FAQ | Steven Management

Common Questions and Answers

Following is a list of common questions and answers we’ve been asked that may help you quickly find the information you are looking for. Many of these questions were taken from customers or found and answered on our Blog. Be sure to go to our blog page to see what’s happening and hear others questions and comments. By the way, we do not edit our blog. So the information you will find there is real from real people. The only editing we do is to remove any posting that is offensive, not on the topic, or trying to advertise to you. That’s not what the Blog is for. Don’t forget that you can use our search button in the upper right hand corner of this page to find a topic or word.

So, if you have any questions not listed here that you’d like answered; either post it on our blog or enter your question here and send us a quick e-mail. I promise to answer all questions personally.

Why is it important to be ranked on the first page of Google?

2 out of 3 people use Google, Yahoo, or MSN searches to find businesses online and 80% choose a company from the first page.

# 1 ranked site gets 41% of the clicks
# 2 ranked site gets 12% of the clicks
# 3 ranked site gets 8.6% of the clicks

Local businesses with a good, solid website that is ranked on the first page of the search engines are 5-10 times more likely to be called by potential customers and get 50-200% more business than their competitors that don’t have a website.

What is a Local Search?

A: Online Internet buyers are getting more localized by the day. People don’t just shop at Amazon or bid on auctions on eBay anymore. They find local businesses, and they spend a lot of money purely on local businesses.

Because of this, Google and other search engine providers have focused on ways to help local businesses promote and market their goods and services. On Yahoo alone, more than 100 million unique visitors search with what is called “local intent.” While we lack hard numbers for Google, Yahoo maintains only about 20% of Google’s market share. So, it’s clear that there are at least 500 million Google searches per month looking for local businesses and services. You need to be on that list!

Local search engine software continues to improve, and quickly. With the explosion of mobile technologies such as the iPhone and similar smartphones search engine companies are spending massive capital on developing software to take advantage of this growing technology and lifestyle changes. These days, people are constantly running Internet and doing quick searches from their phones. In fact, it is estimated that in just a few years 50% of all online local searches will be from smartphones.

These days, many local businesses are benefiting greatly from such mechanisms as Google Local Business Center, Yahoo Local and Bing Local. The Google option alone has numerous benefits.

Local Search Advantages

It’s free, except for the investment of time to get your website posted and SEO.
It allows customers to rate and review your business. So if you’re good at what you do, you’ll stand out from the crowd and become the “local expert”.
Adds your site to Google Maps, one of the top ways people discover local businesses now.
You can add specific keywords to your business description, giving you a leg up on competitors who have not done this. And, you can define the specific trade area or market you want your site to show up in a search.

Local Search Disadvantages

Only seven businesses automatically show up in a keyword search result. So, it’s important to get your website optimized and localized.
Because of the way Google, and most other search engines refresh website rankings, it can take a month or more to show up in the listings.
You can only optimize your business for the 5 to 10 most relevant keywords. But, if carefully selected, this is enough to become #1.