Lollipop Local

Google I/O announced the end of search as we know it. Google’s engineers realised that there is not only a need to answer, but also to converse and anticipate. Last year, the advent of the knowledge graph saw a huge advance in search technology. It enabled Google to move beyond keywords and understand Read more [...]

The rankings for Google Places have been up and down like a yoyo over the last couple of weeks. Businesses everywhere are tearing their hair out at the sudden disappearance of a listing that had been on the front page for years. There seems to be no logic to the algorithm at the moment. Suddenly Read more [...]

As an interim measure to try to sort out some of the existing bugs and glitches during the transition from Google Places to Google Plus Local, a new Google Places for Business dashboard is being rolled out in the US for new users. Which means that this will soon be arriving in the UK too. According Read more [...]

When it comes to how to get top of Google for Free, we need to start at the beginning with what most people see as the first step of getting onto the internet. Building a website. Hope Marketing Most business owners use a tactic called Hope Marketing. They work on the basis of ‘If you Build Read more [...]

If you are a service based business where customers cannot just walk off the street into your office, then Google Places/Plus rules state that you should have your address hidden. But, over the last couple of days, the initial whimpers have grown into a torrent of anguish that hidden addresses are Read more [...]

Warning, current advice is not to do anything until Google Places has made the full transition from +Local to +Business Pages.  I have not verified this listing. I’m naturally a cautious person so I did not set up all my Google properties under one gmail address, despite being encouraged to do so, Read more [...]

I have had a couple of calls that run along these lines recently. Their Google Places (Google+ Local) Page used to show up on the front page for their main keyword in the nearest big town but doesn’t any longer. In most cases, this is because business owners have got wise to Google Places and begun Read more [...]

“I just don’t get this Google Places. What’s it all about?” “It’s for people who travel a lot to show off where they’ve been…” This was an exchange I saw recently on Facebook between a couple of my friends. The first was talking about the Google Places Pages – free websites that are often Read more [...]

Showing the importance of local social media optimisation, Jeremy Sussman explains how Google decides on its Local Search Ranking, as well as giving an overview of Hotpot, Tags and Boost. It would seem that the three most important factors to making an appearance on local search engine results are Read more [...]

Hello I am in the process of having a small website built by a friend, and I am about to set up a new business working as a beauty therapist. I have been told I need to have a Google plus business page – can you let me know how much you would charge to set one up for me? Or do you only do this Read more [...]