effective Ways To Improve Google Rankings” features a real life review and critique of five different websites in order to find ways to help them earn higher rankings in Google and other search engines.

“Students will find that as we review our selected websites, they will see some common problems that also exist in their own business’ website,” says Mountain Woods Media, LLC Vice President Steve Phillips.

“In this course, we’ll look at websites for a plumber; a restaurant; a law firm; a brick-and-mortar business, and an e-commerce company,” says Phillips. “In all cases, these companies are ranked No. 11 or worse in Google, but they all have at least three areas that need some minor improvements that will help them move up in Google search engine rankings.”

The “SEO Workshop: Ten Effective Ways To Improve Google Rankings” covers:

  • How to apply quick and easy techniques in order to improve your website’s search engine optimization.
  • Updating and improving on-page SEO elements.
  • Revisiting often-overlooked page and picture tags.
  • How to meet and exceed page content requirements.
  • Optimizing your company’s review website profile.
  • Never missing easy chances for higher rankings in Google and other search engines.
  • Earning more traffic to your company’s website.

This two-hour course includes 19 lectures, quizzes and a course worksheet. As in other Mountain Woods Media courses, students will be able to participate in online question-and-answer discussions with course students and Phillips. Mountain Woods Media, LLC will soon announce “office hours” in which students will be able to connect live via Skype for private one-on-one training and instruction at no additional charge.

“SEO Workshop: Ten Effective Ways To Improve Google Rankings” is currently available for $99 and can be purchased at https://www.udemy.com/seo-workshop-study.

28. August 2015 · Comments Off on Where Does Your Business Appear When A Customer Searches For You? · Categories: SEO, Training Courses · Tags: ,

local seo flower shopLocal businesses rely solely on local customers. However, local customers almost always search Google, review websites and social media before they call or visit a business.

Why?

They want to know who is going to fix their problem and provide the best possible service.

Consider this:

If a potential customer is new to your area, the Internet is the only source of referrals and reviews.

How does your business appear when a potential customer searches for a “Knoxville Plumber” or an “Indianapolis Dentist?”

In our recent course “Earn More Sales by Increasing Local Traffic To Your Website” ($69, Udemy, http://bit.ly/1fFFNLl), we conducted a simple search in Google for a “Greenville SC Florist.”

We discovered one firm – Twigs Florist – was doing it right in terms of local SEO. Within the Top 10 Google search results, Twigs was No. 1 in the Google Map (also known as Google+ Local or Google Maps) and No. 2 in Google organic search results.

In addition, Yelp was No. 7 with Twigs Florist taking the top position in Yelp. Therefore, of the Top 10 Google search results, Twigs owned the most “real estate” by owning three positions.

This is a result of the florist properly optimizing not only their own website for local SEO, but also properly claiming, confirming and optimizing their business profile listings in Yelp, Google+ Local and other review and local listing websites and mapping sites.

Each one of these listing websites acts like its own little search engine. Customers can search for businesses within Google or within sites like Yelp, Manta, City Search, etc.

These searching options create two scenarios and two different searching results. Your website, for instance, may rank high in Google, but your Yelp profile might not rank high within Yelp. Therefore, local businesses not only need to optimize their website for Google, but they need to accurately (and fully) complete their business profile within local listing and review websites, too.

You can learn more about higher rankings in Google, Yelp and other local listing websites in our course “Earn More Sales by Increasing Local Traffic To Your Website” http://bit.ly/1fFFNLl.

10. August 2015 · Comments Off on Mountain Woods Media, LLC Releases First Udemy Course · Categories: Mountain Woods Media, ORM · Tags: , , ,

Mountain Woods Media, LLC releases first ORM Udemy CourseMountain Woods Media, LLC, a content development firm, has released its first training course on Udemy.

The course “Online Reputation Management: Handling Negative Reviews” is designed for large and small businesses; professional and medical services, and other firms who need to manage and improve their online business reviews.

“Unfortunately, some businesses and professionals receive negative reviews in Yelp, Google Places or on other online review websites,” says Mountain Woods Media Vice President Steve Phillips.

“This course is an easy-to-follow guide on how to respond to negative reviews and turn them into positive reviews for your company,” he adds.

This “Online Reputation Management: Handling Negative Reviews” Udemy course covers:

  • Understanding how Online Reputation works for businesses and individuals.
  • How to take proper steps in handling online negative business reviews, including how to respond to them.
  • How to turn a negative review into a positive review.
  • How to claim and optimize online business profiles and map listing websites.
  • How to manage your business’ online reputation.
  • How to create easy content and optimize it for better rankings in Google and other search engines.

Currently, students can preview two (2) course lectures for free, including:

  • Lecture 1: “Everything’s Online As It Happens”
  • Lecture 2: “Understanding Online Reputation Management”

The three-hour course features 22 lectures and several downloadable documents. Students may participate in online question-and-answer discussions with other students and Phillips. Mountain Woods Media, LLC will announce “office hours” soon in which students can connect live via Skype for more one-on-one training and instruction at no additional charge.

“Online Reputation Management: Handling Negative Reviews” is currently available for $49 and is available at https://www.udemy.com/online-reputation-management-negative-business-reviews/

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Mountain Woods Media, LLC is a content development firm specializing in Search Engine Optimization; Online Reputation Management and App Search Optimization. Online Reputation is how a business or a person appears online through search results. The process by which one continuously improves their online reputation is called “online reputation management.” Fresh and positive content helps improve your online reputation in overcoming bad publicity; bad business reviews or making a life mistake.

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Udemy is the world’s online learning marketplace, where over 7 million students are taking courses in everything from programming to yoga to photography and much, much more. Each of Udemy’s 30,000+ courses is taught by an expert instructor, so every course is available on-demand, and students can learn at their own pace, on their own time, and on any device. For more information, visit http://udemy.com

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