Use Google’s Customization Tools

When you set up a Google AdWords campaign, by default you’ll have a standard account; however, you’ll have more options—and more success—if you select “All features” under the Settings tab. Although it might seem better to include several variants of the same keyword, you’ll likely get more clicks if you include only one version of each keyword. Instead, include a variety of distinct keywords. Try to think of as many words as you can that relate to your company and what you do.

Also, you can change the ad settings so that all of your ads rotate. That way, web users will see all of your ads, regardless of how they’re performing.

Improve Your Ad Copy

Keep your competition in mind when you write your ad copy. What sets your business apart from theirs? Offer information in your ad that will make you stand out from your competitors, whether it’s an offer, a review or some shocking stats about your company.

Like print ads, billboards, or any other type of advertisement, your paid search ad needs to have some sort of a call to action. Otherwise, it will be much more difficult for people who engage with your ad to make a purchase. Even if it’s something short like “Buy Now” or “Save Now”, a call to action will make your ad much more effective.

Optimize Your Ad For Mobile

As you probably know, a growing number of users are searching the web from their mobile phones. To reach these potential customers, you should change your preferences so that your ad defaults to mobile devices with full browsers. You’ll save money by adjusting your mobile bid, but you’ll need to remember to change your ad copy to fit the mobile format.

Target By Location

As always, we in the local internet marketing industry recommend that businesses target specific locations based on their audience. You can do this with Google AdWords by making adjustments to your custom settings.

Use Data To Improve Your Ads

Make sure you’re using the ad result data that Google provides to make your ads even better. Try to figure out what makes some campaigns wildly successful and others disappointing.

Check out our Google guide to learn how to use Google’s other resources to improve your web marketing.

Like almost anything that’s worthwhile, with Google AdWords, you get out of them what you put into them. With a little extra effort, your AdWords campaign can be a hit for your business.

It’s now more important than ever to make sure that you maintain a high level of customer service. Although this has always been critical to the success of your businesses, your customers can now share their positive and negative experiences online, which can make or break your online reputation. If your customers are happy with your company, they’re likely to let their online friends know about. Don’t neglect your customer service because you’ve devoted your resources to social media management; it’s likely to backfire.

Target Customers with Sponsored Stories

If your company spends some of its budget on Sponsored Stories, you’re still in line with the study’s findings. Sponsored Stories are delivered to users based on friend recommendations, which makes them more effective than standard banner ads, probably because users instantly identify them as advertisements and tune them out.

Provide Valuable Content

So what does this mean for your business? The new findings show that brands benefit the most when they create original content that educates or provides entertainment for your customers. It might seem more difficult than it actually is. Providing valuable content might be as simple as posting a short how-to video or a link to an educational blog post that might be useful to your audience. Most of all, it means that your company will have to do its best to think about what your customers want, and deliver it.

The study found that what customers don’t want is direct advertising of a particular product or service. They need to understand your business and how your services can benefit them before they even think about working with you. Instead, deliver content that helps them form an affinity for your brand.

Maximize Your Customer Reviews

If your company has received lots of positive online reviews, capitalize on them. The study found that consumers also trust consumer reviews about a company. 46 percent of respondents said that they take reviews into consideration. On the other hand, only 9 percent of respondents said they listen to text messages from a company. Add a rich snippet for your Google listing to highlight your positive reviews. For more information about how to take advantage of Google’s services, check out our major search engine guide.

After months of rumors, YouTube finally introduced a pilot program for paid channels on Thursday.

YouTube will now let a few dozen of popular channels charge viewers a subscription fee of 99 cents or more per month, the company announced in a blog post. Each of these channels will offer two weeks of free viewing before charges kick in and some will provide discounts for those who sign up for an annual subscription.

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We in the local social media marketing industry can’t get enough of Google Analytics, and with the launch of Universal Analytics, it’s even more powerful. The new Universal Analytics goes beyond Google Analytics, measuring the way your customers engage with your company on their mobile phones or other devices.

Learn More with Multi-Channel Analysis

The true value of Universal Analytics comes when the data reveals which marketing channels are most valuable for your business. If you use the new tool to evaluate the success of your mobile apps, social media interactions, and even offline interactions, you’ll get a clear picture of each medium’s performance. With that information, you’ll be able to make sound decisions about your marketing budget and ensure that each marketing dollar is spent wisely.

With Universal Analytics, the ultimate goal is to find a way to better serve your customers, who are becoming accustomed to receiving relevant, customized content through the use of mobile technologies. The tool helps you identify your customers’ needs so that you can make it easier for them to shop and buy your product.

Get Set Up with Universal Analytics

If you’re not using Google Analytics, you’ve been missing out on great information about your local internet marketing. But it does make it easier for you to set up Universal Analytics. When you set up your Analytics account, just choose to set up Universal Analytics as well.

If you’re already using Google Analytics, setting up Universal Analytics involves just a few steps. You’ll need to set up a new web property. This tells Google what you want it to start tracking. For each web property, you’ll have the option to use Universal tracking or the standard tracking. Needless to say, we recommend the Universal option.

After you’ve made your selections, you’ll get a JavaScript snippet to add to your website. If you’re planning to measure your mobile apps, Universal Analytics will provide you with the tools you need for implementation. Thankfully, Google provides users with a guide for developers. Also, Google’s Tag Manager enables you to manage your analytics without having to change the codes you’ve added to your website and mobile apps.

Now’s the time to connect with your mobile users, and with Universal Analytics, it’s now easier than ever.

