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Introducing Review Lead Pro

Getting and managing online reviews is becoming a very important part of any business’s online marketing strategy.

But sending customers directly to Google or Facebook to leave a review can lead to upset customers giving you a 1-star review, which drags down your average rating and hurts business.

My new Review Lead Pro system help solve that problem.

Learn all about it with this 12-minute video. As a way of saying thank you for watching, I’m giving away a Reputation Report. But you must watch the video to learn how to get the free report. It’s only 12 minutes long and does a good job of explaining my offer.

The report is free, even if you don’t decide Review Lead Pro is for you.

So watch the video now by clicking this link.

Ready for that free report? Reach out by email – andy@andycommons.com

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Random Thoughts

Discount Missoula Car Rental – MSO

Save hundreds of dollars on your Missoula Car Rental by renting our vehicle via the TURO app.

Turo is a peer-to-peer car-sharing program. Similar to AirBNB but for cars.

With the current shortage of rental cars, prices at the major car rental companies have gone way up. You’ll be paying a lot, if you can even find a car to rent.

Instead, you can use the TURO app to find and rent a car from someone like me.

We have a great car available on the platform. If you decide to rent a car via TURO, we’d really appreciate you considering our car first if this post has helped you.

Link to our car:

2016 Mazda CX-5 Hatchback

If our car doesn’t work out for you, we hope you’ll find another one that suits your needs and will keep us in mind the next time you need to rent a car for less in Missoula.

Thanks… Andy

New to TURO? – Getting Started Tips:

It’s easy to set up an account and start renting cars.
Just check your app store for the TURO app. Sign up, answer a few questions, upload a photo of your driver’s license, and add a credit card. You’ll soon be on your way to saving money on your next car rental.

Note, most cars listed on Turo are not at the airport. Some folks will offer airport delivery for a fee. Or, you can save some money and just take a taxi or Uber to where the car is located. In our case, an Uber to our house from the airport is about $20 each way. We also offer airport dropoff/pick-up for a fee, and many people choose this option for the convenience of having the car waiting for them at the airport. We can also deliver to other locations around Missoula for a fee.

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Random Thoughts

My first car

Here’s a non-business post discussing my first car.

I actually bought it with some money my grandma gave me for $600.

My Dad and I restored it in our garage.

I sold it about a year later (in 1985 or so) for $1,500. I probably broke even, but it was fun!

The result:

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Random Thoughts

How to find royalty free images for your blog posts / website content

Did you know you can’t just grab any old photo off the internet and use it in your blog post, in your social media post, or on your website? Of course you do. But there are lots of folks to don’t know how to find an image you CAN safely use online. Now, one way is to take a photo yourself and use it. But we often don’t have the time or the talent to create a photo that tells the story we want.

Here’s a video on how I find royalty free images for use in blog post, social media posts, and on web pages.

A summary of the above video: 

Don’t just use images you find on the internet. They are most likely not free for unlicensed use.

You can end up with a large bill from the owner of the image if you are caught using it.

Instead, either use free images or pay a small fee to get the rights to use them in your online posts or print publications.

Some good sources for images that you can obtain for free are:

Pixabay, Clipart.com and Desygner.

Some well known places to pay for quality stock photos include,

Getty Images, Shutterstock and Adobe Stock (formerly Fotolia)

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Analytics Local Search Marketing Online Marketing Pay Per Click Random Thoughts Search Engine Optimization Social Media

March update

Hi Everyone,
It’s spring, which means it’s already been a full quarter since the year started! As always there is a lot of new digital marketing information to catch up on and hopefully implement into your strategy as we enter the next three months.

If you follow me on social media (Facebook / Twitter / Linkedin) you may have already seen some of the following articles, but I have also compiled some here so you may easily read through. Each month I sift through a variety of articles with topics you will find useful as you build an online marketing strategy for your business.

