As Google continues to develop it’s “Local Business Centre” one of the new advents is the introduction of physical labels that include a barcode. These physical labels are being sent to business owners that have already verified ownership of their Local Business listing on Google maps.
The barcode, or QR Code that is on the label allows people with smart phones to simply scan the code with the phones camera. Litterally within a fraction of a second, you receive all of the business details from Google’s Local Business listing including any coupons or offers that the owner has posted.
Reviews are also returned. The good, the bad and the ugly are returned. In fact Google even suggests that there is no better time than the present to leave a review -
“Leave a review right after you leave the business. What’s a better time to write what you think, than when you’ve just visited?”
There are already several QR Code scanning apps on the App Store. I dropped a $1.99 and got one and scanned the code on this page… It works very quickly.
Would you do business with a person who didn’t tell you their name or hand you a business card when you met them?
Would you consider requesting a proposal from an online service that does not include a phone number, contact form, or address on their website? It is not difficult to find websites on the internet where there is no information about the owners or key stakeholders.
Does your website have your phone number on the home page? How about a page that has information about your company directors? A detailed contact page is important – it certainly would encourage me to give you a call.
The Social aspects of the Social Networking craze that is sweeping the internet has to have an impact on how you write for your marketing website. Earn some trust by providing good information, make a clear call to action, and identify yourself. The days of doing business with corporations are slipping away… people want to do business with people.
If your marketing website is more than a few years old, it will be missing key elements that a modern website should include. It may be time for a website review with an Internet Consultant.
This is pretty brilliant – this YouTube video explains how Ikea used existing tagging capabilities of FaceBook to encourage syndication and interaction with their online gallery promoting the opening of a new store. Watch the video…
As social media and the onslaught of “free-for-all” user contributed content storms the web, until recently one of the few areas you had complete control over was your own website. That recently changed.
Google has launched it’s new “Sidewiki” as a portion to the Google Toolbar. Now as people surf the net they are being encouraged to comment on any website that they visit.
From the moment I upgraded my toolbar to give this “sidewiki” a little go, I can see there is certain degree of anxiety based on the postings on Google’s own sidewiki own page…
Travis Claridge wrote “How will this affect business and advertising? – this is a very scary tool from the aspect of a business and advertising. How deos a buisness prepare for the PR onslaught and respond to issues brought up through this service? Worse yet… if they don’t adapt quickly they will never even see content written about them.”
Kevin Fox wrote, “Promising, I’m glad to see Google try this… As Google explains their algorithm for comment position – irrelevant or unhelpful comments should sink to the bottom.” He also wrote, “I’m curious how Sidewiki will impact SEO, or will it be a whole new venue for SEO?”
It begs the questions also, when will Sidewiki “comments” be returned as actual relevant search results that then link to the related page?
Skye B wrote, “This is a place for “word of mouth” so to speak. Hopefully with the help of majority of surfers it will be spam free. No more websites or blogs that don’t offer a chance to readers to speak their mind. Some websites don’t post your comments if you don’t agree with them, but those days are gone! Freedom of speech for everyone! Thanks Google”
Interesting that this person, under an alias name, is also the one most concerned about freedom of speech – but won’t put their name to it.
A little shoot over to YouTube to see what viewers of Google’s sidewiki video are saying… and wow, some very interesting comments. Of course, comments that are welcomed at YouTube may not be so welcome at your marketing website. At YouTube when you post a video you have the option to moderate comments and you can decide which comments should be public… Google Sidewiki does not give website owners the ability to moderate user contributed content.
MrSaxaman1973 wrote, “Those talking about “Freedom of Speech”. This has nothing to do with YOUR speech. It has to do with the website owners Freedom of Speech. You need to be a website owner to really understand. We assemble websites the way we do on purpose. To provide info and services that YES, make us money, but its our money that we are putting on the line & our decision on how to use it. SideWiki is taking that away by enabling random users the ability to direct visitors ($) away from our investments! “EVIL”!!!”
Over now to the seroundtable.com forums to see what the search optimizers are chatting about. Ah, they are chatting about blocking users from accessing websites if they have the Google toolbar installed. Interesting. The chatter here is to either convince Google to allow webmasters to opt-out on a site by site basis or to simply block users or redirect them somewhere else, like maybe Bing.com for example.
Whitenight commented at webmasterworld, “…this is a lawsuit waiting to happen.”
Just like with Twitter, my jury is out on Sidewiki. I am not sure how this is going to pan out. I can safely say, it is causing a bit of a stir online.
Stuart Crawford from Bulletproof InfoTech is at it again, yes, he is starting another blog focused on delivering information to the small business community throughout Canada.
The Canadian Small Business Blog launched over the past weekend with a goal to help entrepreneurs, small business owners and those who work in small business from coast to coast to coast in Canada have a place and a voice in our vibrant community. Small Business is a healthy community and the cornerstone of our economy right here in Canada. With over 97% of business in Canada employing less than 250 staff members, it will be this community which rebuilds Canada after the great economic reset.
Stuart, Vice President at Bulletproof InfoTech, a firm focused on delivering Calgary and Red Deer firms with quality IT services, computer repair, computer solutions and technology consulting has only focused on small business throughout his entire career. “My passion is to help small business get the right information technology so they can build a strong business”, says Stuart.
As Google continues to develop it’s “Local Business Centre” one of the new advents is the introduction of physical labels that include a barcode. These physical labels are being sent to business owners that have already verified ownership of their Local Business listing on Google maps.
