The DreamPix Studio

How Positive Reviews on Google Affect Your Local Rankings

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We all know that getting good online reviews is good for your reputation, but does a positive review help with SEO and page rankings?

For businesses who are are trying to capture their local market niche, the answer is a resounding “yes”. Search engines display reviews in several places but they also use them as a ranking factor.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Reviews are displayed when visitors search for your business by name. What a perfect way to help with the branding! So long as the good outweighs the bad you should be all set. Don’t forget to tap into the other online review sites that may affect your business such as Yelp or Urbanspoon. Getting online reviews should be a priority for every business.
  2. Reviews help you rank higher for locally searched keywords. Reviews on your Google+ business page help you rank higher when people search for relevant keywords near your business location.
  3. Did you know that visitors on Yelp can use reviews as a filter? They filter from highest to lowest in terms of review rankings. What a great way to sort and filter out the bad.
  4. It is a proven fact that reviews help people make purchasing decisions. People want to read reviews from other consumers before they buy something. Yelp, Manta, SuperPages, even websites like Foursquare are all good for local SEO.
  5. Deciphering Google Analytics – Google Analytics offers quite a bit of information. The numbers can be used to find out what review sites send you the most traffic and which keywords are the most searched locally, which cities your visitors are from, and more.

Twitter’s Defining Moment

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Twitter’s defining moment was also the moment that redefined how we received our news. With a click of a button, an innocent bystander scooped the media. You never know when it might be your opportunity to capitalize on social media. It’s a good thing.

Keeping Up with the Web’s Best

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The internet has become an ultra-competitive playing field that intimates many business owners. The idea of trying to keep up with social media superstars is overwhelming at best. Bloggers are publishing half a million posts every day, there are just as many tweets sent and e-commerce sales now surpass $200 billion annually.

Like my mother always told me, there will always be someone prettier, richer, and skinnier than you. Accept the fact that there will always be a better blog, a sleeker website, and a wittier FaceBook post than yours and carry on. Keep your head and focus on how you can use digital technology to better your business and help your customers. You do not have to be the biggest and best brand on the web you simply have to recognize who your audience is, how you can improve for the benefit of your customers, and then leverage the necessary technology in order to get their attention.

Websites Launched

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The DreamPix Studio recently launched several new websites:

AttySullivan.com

Cynthia Sullivan is a North Shore divorce attorney dedicated primarily to the practice of Family Law. She is licensed to practice before the state and federal courts of both Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Ms. Sullivan brings more than 25 years of diverse experience to her practice, which focuses on matters relating to family law and litigation.

MegBlackStudio.com

Meg Black has been a practicing artist using fibrous pulp for over twenty-four years. As one of a handful of artists working in this exciting medium, she is something of a pioneer, internationally recognized by galleries and collectors alike.

EssexAdvisors.com

Essex Financial Advisors, LLC was founded in 1997 by David Bunker. Essex Financial Advisors, LLC provides comprehensive financial planning and investment management services on a fee-only basis to individuals, families, and their closely held businesses. Its mission is to create and maintain wealth for our clients through long-term, effective asset management strategies.

Must-Have WordPress Plugins

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WordPress has become the website platform of choice for many small businesses. In fact, take a look at these 31 WordPress products that can help improve the performance of your website! WordPress is an open-source content management system that is free but priceless. One of the biggest advantages of WordPress is that it can be customized with a multitude of plugins from third-party developers that can enhance your website. From photo galleries to shopping carts, to password-protected areas, to SEO packages; the list of available goes on and on. Some are useful, others not so much and few are indispensable. I put together a list of the plugins that make will enhance your WordPress experience – a few of the suggestions from Megan Totka of Small Business Trends who had some great ideas.

Online Backup for WordPress

The thought of losing the content on my website keeps me up at night but a good back plugin that backup the database is a source of comfort. This free, easy-to-use plug-in allows you to schedule automated daily or weekly backups, perform manual backups, and more.

Akismet

If you are going to allow comments on your blog posts you will need to install Akismet to avoid spam. This plugin will delete unwanted comments before they get posted, sparing visitors from having to read through oodles of bogus comments.

All in One SEO Pack

The first true all-in-one SEO solution for WordPress, including on-page content analysis, XML sitemaps, and much more.

Visual Form Builder

While I usually use Custom Contact Forms by Talor Lovett I was just introduced to Visual Form Builder and it is very cool. Using a simple drag and drop concept you can create all sorts of forms with ease. It’s easy to do this with the Visual Form Builder plugin which lets you create all kinds of forms for your site with no coding required.

Google Analytics for WordPress

Sure, WordPress gives you a way to insert a tracking code from Google Analytics directly into your theme, so why add yet another plugin to your site?
Because with the Google Analytics for WordPress plugin, you get extra features: Automatic tracking for site speed, outbound links, downloads, custom variable support, link tagging, debug mode, login and registration form tracking, and more.