Set Up Advanced Segments

The first step is adding all of your social media sites to your Google Analytics by clicking on the Advanced Segments button. From there, you can add your company’s Facebook page, Twitter feed, and more. After you’ve set this up, you can see where your company’s social media followers are located. This can help you determine where you decide to hold company events. You can also use this information to help you set up Facebook and Twitter ads that are targeted based on location.

Learn More about Your Followers

Advanced Segments also enables you to see how many of your social media followers are engaging with your company on a mobile device. If you find that 50 percent or more of your followers use their mobile devices to connect, you’ll need to be sure to tailor your content to this audience. Start by checking out your social media sites on mobile devices to see how your content appears on various devices. Make sure that all of your content is legible and that your images are large and colorful enough to catch people’s attention. If you post links that direct people to forms, make sure they are mobile ready so it’s easy to fill them out on a mobile device.

Set and Measure Marketing Goals

The real value of Google Analytics comes with setting and measuring goals. Most likely, your local internet marketing efforts are aimed at getting people to purchase a product on your website. After someone completes a transaction, most companies acknowledge the purchase with a “Thank you for your business” web page.

To set up a goal in Google Analytics, go to the Admin page, which can be found in the upper right corner. Once you’re on your profile page, click on the Goals menu and then New Goal. Then you can name your new goal, click the URL Destination as the goal type, and copy the URL of your thank-you page and paste it into the Goal Details field and click Save. Google Analytics will begin tracking how many people are completing transactions and which sites they came from. This will quickly show you which social media sites are working well for your company, and which ones need some help.

Use the Data Effectively

Using Google Analytics to track social networks is only worthwhile if you use the information to make adjustments to your social marketing strategy. If you notice that one social media site is drawing lots of attention to your business, allocate more time and resources for that site.

How Do Rich Snippets Appear in Google?

Rich snippets add pizzazz to your basic website listing in Google. You may have noticed that some businesses have extra elements in Google search result listings. Most have a small photo, a star rating, and a short description of the company and its products and services, but you can add other items that relate to your business. For example, if you set up an author snippet, your listing can include other articles you’ve written.

Businesses like yours will probably want to include detailed information about their locations, hours, and prices. If there are customer reviews available for your businesses, your potential customers will find those helpful, too. Also, if you have a lot of great online reviews, you can create separate snippets for those.

How Do I Add My Own Rich Snippets?

Adding microdata to your website is the easiest way to integrate a rich snippet into your listing on Google. Although adding a rich snippet to your website requires some knowledge of how HTML works, you probably won’t need to hire an expert web programmer to add your snippets. You’ll only need to add a few basic <div> and <span> tags. Thankfully, Google provides great resources to guide you.

Test Your Rich Snippet

Be sure to test your rich snippet to make sure you’ve added the microdata correctly. You can preview your rich snippet on Google Webmaster Tools before it goes live.

Once you’ve added the microdata for your snippet and tested it, you’ll see your snippet online within three or four weeks. Still a little confused? Check out our Google handbook to learn more about using Google to reach customers. It’ll show you how to use Google’s 6 resources to boost you to the top of search results, fast!

The YouTube Creator Blog is talking about another significant change to how you view YouTube in the future: the homepage feeds will soon be showing more than just one video, and perhaps there will be use for all that white space now.  Actually, some of you might already be able to see it.

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Earlier this year, YouTube announced a new design – first released in limited beta – that aims to promote increased regular visits to YouTube from any connected device. While the design is already available, the deadline for all channels to make changes is May 15, and for channels with gadgets, June 19.

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Don’t Forget About the Basics

Step back for a moment. Ask yourself if you’ve covered the bases on things you can accomplish with relatively little money. Business cards are a given. Putting your company name on letterhead and proposals is a given, too. But there are other things that get overlooked. For instance, we’ve talked to several home improvement owners who expect to be found in local search tomorrow but have neglected to put a sign on their truck or company vehicle today. I’m not talking about a vehicle wrap. Simple lettering or even a door magnet with your company’s name or logo, phone number and web address gets your name out – whether you are in traffic, parked at a shopping center, or in front of a client’s address. People notice those things. After all, if you’re paying for gasoline, you might as well advertise and maximize your travel expenses. And don’t forget, when your company name is on the vehicle, be a courteous driver.

Do More with a Limited Budget

Some businesses, especially small companies, have limited marketing budgets and staff. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t find success; it just means you might have to be more creative. Here are a few ideas:

• Call some of your best customers and ask them to post reviews online. The customers who love you the most will do it for no strings attached – they’ll do it because they believe in you and want you to succeed.
• Be seen as a trusted expert. Introduce yourself to members of the local media through a friendly, concise letter or an email, then follow up with a phone call. (And always use Spell Check.) Editors at news outlets need reputable local resources. If the media thinks of your company as an expert source, you could get some free publicity. If your business relies on seasonality, create a press release of helpful hints and distribute it right before the season.
• Find a local non-profit and team up on an event or fundraising campaign. Offer to donate a portion of your monthly sales to the organization, and ask them to use their resources (email lists, social media, events) to help spread the word about your contribution. Be sure to get a photo of you delivering the check, and post that photo to social media networks. Volunteer your time at events to demonstrate your physical support. You never know who you’ll meet. Plus, you’ll be seen as a valued member of the community who gets involved and gives your time, more so than someone who will simply write a check.

The value of local internet marketing is enhanced when you include other channels in your marketing mix. A well-rounded marketing strategy is best for reaching your target audience and for people to talk about you. Remember that there will always be buzz about the latest online marketing tactics, but the basics still matter.

Twitter on Wednesday introduced keyword targeting for advertising, meaning that you may see Promoted Tweets based on stuff you have tweeted about.

In a blog post, Nipoon Malhotra, product manager for revenue at Twitter, gave the following example of how the program will work:

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