1. Traffic to the top 10 review sites grew on average 158% last year (Compete.com)
2. 97% who made a purchase based on an online review found the review to be accurate (Comscore/The Kelsey Group, Oct. 2007)
3. 92% have more confidence in info found online than they do in anything from a salesclerk or other source (Wall Street Journal, Jan 2009)
4. 90% of online consumers trust recommendations from people they know; 70% trust unknown users, 27% trust experts, 14% trust advertising, 8% trust celebrities (Econsultancy, July 2009, Erik Qualman, Socialnomics)
5. 75% of people don’t believe that companies tell the truth in advertisements (Yankelovich)
6. 70% consult reviews or ratings before purchasing (BusinessWeek, Oct. 2008)
7. 7 in 10 who read reviews share them with friends, family & colleagues thus amplifying their impact (Deloitte & Touche, Sept. 2007)
8. 51% of consumers use the Internet even before making a purchase in shops (Verdict Research, May 2009)
9. 45% say they are influenced a fair amount or a great deal by reviews on social sites from people they follow (46% say reviews in newspaper or magazine influence them.) (Harris Poll, April 2010)
10. 34% have turned to social media to air their feelings about a company. 26%

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Find out how useless Google AdWords Keyword Tool is at this post by David Naylor SEOs. We have seen the same thing many times where Google’s tool is so off base its a laughable. Frankly I don’t believe any tool gives good results. When I want to get real data, I just set up an AdWords campaign and run it for a few days with a low bid just to see impression counts.

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Dr. Paul Berson and Dr. Harold Yafee at The Dental Spa in Center City Philadelphia called us in May of 2009 to help them promote their site on the web. At first the practice were not seeing good results because we were targeting generic keywords like Philadelphia Dentist. But in a quarterly review of results the doctors told us that they were primarily cosmetic dentists who did not take insurance in most cases. So we focused all our efforts on getting them top rankings for keywords like “Cosmetic Dentist Philadelphia“, “Implant Dentist Philadelphia”, and “Invisalign Dentist Philadelphia.”

By targeting their core business keywords we were able to get them more valuable leads at a lower cost. They now typically show up at number 3 on natural search and number 3 or higher on AdWords. For Google Local listings we are working on getting them more reviews. For now they are very happy with search results like the screenshot below where they rank number one in local search and number two in natural search:

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This guy is brilliant.  Just wanted to share this with our customers:

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Use Localeze, Info USA and Axiom to get franchise locations listed across a plethora of sites on the web and off line in one fell swoop. I am very familiar with local search and have pushed many of my clients to top spots on Google Local, but there are other tactics that can be far more productive than fixating on Google listings 24/7. Google has become a royal pain in my butt, handing me AdWords slaps for no reason and punishing customer websites that seem to never rank after a domain change and redirect.

The most interesting SEO is happening these days on big platforms like Facebook and YouTube. I just discovered a great Facebook Local site and the ability to SEO via apps could have a lot of legs

There is a new “Facebook Local” project and I think its off to a great start. Its looking like a great Yelp type review site that leverages the Facebook community to review local businesses without ever leaving the Facebook platform.

Recently I began to put up listings for Volvo Rents – Equipment Rental Centers nationwide and I am seeing some traffic already in my Google

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In an article posted on WordStream.com, Ken Lyons details step by step how his company created a swarm of traffic around an article that they posted on their blog.  Although the article is infused with confusing industry jargon about “link bait”, “authority sites” and other SEO gobbledygook, the strategy they use is pretty repeatable for any online marketing campaign.

• Step one is to write something on your blog or on your website that is worth reading.
• Step two is to promote that written piece with a low cost press release making sure you optimize the release with some good contextual links back to your article.
• Step three is to tweet and comment about the post with links back to your article.
• Step four is to contact members of the press and other influential people in your industry with the potential to spread the word.  The best contacts are direct emails and phone calls. But twitter messaging will work to hit a lot of people who you don’t have time to reach out to personally.
• Step five is to follow up any links or mentions you get in the press with a thank you message that creates goodwill for the next time you pursue

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The article below is relevant for any business blogger.  Bear in mind that this guy created a powerful blog that created income, established himself as an expert in a field and got tons of traffic.  Any one who thinks blogging is dead and social networking is going to supplant blogging is out to lunch.

The heart of this article is that you have to build relationships with other successful bloggers and you need to write great articles that people want to read.   Its about creating strong relationships with influential people and its about delivering value to the marketplace. Does that strategy ring a bell with anyone?  Its the same strategy that has worked for about 500o years. Success on the Internet works the same way you become successful off-line.  You give valuable services, you  give great advice,  you build relationships with businesses and people who give you valuable services, advice and who give and return favors.

http://www.viperchill.com/build-popular-blog/

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Dave Davis of Redfly Marking has a great post on his blog about how to use AdWords to improve your SEO, conversion rates, CTR and even your Facebook ad campaigns. This is one of the best articles on search marketing I have seen in a long time. It will also bring you up to date on some anticipated changes in Google’s algorithm.

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Advertising adds value to a product by changing our perception, rather than the product itself. In this TED talk Rory Sutherland makes the daring assertion that a change in perceived value can be just as satisfying as what we consider “real” value — and his conclusion has interesting consequences for how we look at life.

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