Investing in Local Listings: Time + Money = Traffic

A lot has been written about the importance of reviews in driving local traffic (here and here) and user engagement (here). At MerchantCircle, we encourage our members not only to ask their customers to write reviews but to create all kinds of fresh content to drive consumer traffic. As part of this effort, we set out to understand the relationship between content creation and pageviews.

Our analysis of MerchantCircle listings with varying degrees of content reveals:



The “Free” pageview numbers represent the relative average pageviews during January for our free members (i.e., those who aren’t buying our SEM products). The “Starter” pageview numbers represent the relative average January pageviews for our members who’ve purchased our entry-level “StarterCircle” package for $29/month.

Here are the relative pageview stats in chart form:


It’s amazing to see the value both groups derive when they take the time to create content on their listing. And for those who take advantage of every opportunity to create content, (i.e., those who have created all content types including newsletters and network ads) the rewards are huge! Interesting to note that each content type added drives incremental pageviews versus “No activity”. But, the real benefits come when merchants create multiple types of content on their listing.

We here at MerchantCircle have long believed that getting traction online requires a real investment of either time or money. Our data suggests that for those merchants who invest both time (to create fresh content) and money (in advertising dollars), the rewards are significant.

Darren Waddell
Sr. Director of Marketing
MerchantCircle

Forrester analyst Charlene Li calls MerchantCircle a "favorite"

Coming off a recent "60 Minutes" appearance where she discussed Facebook, Charlene Li (vice president and principal analyst for Forrester Research) mentioned MerchantCircle during Tuesday's panel at Entrepreneurship Week at Stanford University. Charlene calls MerchantCircle a "great model" and credits us with approaching the local search space from a "totally different perspective".

You can hear the fascinating panel discussion (note: MerchantCircle is discussed at 01:01:15 ) here.

The Mystery of the Top 6

If you go to our MerchantCircle home page, you can find a list of our Top 6 merchants under 'most popular'. As you may already know, we've essentially built a web page for every business in the U.S. Over 120,000 of you have already claimed your page, but keep in mind, we have over 15 million businesses on MerchantCircle. Still, even at 120,000 we are the fastest growing and largest network of SMBs on the web.

Back to the Top 6 - the interesting thing about that list is that two of the merchants have not claimed their business listing. Both Kimpa Sport Fishing (with nearly 12,000 visitors to their page) and Fina Oil & Chemical (more than 7,000 in the last 30 days) are the lone hold-outs. Far more interesting is the MerchantCircle algorithm that spells out higher search engine rankings for merchants who create content (coupons, blogs, ads) and link to other pages on the web. Obviously Kimpa and Fina have not done that since they haven't even claimed their page.

So why are people going to their MerchantCircle pages? Normally a business may get a huge spike like that if a major crime or controversial news story took place at the business. Or if a huge celebrity like me shows up one day......

For now, the mystery has partially been solved - they're coming up high in search engine results. In the meantime, keep creating content and linking to other web pages, because we all can't be as fortunate as Kimpa and Fina. Take a look at Small Wonders Imaging, LLC and Wedding Supplies Unlimited - they are doing a great job interacting with their customers and coming up high in search engines. As a busines owner, that's what being on the web should be about - if you're not found on that first page of results you're only hurting yourself.

Sincerely,
Kevin
Community Relations

MerchantCircle Owns Reputation Management, you got a problem with that?

Not to be too brash, but sometimes you've gotta call things as they are. I've reiterated time and time again, that the internet is becoming a place full of user-generated-content. The majority of the time, that's amateur content. Not that it lacks credibility, but it's a free-for-all with no journalistic ethics to regulate statements, or reviews for that matter.

Take for instance this article from SFGate.com about how a business owner got nearly driven out of business because of what reviewers were saying on a directory site. That directory site's response? Pay us - and we'll let you have the first comment section to yourself (above of all the negative reviews that people will still see).

Extortionist Tactics?

Bottom line is this: you as business owner need to know what's being said on the web so you can proactively take steps to change your business method. We're the only place, that for FREE, shows you all the sites that allow reviews and show you how your business is listed AND include links back to those sites.

All I gotta say is, I pity the fool who ain't managing their online reputation.

Sincerely,
Kevin
Community Relations

Show Me The Money

I just got back from New York where we accepted the award as Newcomer of the Year and one of the Top 100 Private Companies chosen by AlwaysOn Media. I spent a lot time meeting people and promptly forgetting their names - thank goodness for those name badges! And no. No one referred to me as Koko, but at work they still call me T-Bone. Anway, let me get to the point. We want to remember your name, but let me tell you why.

As our network has crossed nearly 85,000 merchants signed on, just like yourself, we realize many of our new merchants signing on are because of referrals from you and other business owners. Something along the lines of, "blah blah MerchantCircle is the best ever!!!" And "Who needs a website when MerchantCircle is free?!!?" And "Who is that sexy-sounding-writer Kevin, and is he single?"

Well, we want to reward you for inviting other merchants by paying you cash (check) for every business friend of yours who signs up. Besides that, you're inviting them to a network that helps to get their businesses found higher on Google and Yahoo. More customers, larger network, and Kevin's probably still single, but happy.

Sincerely,

Community Relations

P.S. Check out the revamped Newsletter out on Monday, it's sure to knock at least one sock off.

They Call Me Hammer

Ok, they don't, but it would've been cool.

T-Bone. Red Dog. Diddy. Definitely not Koko the Monkey. Where would we be without nicknames - a short, easy-to-remember moniker that people can remember, while at the same time adding depth and personality. Check out this picture below. What would be a good nickname for them? Kraus and Boharshik? Probably not.... Serial Killers might be easier to remember.



Back in the day, this storefront with the family was a company's personality. As the years progressed, reviews and letter grades were sometimes placed prominently in the windshields and business names got trendier and easier to remember. Now as customers browse for businesses on the web, those same reviews and personality come back into play - only this time on the web.

For the 80,000 merchants who have now claimed their MerchantCircle business listing, half of them use their listing as their sole source of a business website! And why shouldn't they? It's free, easy-to-use and puts them in touch with like-minded individuals. Now it's time to up the ante! If we are your web presence, sure, people can find your MerchantCircle listing through generic search on Google or Yahoo because our nearly 15 million listings are search-engine-optimized, but for those who ask, you should be able to tell them something easy. www.merchantcircle.com/fillintheblank

That's right, come up with your own store name or nickname and tell people how to find you on the web. Merchantcircle.com/Hammer or Merchantcircle.com/Koko. As long as it's not taken, that's your new identity baby!!! I'm sorry, I got a little excited. I probably shouldn't call you baby yet. This is a feature we plan to add in the next few weeks. So keep an eye out and let us know what you think. Until then, this is a strictly platonic relationship....baby.












Sincerely,

Koko,
Community Relations