Where's Joel H Google Employee?

This week I have been researching reported problems with Google maps. I have read through many forums, blogs, and news articles; however, last night I came across a Google forum in "Maps help". The topic was Incorrect information in Google Maps / local business center and the poster opens her post with this statement "To the poor already-beaten-up soul at Google who looks at and responds to these issues..." I implore you to read through this forum. It starts on April 1, 2009, and on April 6th Joel H Google Employee joins the forum to aid these Google users. Before you know it people are posting from all over the world and Joel H is being besieged with questions and he is responsive through April 22. Others keep posting but no word from Joel H. Where's Joel H Google employee?

I googled this phrase {Joel H Google employee} and found mention of him in other blog posts and other Google maps forums. I will say this, Joel H seems to want to help and if you read these forums carefully you will see he even admits when he is wrong.

I am going to give you two examples of what I have witnessed in Google maps for two of our clients.

• La Fuente Restaurant in Tucson, AZ: Their Google map listing under local results for Mexican Restaurants Tucson AZ suddenly displayed the wrong domain name (that of a locksmith) and the wrong phone number.
• Kingsleigh Inn Southwest Harbor, ME: Suddenly their Google map listing under local results for lodging Southwest Harbor ME disappeared; however, the inn next door to them is listed - including 78 reviews of the Kingsleigh and a number of photos of the Kingsleigh Inn!

I can only assume that somewhere worlds have started to collide in Google maps. I don't know why...some talk about duplicate listings, scrapings, mergings, suppressions, conflating listings...the bottom line is this is a "free" service offered by Google. I could offer the old adage "it is worth what you paid for it"...but really if your listing is wrong through no fault of your own how much is this costing your business?

My advice to every business owner is to check your listing. Take the time to review and learn about Google's Local Business Center. Here is a "How To" Google YouTube video "Local Business Center for Google Maps".



I hope Joel H Google Employee reappears in these forums and that Google can solve the "implosion" mystery. Let's remember these listings are the lifelines for many businesses, this is not a game of "Where's Waldo".

Blog Posts, Search Engines and Puppies

One of the joys of having a child in the house is how they can be so easily impressed by simple adult skills and knowledge. I know this phase will pass, in our house this period of time is passing very quickly. The other day I realized that I had an analogy for why blogs are so helpful when placing in the search engine results as I was asked to locate a small misplaced toy. 

When I returned with the small bobble I was met with wide admiring eyes and a WOW, how do you always know where EVERYTHING is? (Trust me when I tell you that I am being sure to enjoy these moments of alleged omniscience as it will surely pass.)

Knowing my time is limited and that I had her undivided attention I decided to explain to the little one just why I usually have the answer to where everything is.

 

"I scan."

"Huh?"

"I am always scanning the house."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, as I walk through the house I am always scanning. I just automatically make sure things are in their place and I take note of what I see."

 

Replace scanning with spidering and house with World Wide Web and I am just like a search engine spidering links, exploring and noting where everything is so as to find it later!

Well, imagine you have just arrived home and the grocery shopping had just been done, or someone came home from a trip, or for some reason new items have been added to your home. What will you most likely need to do?

You will need to put your stuff away and you will want to know where it is so you can find it when you need it. Search engine spiders will not put your digital files or your groceries away. Deciding where items go and putting them there is still your job.

 

So why will the search engine be draw to your blog? How does a blog help me?

Blogs feed the purpose of search engines.

That search engine is going to investigate to see just what you added and where. It is the search engines' job to know what material is available on the World Wide Web. Whether it be Google, MSN, Yahoo, Dogpile, you name it,  the search engines must familiarize themselves with fresh timely material in order to return the most relevant search. Search engines must keep up on new additions in order to perform the job they were designed to do.

Using a blog to consistently add useful relevant content is a powerful method to draw the search engines to spider (or scan) your site and index the timely information you post.

For help on how to add a blog to your web site or blog training to make the most of your blog please contact us at Webconsuls, LLC.

