December 10, 2015 I noticed something brand new in Google Local Search Results: Opening and closing times. It appears that Google recently added business hours to places which display in local search. Here’s a screenshot for “Restaurants Raleigh NC”: Prior to this change Google simply displayed “Closed
Read more →On November 10, 2015, Yext took over the massive responsibility of handling every business’s free Yahoo Local Business Listing. According to Yahoo: “Yahoo is partnering with Yext to deliver an even better Local Listings experience. Your listing will still be powered on Yahoo and you’ll have the
Read more →November 17, 2015 Google rolled out The New Google Plus. It didn’t take long for business owners to discover that the page they manage their business with has changed. Again. Yes, not even 60 days after the last change it is changed. It seems that Google Plus
Read more →If you are reading this you may find comfort in the fact that I have owned multiple businesses and been in your shoes of trying to find the darn link to your Google Maps / Google Local / Google Plus Local Page / Google My Business /
Read more →This week a client emailed me to inform me that his Google Plus Local Page is no longer showing his reviews. At first, I was confused. If you are logged in to Google (or Google+), the “about” page looks just fine. Then I discovered if you are
Read more →For many years we have all heard that your business name, address, and telephone number must be exactly the same everywhere on the web. Or else. Of course, we do not want to confuse any search engine, and this is a great practice for a plethora of
Read more →This week I have had multiple business owners contact me trying to access their Yahoo Small Business Dashboard. The free dashboard supposedly still exists. Just like Facebook, Google, Yelp, and all the others, Yahoo Small Business Listings have ALWAYS been free, although in the recent past managing
Read more →November 10, 2015, Yahoo made a change to the way small business listings are handled. If you attempt to log in to Yahoo! Small Business you are forwarded to www.aabacosmallbusiness.com. The page says “Yahoo! Small Business is now Aabaco Small Busness.” “Same team.” Sounds easy enough, right?
Read more →Whether you’re giving your employees the Holidays off or forcing them to deal with psychopaths on Thanksgiving Day (or just going fishing) you can now specify your holiday hours in Google My Business (or more often referred to as Google Maps). Google announced the feature 11/6/2015. As
Read more →Managing a local business on Yahoo has long been a disaster. First business owner’s reviews disappeared, then business owners who attempt to manage their free listing are deceptively presented with a $29/mo Yext subscription with the free listing login area hidden and frequently changing locations. As of
Read more →Some celebrities and verified brand pages have had the verification checkmark / badge beside them for quite some tome now. Now, Facebook offers the checkmark for local businesses. While Facebook offers up instructions in their help center explaining how a local business page owner could get the
Read more →In April 2015 I wrote Why Does Google Keep Calling My Business? I get these calls almost daily. There is no doubt in my mind that the scammers are making a fortune on promising business owners “top rankings” in local search for $150/mo or charging people for
Read more →Yet again for September 2015 the local 3 pack search results remain tied to organic search results. Here are a few obsevations which have held true the last several months of 2015: Some people would argue about correlation and what not. These people are wrong. Now, some
Read more →Recently released is the Beta of Google AdWords Express Home Services Ads. I think there is an unwritten rule at Google that the products must be renamed every so often. 🙂 If the program makes it out of the San Francisco Beta, I bet that it gets
Read more →Ok, I hate apocalypse titles as much as the next guy but this is going to be pretty big. Telapost is two Latin words meaning the future of the web. And, here I like to concentrate on not only what works now, but, what the future of
Read more →Previously only available to select users, Home Services Ads are now available to businesses providing home services, or more specifically, all plumbers, locksmiths, house cleaners, and handyman services in the San Francisco bay area. Businesses who want to try it out can join the program here: google.com/homeserviceads.
Read more →Update 11/19/2015: See this follow up article: Yahoo Small Business Listing Problems – YEXT or Aabaco or Luminate? Update 11/1/2015: It appears that the SMB dashboard is now missing, please see this article for more information: https://www.telapost.com/luminate-coming-soon/ This is one that always seems to slip through the
Read more →If they haven’t disappeared yet, your reviews on Yahoo will soon be gone. Some business owners will be horrified. Other business owners won’t care. But, Yahoo local reviews are going the way of the Dodo bird. Where are Yahoo local reviews going? On March 12, 2014 Yahoo
Read more →“Google My Business” was announced today by Google. You might be wondering What is Google My Business? What is Google My Business? Google My Business will no doubt create even more confusion about Google+ Local Pages, Google Places, Maps listings, etc. But wait! This time it is
Read more →At some point this week Google Maps renamed “Business Photos” to “Business View”: The change came quietly. If there was an announcement, I missed it. I was looking up something for a client and bumped into the new name. Commonly referred to as Google Maps Street View
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