mobileonline presenceSearch Engines

The evolution of how businesses are found online

One of the factors in why I first became interested in the Online Presence space was when I first saw SIRI (the voice that you talk to on your iPhone).  I am not talking about the watered down Apple version but what SIRI was before it was acquired by Apple and then subsequently hobbled (though its much better now). In pre apple SIRI you could ask it to find nearby italian restaurants that are open now and then directly make a reservation.   This really brought home to me how important a business's online information would be moving forward and how we are moving away from people looking for businesses and choosing one at their own discretion to a world where businesses will be recommended by an algorithm and the user will be given limited choice over which businesses they are presented. This is as much a factor of form changes as anything else as we move from large desktop computers with big screens, to laptops, tablets, phones and watches and further.  User Interface is becoming No Interface where you…
Paul Gordon
January 5, 2016
online presenceSearch Engines

You’re on the map but will you be found

Maps are everywhere online now, especially on mobile apps where location is often far more relevant.  You probably have a map on your website (if you don't you probably should add one) showing visitors exactly where your business is located and giving them easy access to directions so that they know exactly how to get from where they are to you.  A map can also be invaluable to get a quick impression of roughly where a business is located and local consumers can quickly see based on landmarks in the map where you are and give them enough to get to you without needing directions. If you are a local business you need to have this! You want to make it as easy as possible for consumers to find you and get to you. In addition to your website your business is also on tens or even hundreds of other maps on online services, blogs, apps and more.  Have you taken the time to check these for accuracy?  A wrong map location can be a big problem for your business,…
Paul Gordon
October 31, 2015
online presenceSearch Engines

8 vital things to check on your business profiles

If you are like most businesses you have many different business profiles spread across many different online services and apps.  Some of these profiles you may have created yourself, some by previous owners or managers, some by the website from other sources and some may have been crowd-sourced and created by your customers. Each of your profiles say something about your business and it is important that you are sure that this information is accurate and best represents your business.  It can be hard enough to get a consumer to even see your profiles let alone them having a bad experience with inaccurate or incomplete information when they find you. Your business profiles are also used by search engines to help determine if you are the business you say you are and build authority through citations. If your information (especially your business name, address or phone number) is inaccurate or inconsistent across your profiles then your business's ability to rank in local search will suffer. Every so often you should check your profiles and make sure you are happy with…
Paul Gordon
July 27, 2015

Keeping your social media channels active

As a business owner today we tend to have a lot of social media channels.  Some channels we post to very often, some not so much, but it is still a good idea to take advantage of all these channels and keep your followers up to date with whats happening with your business and attract new followers. It can be hard to remember to post to all your channels and to make life a little easier for you we have added a new widget to our dashboard to help you monitor and manage the Post Age for each of your social media accounts.  The Post Age is simply the number of days since you have posted to each service (if you have more than one account on a service this will show the age of the most recent post). This will show you at a glance which accounts you have not posted to for some time and whether you are above or below your average posting schedule for each of the services by displaying your last post days in either…
Paul Gordon
June 8, 2015
Search Engines

Introducing Managed Metadata

You may have heard about metadata over the last few years especially in regards to government agencies and what information they do and don't record about us.  Metadata has received a bad rap lately and been associated with clandestine organizations but you might be surprised to hear that it is something you can use to help your business get found online ahead of your competitors and to make your search results richer and more compelling. Metadata is simply 'data about data' it helps to formally describe some information in a way that makes it easy for a computer program such as a Search Engine to know exactly what a document or page is saying or is about.  You may have seen it referred to by other names such as Structured Data, Microdata, Markup or Rich Snippets and there are many different forms of metadata such as schema.org and the meta tags you include on your website to tell Facebook or Twitter what to say when people share your page. In the last few years Google, Bing, Yahoo and Yandex have started…
Paul Gordon
March 10, 2015
online presencestartups

Manage your startup online. everywhere!

myPresences was created as a service to help small businesses manage their bricks and mortar stores online and to help them maximize their online opportunities.  Businesses like Cafes, Bars, Salons, Restaurants and Hotels have lots of places online where they need to manage their business profiles, handle consumer feedback and promote their business. But what about startups that don't have a storefront and their public face is predominantly online? Business like us for example .. I love the idea of dogfooding our own software because as users we tend to find and fix those pain points that our users are having quicker and have a better understanding of the best way to improve our product.  So while we have been managing mypresences online presence and reputation with mypresences .. as an online business we could not take advantage of a lot of our own features. After a recent conversation I was reminded that myPresences could be very useful to startups as well and over the last month we have added support for over 30 new services that are specific or…
Paul Gordon
March 3, 2015
online presence

Online presence and local business groups

Online is becoming more and more important for local businesses and it will only continue to grow as a means to attract new customers and keep the ones a business already has. Online is not just about individual businesses however,  there is a collective advantage to improving the overall online presence and reputation of a group of businesses in a localised area. Improving the online presence of the businesses in a local area will not only benefit those businesses but the community around them and will likely have many other benefits. Local Chamber of Commerce are a great example of organisations that should be embracing the Online Presence of their constituent businesses but there are many other groups that can benefit from a stronger focus online. When I talk about raising the collective online presence & reputation of a local community I mean things like: making sure local businesses are represented everywhere making sure their profiles are accurate and complete ensuring profiles stand out more by including photos and videos managing reviews and trying to have reviews available on as…
Paul Gordon
November 5, 2014
mypresences

The best places to promote a business online

All small business owners should be spending some time looking at new ways to promote their business and the great thing about online is that there are so many places you can list your business for free and lately lots of great new apps that can put your business in front of consumers at the point they are looking to find a business like yours. With a little initial effort you can create an online presence that not only improves your chances of getting found in search engines but gives you a diversified network of places where consumers can find you. Some may only bring you small amount of direct business each year but combined they can make a noticeable (and potentially a large) difference to your bottom line. It can be daunting for the average small business owner though, with so many services to choose from and new ones popping up all the time. Its also hard to tell sometimes which are reputable and which are not, it has never been easier to build a professional looking site with…
Paul Gordon
August 26, 2014
mypresences

Introducing mypresences

Have you noticed how more and more people tend to start their day by picking up their phone or tablet, often while still in bed, they just have to know whats happening. Most people go to Facebook, Twitter, email, messages or maybe a news site. Whatever place they feel they need to connect with what is important for them. Our goal is to be that place for small business owners. When a small business owner goes online for the first time each day we want them to want to come to us first because we are the site that is analogous to opening their doors and getting started for the day but for their online world.  A site where they can see everything that is happening relating to their business online and everything that needs their attention. If we can achieve this goal then we have built an amazing service with users who love what we do and are receiving value on every visit. I see this as a very hard goal to achieve, but it certainly inspires us to…
Paul Gordon
July 1, 2014