Over the Rainbow, Australia and the magic of music

Over the Thanksgiving weekend Dennis and I went to see the new Baz Luhrmann film Australia, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. Having read many reviews of this film, some great and some mixed, I figured we might as well venture out on Black Friday and see this epic film. What better way to spend two and three-quarter hours when a movie includes wonderful scenery of Australia, World War II history, an expose of the "stolen generation", not to mention I could enjoy watching Hugh Jackman (People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive 2008) and Dennis could similarly enjoy watching the beautiful and talented Nicole Kidman. As we purchased our tickets, I noticed the theatre was giving away free Australia movie posters. What a treat! Not exactly like receiving a movie "program book" that I frequently received back in the 60's and 70's. Yes, I said "program book."
These were souvenir books, some over 30 pages in length, that were part of your ticket price, typically produced for those major films like Dr. Zhivago (1965) and Hawaii (1966). And, yes, I still have some of these treasures, and remember that these movies often included an "intermission!" But, back to Australia...it is 1939.

There is much to say about this movie and I really hope you will see it for yourself. What struck me the most is how Luhrmann managed to weave the 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz, into his storytelling. And of course, there is the beautiful Oz song, "Over the Rainbow". As I watched Australia I thought to myself, what is it about "Over the Rainbow" that somehow reaches your inner soul and magically soothes you. We all know that Australia is not the first movie that has incorporated "Over the Rainbow", as I can name at least six other films, and it undoubtedly won't be the last...so still the question remains. Why do people love the song "Over the Rainbow"?

Consider the following: "Over the Rainbow" was written in 1939; lyrics by Edgar Yipsel(Yip)Harburg; music by Harold Arlen; original performing artist was Judy Garland; won the Academy Award for Best Original Song (1939) and was voted by the American Film Institute as the Best Movie Song of all time. According to SongFacts.com, Yip Harburg's "lyrics have a political significance. Harburg was expressing hope for America under President Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal" program, which was designed to get America out of the Great Depression in the early '30s." Hmmmm...

I suppose you are wondering what my blog post about Over the Rainbow, Australia and the magic of music has to do with Webconsuls' primary services, SEO and SMO. Well, here is the connection. A few months ago, one of our clients, Affirmations ~ Scottsdale, asked us to create a video for their new website. We had wonderful photos, but we needed just the right music. Dan Helfand contacted his friend, Paul Meredith, and asked Paul to record a version of "Over the Rainbow." You can view the finished product here:


So today:
1. Let me know your thoughts about "Over the Rainbow" and Australia.
2. See if you can name one or more of the other movie soundtracks which include "Over the Rainbow".
3. Let me know if you need Webconsuls to produce a video for your website

....'Somewhere over the rainbow... skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.'

Dare to dream...

Remembering November 22, 1963 and Remembering the Long Tail

Yesterday was the day of remembering November 22, 1963, as it is a scar in peoples' memories for multiple reasons. Today is the day for Remembering November 22, 1963 and remembering the Long Tail with your blog posts! The Long Tail has become ever so crucial as far as placement with the Search Engines. The goal, when writing a blog, is to have as many people as possible be able to find and read your post. Content and keywords (labels) are very important when writing a post, but, a title with a Long Tail that can be found a couple times in your post is necessary.

Judith Helfand's post titled "Remembering November 22, 1963 and President John F Kennedy's Assassination" is a perfect example of the Long Tail put into practice. When you search Google with the words "Remembering November 22, 1963" Judy's post shows up 4th out of 473,000 hits. The date Nov 22, 1963 is a very historical and for that reason there are many people with websites on or relating to that date. The fact that Judy's blog post shows up before all but three of those sites is amazing, and it all can be owed to remembering the long tail.

Use a Long Tail to get more traffic to your blog post and in turn bring more traffic to your website. The key to being found online is to make yourself more search-able. Five words or more is a sufficient Long Tail for your blog post. When you increase the length of your title while incorporating it into your post, you will increase the amount of people who are able to find your post and your website.