Enjoy and relax while you learn with the content I’ve shared, and if you have anything you want to discuss, drop me a line.
Andy Commons – Internet Marketing Consultant
Andy@andycommons.com
www.andycommons.com
406-962-5683

Search Engine Optimization
Google gives SEO tips on how to handle day-long site closures
Need to turn off your website for a period of time, but worry your Google rankings will drop? Here are some tips from Google’s John Mueller on how to handle it.

Blogs
Will my organic rankings suffer if I don’t have a blog?
A blog can be a major investment, but the SEO benefits can make it worth the effort. Columnist Stephanie LeVonne makes the case for why blogging works to improve search visibility.

The Best Words and Themes to Generate Featured Snippets
Featured snippets have proven to be a valuable source of organic traffic and increased click through rates. This post explores the effects of query modifiers, CPC, search volume, and query length on featured snippets. 

Social Media
Follow These Simple Steps To A Massive Social Following
By following a few simple rules, any business can begin building or expanding their current social media presence.

Categories
Analytics

“redirect.viglink.com” in Google Analytics

If like me, you have started to see a referral source in your analytics of Redirect.viglink.com on or about April 1, it’s no April fools joke.

Instead, for my client,  it turned out to be a change in the way the website PromoPro.com built their referral link.

While other companies may also use viglink, my client was getting a decent amount of traffic via PromoPro right up until March 31. It stopped, and an equal amount of hits started coming in from referral.viglink.com.

PromoPro is by no means the only company that has figured out how to make money by linking automatically to content. So your original traffic source may be any number of sites that happen to use the VigLink API to generate links to your site.

This may obscure the original source of the link making it harder for you to know the true referral source. I hope this tip helps you figure it out.

If you, dear reader, have something to add let me know and I’m happy to update this post.

-Andy

viglink

 

 

Categories
Random Thoughts

Mobile now more important

Mobile SEO is now even more important

SEO has never been more important for local companies

With the recent roll-out of Google’s mobile friendly algorithm, all websites that want to show up locally must be mobile friendly. Google mobile search rankings are arguably very important for all local companies, as it is much easier to pull out a phone to Google a business than it is to park and pull out a computer at a coffee shop. So make sure that your website is mobile friendly if you wish to rank well in Google on mobile.

Here are some great articles that you should read this month to stay on top of things.
Enjoy, and if you have anything you want to discuss, drop me a line at Andy@andycommons.com
– Andy

QUICK SIDE NOTE:
I’m proud to be part of several “Start up Communities” here in Missoula. Tonight, the Hellgate Venture Network is having their monthly meeting. A guest speaker joins us each month to give a quick overview of their business, and then there is lots of networking time. learn more via the Linked-in Group.

The other thing I’m working on with a very fun team is called 1 Million Cups Missoula. We meet each Wednesday at 9 am at the MONTEC building on East Broadway. This free group was formed by the Kaufman Foundation, and has meetings popping up all over the country. We meet for 1 hour, and there are usually two start ups that present. Each gives an intro for 6 minutes, followed by a 24 minute Q&A. Check out the 1MC MSO website. We’d love to see you there. If you are with a start-up, be sure to apply to present.

OK. Enough of that. Here are the articles I hand picked for you this month.  – Andy

Mobile Is Local: Quick Wins and Fast Fails
image

Mobile Is Local: Quick Wins
and Fast Fails

In her session at ClickZ Live New York,
Jori Ford detailed how to master the
mobile-local search space.
Preview by Yahoo
Google Says YouTube Users
The Guide to Google’s Mobile-Friendly Algorithm | SEJ
(an older article, but with good tips for becoming mobile friendly)
image

The Guide to Google’s Mobile-Friendly Algorithm | SEJ

A small business owner’s step-by-step
guide to preparing for Google’s upcoming mobile-friendly algorithm update.
Preview by Yahoo

Elements of Personalization & How to Perform Better in Personalized Search – Whiteboard Friday

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Elements of Personalization 

Search results don’t show up the same way for everyone, and in today’s Whiteboard
Friday, Rand covers five ways in which we can improve our sites’ performance.
Preview by Yahoo

Link Risk Management: Are You Using This Critical SEO Tactic?

image

Link Risk Management: Are
You doing this?

