You have questions. We have answers!
By Susan Stern
Omaha Digital Marketing company consultant
March 20, 2018 –
The below comes from answers posed to Stern PR Marketing on the social media platform Quora. Follow, if you like. Each answer was rewritten to avoid a search engine penalty for duplicate content.
Q. Does Google charge for a business listing in their search results?
Answer.
No. There is zero cost to create a Google business listing, and it may be auto-generated. The best advice for any business, non profit, institution and government agency is to outsource business listing set up and maintenance to a local PR digital consultant.
She/he will manually set it up, upload custom photography and graphics (no stock images!), and write an SEO-friendly business summary. In addition, your consultant, in your monthly SEO plan, will reply to reviews, analyze reports, and make regular content updates that help boost position in search.
Q. Are Robocalls to Update Google Listing Legit?
Answer.
No, no, no. Hang up! Block # on Mobile. Google warns about these “unscrupulous,” deceptive individuals/companies preying on small business owners to make bank.
Key point. Google Doesn’t Make Robocalls. In fact. Automated calls and texts to your Mobile without prior permission violate federal law. So, if you get a robocall without your written, electronic or digital OKAY – this is the first clue – scammer.
Google asks recipients to file report.
Know your rights! Our Omaha digital marketing firm did the research of federal law, and shares a story of Google suing a shady “marketing company” for this robocall scam.
Q. How does publishing press releases from others hurt your SEO?
Answer.
Your website may receive a Google duplicate penalty – for content duplication. Should you choose to re-post an already-published news release, set a ‘no follow’.
Q. Should local business, non-profits, and Govt agencies use digital video to communicate or for e-commerce?
Answer.
Yes indeed! All businesses, nonprofits, places of worship, government entities and school districts, would greatly benefit from digital video to reach their target market. Research shows people prefer watching video over reading text.
Check this out. This Omaha digital marketing firm published a 13-page ‘Digital Trends 2018″ report, explaining how video drives social media engagement, website traffic and purchases. See page 8, and view article.
Answer.
Yes. Absolutely 100%. Every website, even non-online sellers must switch to HTTPS SSL encryption or risk a Google search engine ranking penalty. Other ill effects: reduced visitor traffic, perceived diminished reputation, and perhaps lost revenue. Yikes.
Stern PR Marketing firm in Omaha, wrote about the urgency of the switch several years ago.
Google launched the ‘HTTPS Everywhere’ campaign to help make the internet safer, and prevent ‘man-in-the-middle-hacker-attacks’ around the time President Obama issued an Executive Order requiring all federal agencies migrate from insecure HTTP to HTTPS.
HTTP-only is not secure: hackers could ‘sniff’ and steal sensitive credit card private info a customer types into a contact form. When logging into the back-end of the CMS (content management system like WordPress), a hacker could steal login credentials for nefarious purposes.
With SSL HTTPS encryption, text turns to gibberish.
In 2017, Google Chrome search engine started penalizing HTTP-only web sites by displaying an upside down exclamation point. When clicked, there’s a warning the site is not secure, hinting an HTTP web site may be compromised, even if not.
HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol. HTTPS is defined the same except for the ‘S.’ This stands for ‘secure.’ It’s a sign of trust for visitors and search engine algorithms.
Don’t assume an SSL certificate and HTTPS encryption closes the door to hackers. Make certain to purchase 24/7 monitoring and firewall services from a reputable provider. Again, nothing is 100% hacker-proof.
Q. Are Yext and YP small business listing services worth it?
Answer.
No. Don’t waste your dollars! This Omaha digital marketing company consultant believes Yext and Yellow Pages online products don’t deliver. Embellished reports, extremely aggressive high pressure sales, billing issues, blah blah. See for yourself.
Q. Can a business send current, past or prospective clients unsolicited texts by law?
Answer.
The federal anti-spam act prohibits sending current, past or prospective customers unsolicited texts without written or electronic permission first. We did extensive research and analysis of the federal law, and know the in’s and outs.
Don’t expect mobile app free or paid providers to educate you about obtaining prior consent – as we discovered when looking for software for a local HVAC client.
Q. What are 5 Skills a Digital Marketer Should Have?
Answer.
Seasoned copywriter, PR strategist, and researcher capable of writing high-quality web page articles that are informative rather than merely advertising copy – Google guideline. Also, properly use meta tags, meta descriptions, title tags, and alt tags;
Q. Can a business send current, past or prospective clients unsolicited texts by law?
Answer.
The federal anti-spam act prohibits sending current, past or prospective customers unsolicited texts without written or electronic permission first. We did extensive research and analysis of the federal law, and know the in’s and outs.
Don’t expect mobile app free or paid providers to educate you about obtaining prior consent – as we discovered when looking for software for a local HVAC client.