maps & reviews
where social & rank meet
Mike Blumenthal, blumenthals.com/blog
mike@blumenthals.com | Twitter: @mblumenthal
A Model of Ranking Factors
• Within Geo-Area
• Business Name
• Business Category
Score of Website •
# of links referring to business •
Highest score of those links •
• Content
Total # of Web
Page (Citations)
Geo References
& Reviews
Legitimacy & Location Trust
Local Business Center
Primary & Secondary Data Providers
KML Sitemap, Bulk Upload, Whois, Phone Verification
Relevance & Ranking Factors
• Within Geo-Area
• Business Name
• Business Category
• Content
• Anchor Text
in Citations
Score of Website •
# of links referring to business •
Highest score of those links •
Popularity of User Maps •
Total # of Web
Page (Citations)
Geo References
& Reviews
Legitimacy & Location Trust
Local Business Center
Primary & Secondary Data Providers
KML Sitemap, Bulk Upload, Whois, Phone Verification
Reviews: Where Social & Rank Meet
Total # of Web
Page (Citations)
Geo References &
Reviews
Local Shoppers Look Online First
Sources: eMarketer
Local Shoppers Look Online First
90% search online for nearby
businesses via search engines
Sources: eMarketer
Consumers Trust Reviews
The Groundswell Affect
70% Trust
Reviews From
Strangers
Sources: Neilson 04/2009
Harvard Business Review 04/2008
Reviews & Google Ranking
Sustainable Social Presence
Customer Considerations
Whatever system you implement for the customer, it
should be so dead simple that they just don’t have to
struggle. The least number of clicks, the straighest
path, the least to remember should all be ideals of
whatever system you put in place.
This correlates to the above. You want to provide your
customers/clients with a range of sites so as to be
compatible their online behaviors. It is hard to know if
they prefer leaving reviews at one place or another.
The more comfort they have with your suggestions the
more likely they are to leave the review. You need to
be where your customers are. In setting up your
program asking them what they prefer is a good idea.
Whatever review process you choose, it should be
open, transparent and beyond reproach. An unhappy
customer is bad enough but one that thinks you are
scamming the review world will be relentless.
Business Considerations
For a business, saying you will do something
versus actually doing it, is a matter of the process
being easy for employees and a required part of
the internal procedures. This may require employee
training and perhaps new procedures to be sure
that the ask for reviews happens.
Reviews are like traditional testimonials. If they all
occurred last year or the year before both potential
clients and the search engines are going to wonder
what’s up.
Putting your eggs in one basket is never a good
strategy. For example Google has been known to
periodically loose reviews from one source or
another.
It is also difficult to predict next year’s review site
winner and the looser. Being in a range of places
protects against both eventualities.
Business Considerations
If one review can be seen in 4 review site instead of
just one then all other things being equal, a review
placed there is more valuable. For example even
though CitySearch is declining in popularity, they still
have 25 million uniques AND share their reviews with
Google, Yahoo, MC and more giving you an
opportunity to have the review seen 100 million times
Even if you run the best business in the world, you will
sooner or later, get a bad review. Decide ahead of time
how it will be handled and who will handle it. Ending up
in argument on the front steps of the customer is a no
win situation and some thought put it in how you are
going to respond will avoid the worst outcomes.
Virtuous Cycle
Which Review Sites
Should You Use?
– Citysearch
– Yahoo Local
– Sites where your customers are
– Vertical Review Sites
Case Study – Barbara Oliver Jewelry
vav
Case Study – Barbara Oliver Jewelry
vav
04/09 - “Just got a new one in,
she googled jewelry repair and
in she came. Just thought you
would like to hear so you feel
validated…….”
– Barbara Oliver
Case Study – Barbara Oliver Jewelry
vav
Case Study – Barbara Oliver Jewelry
vav
Case Study – Barbara Oliver Jewelry
vav
02/13/10 - “Hi Mike, this week 6 new
customers in the store based on reviews
alone. 6 sales, have I mentioned lately
how much I love you? If we continue to
do this right, I can forego some of the
expensive advertising and build up my
wallet and our businesses. WooHoo
Thanks!”
- Barbara Oliver
Case Study – Barbara Oliver Jewelry
vav
01/13/11 - “Just got a $7700 sale. They
came in after shopping at Andrews, as
they read all the reviews prior and liked
what they read. Thank you again Mike
for the nagging………………!”
- Barbara Oliver
maps & reviews
where social & rank meet
Mike Blumenthal, blumenthals.com/blog
mike@blumenthals.com | Twitter: @mblumenthal
Gmaps 124 X
Yelp
47
City
29
Search
Yahoo
13
Local
Insider
3
Pages
Angie’s
0.9
List
Judy's
0.3
Book
X
X
X
X X
X
X
X
X
X
X X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X X X
X
X
X
Trend
Total
Possible
Visits (millions)
CityGrid
YellowBot
Insider Pgs.
Dex Knows
Bing Local
Mrchant Cir.
Local.com
Yahoo Local
Yellowpages
CitySearch
Yelp
Gmaps
Yahoo Univ.
GoogleUniv.
Visits (millions)
Who Shares Reviews
With Whom
981

1061.1

X 1065.7

1270

1003.3

981.9

1001.3

Total Possible Exposure
Of a Review
Yelp
Gmaps
Angie's List
Judy's Book
Insider Pages
City Search
Yahoo Local
0
200
400
600
Total Possible Visits
800
Visits
1000
1200
1400
Yahoo Universal Results
vav