W3 Total Cache

W3 Total Cache is the highest-rated and most complete WordPress performance plugin. Dramatically improve the speed and user experience of your site as well as your ranking on Google which now considers speed as a factor. The plugin adds browser, page, object, and database caching to WordPress.

Relevanssi

The default search feature for WordPress is not the best as results are ranked according to publication date, rather than relevance to the search term. Relevanssi is a WordPress plugin that fixes the search. You get the best results first, with highlights showing the exact part of the document that matched the query.

After the Deadline

Get a personal proofreader for your content that catches more errors than the native WordPress spell check. This plugin comes with basic spelling and grammar and includes contextual spell checking, advanced style checking, and intelligent grammar checking to virtually wipe out mistakes in your posts.

WP Social Share

Social Networks are very popular these days and are a great source to get readers for your blog. WP Social Share plugin helps you and your users to share blog posts directly from your blog to social network sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

Tide Spoofs Halloween Thrillers on Vine

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Tide has gotten into the Halloween spirit this year by launching a seven-part Halloween campaign using Vine, Twitter’s six-second mobile-social video platform.

The first video features the orange bottle of liquid detergent at a senior prom, bloodily spoofing the remake of the movie “Carrie.” The tagline: “Stains better be scared.” is used in all the videos that spoof of classic thrillers like Psycho.

Do-it-yourself Website Builders

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Website wizards have made our life easier in many ways, although sometimes they can create roadblocks. I have crossed paths with Sitebuilder a number of times as many hosts offer the software as an easy, do-it-yourself, web building tool.
While it simplifies the process in one sense, it does its limitations.

  • Immobility: Sitebuilder allows a user to select a template from which to create their website. The problem is that the site is not transferable, exportable, or portable in any way. That means that you are married to the host and, should you choose to end your relationship, you must start anew as with any divorce.
  • Slow Load Time: While Sitebuilder is easy on the front end, the backend is heavy in excess code causing two issues:
  1. A load time that is 15 seconds slower than the average website.
  2. Deterring search engines who like prefer pages with clean code.
  • Amateurish Design: Sitebuilder templates are less sophisticated to start but when a rookie takes control of the design the sites often take a turn for the worse graphically speaking.

When is Sitebuilder a good choice?

For businesses that are in a hurry to establish an online presence but lack the technical knowledge, how a good Sitebuilder template may fit the bill. The key is to make an informed decision and be aware of its limitations in advance.

Architect Cooks Up Social Media Opportunity

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One of the goals of Social Media for businesses is to build relationships and trust by providing an up-close and personal glimpse into the business. When North Shore Architect Benjamin Nutter completed the design and build of Lilia Haynes’s exquisite Heaven on Earth Cooking Studio located in Boxford, MA, he saw a perfect social media opportunity and seized it.
liliahaynes
Ben booked one of Lila’s seasonal Italian cooking classes, invited a small group of friends as well as a photographer/videographer. Not only was Ben able to showcase his impeccable work as it applied to real-life but he was able to tell a more personal story about himself and his business. This is what social media is all about.

Restaurants must have a tasty site

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The internet has made discriminating shoppers out of all of us. From clothing boutiques to preschools to restaurants, we are making decisions based on a web experience. A subpar experience on a restaurant website translates into lost reservations and lost dollars. Every industry has specific needs that dictate what components must be included on their website. For restaurants, it’s simple. Your website must include FIVE specific details to in order convert visitors into real reservations.

1. Hours of Operation
2. Contact Info or a Reservation link
3. Menus – be sure they are current.
4. Photos – beautiful photos are crucial and will tell your story.
5. Customer Reviews – The proof is in the pudding. Links to social media sites such as YELP and UrbanSpoon.

Five Formats for Email Marketing

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Email Marketing continues to be one of the most effective ways to generate new leads and educate customers about your products and services.

This week I received an email from a local day spa. The subject line read: A Few Openings Left Today to Save! And in the body as an offer to save 20% on a massage on that day. Even the available appointment times were listed in the email. Considering I had just pulled my back out the day before, the timing was perfect. While promotional emails are my least favorite they have their place in the marketing world.

Emails fall into FIVE basic categories:

  • Educational – These emails answer a question or solve a problem for the recipient.
  • Informational – This style of email is typically short and the intent is to convey necessary information such as the status of a recently placed order or an event reminder.
  • Promotional – Promotional emails try to get the recipient to take action around a new product or service.
  • Lead Nurturing – These short emails are part of the sales cycle. They are content-rich and encourage recipients to take action on your website.
  • Newsletter – These emails update customers about what’s going on in a company and may include informative articles relative to their client base.
  • Email marketing is alive and well – still holding a very prominent space in the marketing world.