Like everything else, the internet is a double edged sword and honestly I think the big tech companies have opened a can of worms that is their own fault. As internet users concerned with privacy begin to fight back, the small business using the two biggest players in this market get hurt in the crossfire.

Happy New Year! Here's what to expect this year from Google and others relative to local marketing trends.

Searching for a Web Consultant? Why? The digital age has reduced the globe to the size of your smart phone. You can find anything and anyone in the confines of a box that is about 6"x3"x.25". And when you have that kind of access, what is going to determine your choice? I would argue that what will make the difference is this...

This has only happened to me a couple of times but before I closed the book on my last blog, I went back on the web to confirm the search engine ranking positions for my site relative to "Internet Marketing Dayton Ohio". As you know, if you read the last blog, I was ranking at 36 and all of the other ranking factors were pointing in that vicinity as well.

You can't rank for everything, but you can rank for anything!
Not too long ago, I showed you how I was going to rank for a keyword that I should have been ranking for and wasn't. Well, here we go again. I should be ranking on the first page for "Internet Marketing Dayton Ohio"... but I think I'm out around the 4th page. The problem was highlighted in my ranking report and a direct physical search. So, here's another SEO lesson. Stay with me for a month or so. This one might be a little tougher!

Infographic by Advice Local. Google and Facebook dominant. Mobile dominates all other platforms.

Reuben H. Donnelley created the first official Yellow Pages directory in 1886. About a hundred years later the Yellow Pages saw inklings of its demise. Google's official birth date is September 27, 1998. And since we're into a mild history lesson - the internet as "www" originated around 1992. What made the internet so powerful was availability of information. What made Google so powerful was the ability to find the information you needed. What made it all possible was the personal computer.

If you're like many of my clients, you struggle with what you have to do to generate a phone call. Let's assume you're getting 500 visits to your site in a month. Do you know how many clients that is actually generating. No matter what your answer, it can always be more!