Columnist Stephan Spencer warns that if
you don’t regularly monitor your backlinks and proactively get rid of spammy ones,
you could be risking it all.
Preview by Yahoo

Facebook
Facebook

Twitter
Twitter

Website
Website

 

 

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April Update

Big SEO Impacts This Month! Plus, what do YOU really need from me?

Top news:
We have seen some big things happen in  the world of online marketing as we approach summer. Hers are some of the topics you’ll see in the linked articles below.

  • Google just recently rolled out a mobile algorithm change that will impact search results for mobile search. In essence, if your website is mobile optimized it will rank higher for mobile search.
  • If you are using the “All in One” search engine marketing plugin for your WordPress site make sure to update it to stop hackers from getting access to your site.
  • Google partners with Twitter? Those angry tweets from customers may show up on searches for your business!

Read on for these and other good articles that we thought will help your online marketing efforts.

What questions do you have? 
Through my newsletter I try to keep you up to speed on important topics. But they may not be answering the burning questions YOU have. Please take a moment and let me know something you are struggling with related to online marketing. I’m happy to give you are advice if I can. I’m also curious what sorts of things people are wondering about. This can help inform the services I provide my clients. Thanks.

Client Spotlight: 
Finally, don’t forget mother’s day is approaching. If you have a special MOM in the Missoula area, consider picking up flowers from my client Garden City Floral and Gifts. We just installed a new online shopping system for them and are helping them rank higher for Missoula Flower Shops.

Here are those links:

Big Impact Articles

image

2 Days After Mobilegeddon:
How Far Did the Sky Fall?

After the dreaded Mobilegeddon update from Google, what terrors have befallen the SERPs? Dr. Pete will regularly update this post with the latest from the Mobile Mo…
Preview by Yahoo
image

Did Google Really Start Rolling Out The Mobile Friendly …

Has Google really rolled out the mobile friendly update? As of now, very few signs say so but it might have just started about an hour ago.
Preview by Yahoo
image

Update to All in One SEO Pack to patch security issue.

In conjunction with many other plugin developers, we have released an update to All in One SEO Pack today which patches a security vulnerability within our plugin. …

Other Important Articles

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How To Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly, According To Google.

As you’re probably aware, Google is preparing to launch an algorithm change that includes a signal telling Google sites that are mobile-friendly should get a ?
Preview by Yahoo
image

4 Ways & 14 Tactics to Generate Leads

Here’s how listening to what current and potential customers are saying will help your to generate leads for your business.
Preview by Yahoo
image

What Types of Links Does Google Hate?

Ever since I can remember, we were taught to play by the book when it comes to optimizing web content. Google seems to be watching our every step. Therefore, saying…
Preview by Yahoo
image

10 Questions That Google & Twitter’s New Partnership Rai…

In the near future, Tweets will appear in Google searches as soon as they’re posted. For marketers, this impacts Twitter and SEO strategies. Are you ready?
Preview by Yahoo
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Google Plans to Index Tweets in Real Time.

Google and Twitter are teaming up to index tweets again in real time. Here’s what marketers need to know about the new deal.
Preview by Yahoo
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Become Intelligent:
Use Google Analytics
Intelligence

Use Google Analytics Intelligence Alerts to help you more effectively recognize changes to your website’s performance.
Preview by Yahoo
Facebook
Facebook

Website
Website

 

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March Update

Spring Time SEO Update

Spring is here and we are seeing some beautiful, sunny days lately, and some rainy ones, but that just means that Summer will be greener. Pretty soon we will all be enjoying water sports, and other outdoor sports for that matter!

