Hi Folks,
Getting a lot of questions about the announcement from Google about an enhancement to their Click-To-Call service. This is one that let's you actually call (from your computer) based on an Adwords ad.
Two things, first for people who I've worked with - this doesn't affect you. This feature is not something I use for therapy businesses. So, as with many Google things, just delete that email and enjoy your weekend.
For those out there, this only impacts you if you have ads with your phone # in them, or are using a very advanced feature called "Call Extensions".
I don't think that having the phone # in an ad is useful for us as therapists. For some businesses (let's say a locksmith, or a tow-truck) where you really don't care *who* provides the service, you just want it *now*, I see this as a useful thing. But, unless your ideal client really can pick a therapist from a 25-character headline, and 70 characters of ad copy, then I have never seen it as a useful thing.
In my counseling experience, I've found people who want a generic counselor to be difficult clients that don't stay long, don't do much work, and often have trouble paying.
As a client of other practitioners (therapy, massage, acupuncture, etc.) I cannot imagine calling from an Adwords ad. I'd need to go to the therapist's website (or some other web page about them) before wanting to call.
As always, you can count on me to have an opinion :-)
Now go get back to the weekend! Best, Peter
Google Adwords for Therapists
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Today's Advice About Google Plus
Hey folks,
Had some fun with an animating tool called Xtranormal. But the message is what I'd say if I had to type it. So take a look - two and a half minutes of fun (it made my wife laugh).
FYI, the link for a Google Plus button is at http://www.google.com/webmasters/+1/button/
Happy Summer! Peter in still rainy Seattle
Your Google (+?) Guy
Had some fun with an animating tool called Xtranormal. But the message is what I'd say if I had to type it. So take a look - two and a half minutes of fun (it made my wife laugh).
FYI, the link for a Google Plus button is at http://www.google.com/webmasters/+1/button/
Happy Summer! Peter in still rainy Seattle
Your Google (+?) Guy
Sunday, July 10, 2011
How To Lose Me As a Twitter Follower
OK, so I've often been a critic of Twitter. I've been using it a bit more lately, and find that it can be a useful business, P.R. and news tool.
As I've lived it a little more, I've found my personal pet peeves about Twitter. They are the things that can drive me to unfollow someone.
1) Too personal - I'm a business tweeter. Talk about your favorite TV shows on Facebook, for God's sake. I don't care what you ate for dinner, or are stuck in traffic. Buh-bye.
2) High-volume, Low-value - so if you tweet 10 times in 15 minutes, a few things happen for me. First, you are drowning out other people on my screen. Second, I can't tell which thing you've written is important. Usually if you say 10 things in 10 minutes, I find none of them are important. (Breaking news eyewitnessing is the sole exception). Buh-bye.
3) TOTD & QOTD - OMG, I am sooooo sick of Quote of the Day, Thought of the Day tweets. I am intelligent and so most of my friends and network are too. I like new information (find me a great article, or resource, for instance). If I see one more "Deep Thought" I am going to puke. Buh-bye.
What causes *you* to unfollow someone? Your Google Guy would like to know!
Best, Peter
Search Engine Marketing for Therapists
Follow my low-volume, high-value Tweets on Twitter!
As I've lived it a little more, I've found my personal pet peeves about Twitter. They are the things that can drive me to unfollow someone.
1) Too personal - I'm a business tweeter. Talk about your favorite TV shows on Facebook, for God's sake. I don't care what you ate for dinner, or are stuck in traffic. Buh-bye.
2) High-volume, Low-value - so if you tweet 10 times in 15 minutes, a few things happen for me. First, you are drowning out other people on my screen. Second, I can't tell which thing you've written is important. Usually if you say 10 things in 10 minutes, I find none of them are important. (Breaking news eyewitnessing is the sole exception). Buh-bye.
3) TOTD & QOTD - OMG, I am sooooo sick of Quote of the Day, Thought of the Day tweets. I am intelligent and so most of my friends and network are too. I like new information (find me a great article, or resource, for instance). If I see one more "Deep Thought" I am going to puke. Buh-bye.
What causes *you* to unfollow someone? Your Google Guy would like to know!
Best, Peter
Search Engine Marketing for Therapists
Follow my low-volume, high-value Tweets on Twitter!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
More SEO Cold Calls
Hi folks,
Got an email from a colleague today, saying "Google had called her". She was a bit upset, as the person on the phone got irate when she told them she didn't think she was interested.
I replied that I was pretty sure this wasn't Google calling. I want *you* to hear that, too, and let any of your friends know. Google *rarely* if *ever* calls people like us. We are small fish.
Who does call us? Salesmen making cold calls. And they use confusion and obfuscation as a tool. I had a voicemail last week from a man who said "he was from Google". He said he could get "get me on the search engines, Google, Yahoo and Bing." That was a good clue. Google would *never* mention, or try to help, Yahoo and Bing. Never, ever, ever. It was pretty bold-faced lying on his part.
Terms companies can used, which would be confusing, but not a lie, include:
- Google-certified
- Google-qualified
- Google-listed
They do *NOT* work for Google.
Finally, here is a strategy for getting true info and getting them off the phone (if they reach you in person).
1) Act nice, but say you have someone (a webmaster, a marketing coach, a spouse) who does your webmarketing for you, so you'll need to run this by them.
2) Ask for callback info (name, company, phone #) or to have them email you info.
3) Get the heck off the phone!
4) If you wonder who they are, Google the phone # you gave them. I'll be you a dollar it ain't Google!
OK, remember don't take the snake oil!
Best, Peter
Google SEO Help for Therapists
Got an email from a colleague today, saying "Google had called her". She was a bit upset, as the person on the phone got irate when she told them she didn't think she was interested.
I replied that I was pretty sure this wasn't Google calling. I want *you* to hear that, too, and let any of your friends know. Google *rarely* if *ever* calls people like us. We are small fish.
Who does call us? Salesmen making cold calls. And they use confusion and obfuscation as a tool. I had a voicemail last week from a man who said "he was from Google". He said he could get "get me on the search engines, Google, Yahoo and Bing." That was a good clue. Google would *never* mention, or try to help, Yahoo and Bing. Never, ever, ever. It was pretty bold-faced lying on his part.
Terms companies can used, which would be confusing, but not a lie, include:
- Google-certified
- Google-qualified
- Google-listed
They do *NOT* work for Google.
Finally, here is a strategy for getting true info and getting them off the phone (if they reach you in person).
1) Act nice, but say you have someone (a webmaster, a marketing coach, a spouse) who does your webmarketing for you, so you'll need to run this by them.
2) Ask for callback info (name, company, phone #) or to have them email you info.
3) Get the heck off the phone!
4) If you wonder who they are, Google the phone # you gave them. I'll be you a dollar it ain't Google!
OK, remember don't take the snake oil!
Best, Peter
Google SEO Help for Therapists
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