Mike Blumenthal, blumenthals.com/blog mike@blumenthals.com | Twitter: @mblumenthal

1. maps & reviews where social & rank meet Mike Blumenthal, blumenthals.com/blog mike@blumenthals.com | Twitter: @mblumenthal

2. A Model of Ranking Factors Score of Website •# of links referring to business •Highest score of those links • • Within Geo-Area• Business Name• Business Category• Content Total # of WebPage (Citations)Geo References& Reviews Legitimacy & Location TrustLocal Business Center Primary & Secondary Data Providers KML Sitemap, Bulk Upload, Whois, Phone Verification

3. Relevance & Ranking Factors Score of Website •# of links referring to business •Highest score of those links • Popularity of User Maps • •Within Geo-Area• Business Name • Business Category• Content• Anchor Text in Citations Total # of WebPage (Citations)Geo References& Reviews Legitimacy & Location TrustLocal Business Center Primary & Secondary Data Providers KML Sitemap, Bulk Upload, Whois, Phone Verification

4. Reviews: Where Social & Rank Meet Score of Website •# of links referring to business •Highest score of those links • Popularity of User Maps • • Within Geo-Area • Business Name • Business Category• Content• Anchor Text in Citations Total # of WebPage (Citations)Geo References &Reviews Legitimacy & Location TrustLocal Business Center Primary & Secondary Data Providers KML Sitemap, Bulk Upload, Whois, Phone Verification

5. Local Shoppers Look Online First Sources: eMarketer

6. Local Shoppers Look Online First 90% search online for nearbybusinesses via search engines Sources: eMarketer

7. Consumers Trust Reviews The Groundswell Affect70% Trust Reviews From Strangers Sources: Neilson 04/2009 Harvard Business Review 04/2008

8. Reviews & Google Ranking • Low to Moderate Ranking Impact • Seems to confer “Velocity” - Google prefers “active” businesses

9. Sustainable Social Presence • Reviews engage the business in the conversation. - Efficiently & Effectively

10. 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. EASY 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. CHOICE 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. ETHICAL

11. 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. INTEGRATED INTO BUSINESS PROCESSES 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. REGULARITY 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. DIVERSITY OFREVIEW SITES

12. 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 LEVERAGE 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. PLAN FOR THE BADREVIEW

13. Virtuous Cycle

14. Which Review SitesShould You Use? • General Review Sites: • Citysearch • Yahoo Local • Sites where your customers are • Vertical Review Sites

15. Case Study – Barbara Oliver Jewelry vav

16. vav Case Study – Barbara Oliver Jewelry 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

17. vav Case Study – Barbara Oliver Jewelry

18. vav Case Study – Barbara Oliver Jewelry

19. vav Case Study – Barbara Oliver Jewelry 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

20. vav Case Study – Barbara Oliver Jewelry 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

21. maps & reviews where social & rank meet Mike Blumenthal, blumenthals.com/blog mike@blumenthals.com | Twitter: @mblumenthal

22. Who Shares Reviews With Whom

23. Total Possible Exposure Of a Review

24. vav Yahoo Universal Results