Unfortunately, this kind of commitment is misleading at best. It’s certainly not professional.

Why? Because the only “people” that can guarantee you’ll be -anywhere- in Google is, well, Google.

There are many things we can do to help you get ranked. There are tactics and strategies that have worked in the past. At Kiwi, we can even say, “Yeah mate, no worries. We’ve got a pretty good shot at getting you there.” we know that it’s possible because we’ve done it repeatedly for our other customers. But we can’t. and won’t, promise that you’ll reach the first page.

Getting your website to the first page of Google is a great goal. It’s achievable, and can have a large impact on your business. There are too many factors involved that are beyond your control, however, for anyone to promise it.

Even Google itself agrees:

“Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a “special relationship” with Google, or advertise a “priority submit” to Google. There is no priority submit for Google. In fact, the only way to submit a site to Google directly is through our Add URL page or by submitting a Sitemap and you can do this yourself at no cost whatsoever.”
Google.com

(By the way, we don’t try to charge you for submitting to Google, either.)

Next time someone promises their Internet Marketing efforts will get you first place on Google, my advice would be to run away screaming. Barring that, take a second look and ask them how they’re going to walk their talk.

Do your Internet marketing efforts pass public inspection?

Boarded up houses and railway yards. There’s something eerie about them that sends a shiver down my spine while at the same time making me feel melancholic.

Is it because they’re an eyesore? Is it the decay, or the scorched-earth look of some of the worst tenements? Is it the unknown?

It could be, but I’m inclined to think that it is something else. That sense of melancholy comes over me, I think, because those boarded up and broken down houses, those abandoned factories and condemned steel mills represent the death of a vision, or a dream.

What happened to the families that lived in those old row houses beside the tracks?
What happened to that machine shop we just passed?
Did someone lose everything, move on, or just give up?

Whatever happened, the feeling these places evoke in me is clear. And, while it might be fascinating to ponder the possibilities, it isn’t exactly a pastime I’d want to engage in too frequently.

The thing is, if these abandoned buildings cause me to feel such things, what kind of feelings is a seemingly abandoned website, blog, or social media account going to cause in your customers? Are they going to be fascinated with what might have happened to your business? Spend a few minutes day dreaming, as I did, then move on?

Or, are they just going to move on without a thought?

In the end, it doesn’t make much difference. They all move on. You just lost a customer, and probably that person’s friends’ business as well.

With the ever-increasing pace of the online world, it doesn’t take years or decades for your online presence to become condemned. In some cases, that time is measured in a handful of weeks. For a first-time visitor, this window is even shorter. How much credibility is a new visitor going to give a blog that was last updated three weeks ago, or calendar showing events from last year?

Update regularly. Keep the connection with your customers strong. Don’t risk having that condemned sticker slapped across your online doorway.

Many of us were bought up to be “Seen and not heard.” I don’t know about you, but as a child I certainly wasn’t taught to crow my brilliance from the rooftops.

Ranked second for Local Search, "Internet Marketing, Lancaster, PA"

When it comes to Internet marketing though, that’s often exactly what you need to do.  After all, who do you expect to do it for you?

Before anyone starts shouting, “Your customers should! Social proof! You ALWAYS talk about social proof!” and looking for the pitchforks and sticks with fire on the end…

If you provide wonderful service, your customers should tell others how brilliant you are.

But, in order to do that, they need to find you. What’s more, once they’ve found you and discovered how amazing your products and services are, they need a way to tell others with minimal effort. That’s where an oft-overlooked aspect of social proof comes in: You MUST provide your customers a way to leave feedback that is convenient and quick. Doing this is key to any online marketing effort.

People want to tell their friends and family about positive experiences they’ve had. They want people they tell to experience the same great service or product for themselves. They’ll certainly spread positive experiences by word of mouth. But without a little, shall we say, nudge? Most people will not take the time to post a positive review online. Some people do not know how; others feel that it takes too long, or don’t know what to say.

There are three steps that any business should take to promote positive reviews:

1) Provide customers a place to leave them. Many of the local search providers allow this.

2) Urge customers to actually go ahead and write one. Figure out the direct link to a page that accepts reviews for your business, and get that link in front of people. If you don’t ask, no one else will. So, don’t be shy.

3) Give them a push in the right direction. Providing a starting point for someone to write a positive review will often help overcome the “Uh, I don’t know what to say” factor. Try something simple like “If you feel that your experience with us was positive, please take the time to tell others why.” with that aforementioned link attached.

Ranked second for Local Search term, "Marketing, Lancaster, PA" 2 weeks after optimization.

You really should be blowing your own horn. We’re doing it today because we’re proud of the Local Search results we’ve achieved for our own website. After all, sometimes even a Kiwi needs to unleash the rooster within…

Interesting stuff. In terms of what we at Kiwi Marketing Group do, there were two cool tools that we thought might be useful.

The first is Nearby Tweets, based on Twitter. The concept is fairly simple, but we think it also has quite powerful marketing applications. Nearby Tweets allows you to enter your location, and then search all Tweets near you for certain search terms. For instance, I might put in “Lancaster, PA” as my location and search for all tweets about “Marketing”. Interesting stuff, but how is that helpful?

Well, imagine that you own a plumbing business. Run a search for “Plumbing” or “Hot water” and see what people in your area have to say about those things. It’s a good indication of what people might need help with, but let’s take it a step further. What if someone was complaining that they couldn’t find the right part for their Insinkerator at Lowes? What if you had that particular part in stock? Fire up your Twitter account, track that person down, and start tweeting, “Hi there! I saw that you’re looking for part XYZ. I have that in stock and can have it to you in 15 minutes.”

Free business leads anyone?