SEO is steadily changing from word based search to voice based search and is in turn effecting how you should write your onsite content. For more information on this send me a message and I can tell you the specifics!

Additionally, we are seeing search engines heavily combat spam. So if you are doing anything that is considered spam, such as having a bunch of low word count  pages, showing too many ads on site, building easy links or anything else spammy… don’t do it! It is the best way to nuke your rankings.  (And that is a bad thing)

Recent Important Articles

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5 Reasons User Experience Is More Important in 2015 Th…

With recent algorithm changes from social media giants driven by user experience, it’s time for digital marketers to consider user experience more seriously
Preview by Yahoo
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Local SEO In 2015 – Look At The Big Picture

When you’re doing Local SEO, columnist Greg Gifford reminds us, you must take a step back and look at the big picture if you want to be successful.
Preview by Yahoo
image

Google Plans to Index Tweets in Real Time: How This Coul…

Google and Twitter are teaming up to index tweets again in real time. Here’s what marketers need to know about the new deal.
Preview by Yahoo
image

How To Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly, According To G…

As you’re probably aware, Google is preparing to launch an algorithm change that includes a signal telling Google sites that are mobile-friendly should get a ?
Preview by Yahoo
image

Make Your Blog A Local Destination & Win At Local Search

Wondering what to do on your blog to help your Local SEO efforts? Columnist Greg Gifford lays out a game plan for local blogging success.
Preview by Yahoo
image

5 Trends That Will Change How You Use Social Media in 2…

Here’s a look into the crystal ball at five ways social media will (likely) evolve in 2015.
Preview by Yahoo

 

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Happy New Year 2015

My top picks of articles PLUS a new offering from Andy Commons LLC!

HI Everyone. Happy News year.  I hope you are enjoying all the snow we have. But those roads are a mess! Be careful out there.

It seems this month is already moving quickly. It’s tough to keep up with the news. So below you’ll find my hand picked articles of things I thought you might like.

But I also wanted to announce that coming soon I’ll be offering Social Media Marketing services. My team can help you with a complete social media plan including


 

1. Incredibly Useful, Illustrated Guide to On-Page Topic Targeting for SEO
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Incredibly Useful, Illustrated Guide to On-Page Topic Ta…

The truth is, you can create optimized pages that rank well without understanding complex algorithms. This post provides a simple framework for on-page topic target…
Preview by Yahoo

2. How Can the Value of Top-of-Funnel Channels be Measured – Whiteboard Friday
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How Can the Value of Top-of-Funnel Channels be Measur…

Marketing efforts at the top of the funnel, like PR and content marketing, are notoriously hard to measure in terms of their value. In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Ra…
Preview by Yahoo

3. Google’s Gary Illyes Discusses Mobile as a Ranking Factor
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Google’s Gary Illyes Discusses Mobile as a Ranking Facto…

Google’s Gary Illyes recently was gracious enough to answer questions about the new “Mobile Friendly” ranking factor, as well as other SEO related topics. Er
Preview by Yahoo

4. Panda 4.1 Google Leaked Dos and Don’ts – Whiteboard Friday
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Panda 4.1 Google Leaked Dos and Don’ts – Whiteboard Fri…

Panda is about so much more than good content. Let Josh Bachynski give you the inside information on the highlights of what you should (and should not) be doing.
Preview by Yahoo

5. Why SEOs Need To Care About User Experience
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Why SEOs Need To Care
About User Experience

During 2014, Google has released a host of updates that focus on user experience. This post describes what Google have been up to and why SEOs need to care.
Preview by Yahoo

6. 15 Landing Page Trends from Rising Companies, Designers, and Our 25,000+ Users – LeadPages Blog | Free Landing Page Templates
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15 Landing Page Trends from Rising Companies, Designer…

What are the most effective landing page trends happening right now? We looked to top companies, designers, and 25,000 LeadPages users to find out.
Preview by Yahoo