Google's Search Changes, Adwords and How It Could Affect Business

One of my goals as co-owner of the business has been making sure our website is up to date, looks good and helps you, the customer, find what you need when searching out a custom duct fabricator.

Creating a quality website with good information and running a Google Adwords campaign are a few of the ways I accomplish this goal. This way, when you search for custom duct or anything related to what we do, you will find us in Google search results.

My time is extended and my expertise resides in the field of metal fabrication so naturally I have hired a quality business, Flourish Digital Strategy, to run our Google Adwords campaign. Since starting we have done very well and the website has brought in some great business along with new, quality contacts. However, any changes can have a major impact an how the campaign runs. Any differences in the way people search, Google's algorithm's or increase in prices is something that needs monitored when deciding how to progress with the campaign.

Because our website has become such an integral part of the business I find myself reading and researching more on SEO, web based properties and best practices. This is especially true when I see something regarding Google and how they process you, the customer's searches.

So this morning as I perused my daily RSS feed fix I came across an interesting article on Huffington Post outlining the new way in which Google processes your searches and how it may affect rankings of your business's website.

From Huffington Post

Google has quietly retooled the closely guarded formula running its Internet search engine to give better answers to the increasingly complex questions posed by Web surfers.

The overhaul came as part of an update called "Hummingbird" that Google Inc. has gradually rolled out in the past month without disclosing the modifications.

The changes could have a major impact on traffic to websites. Hummingbird represents the most dramatic alteration to Google's search engine since it revised the way it indexes websites three years ago as part of a redesign called "Caffeine," according to Amit Singhal, a senior vice president for the company. He estimates that the redesign will affect the analysis of about 90 percent of the search requests that Google gets......Read More

The company I use for creating and running the campaign is great, so this is something I don't feel is a major issue. However, it shows how much our business has changed over the years and how we go about finding new customers.

In the past I would have flown right past an article like this one, in fact I probably wouldn't even have it on my radar. But, the world changes and with that your business. This is only our 10th month of running the Google Adwords campaign and only our second year of any kind of advertising the company in general. 

I made a concerted effort to move the majority of our advertising online because I felt like you, the customer, is busy and usually on the move. The majority of your research for HVAC or duct fabrication will be done on your phone, tablet or late night/weekends on the web. Rarely, I feel anyway, do most people pick up the newspaper for research in regards to a service or trade.

Our business is still majority local and word of mouth. However, the world is moving online more and more everyday, so I must be diligent in making sure our customers can find us easily when searching the web.

Finding The Time...

Once again I have neglected the company blog for an extended period of time. Not because of laziness, but more in finding the time to give proper attention to the written word. As the work day progresses, time fades away, before you know it exhaustion takes over and the last thing I want to do is type out something interesting and insightful.

These are of course excuses. I should be finding the time to get something down each and every day, whether it makes it to the blog or not. Something is changing with the company on a daily basis, so finding items to write about should not be something so difficult to find. 

The problem for me seems to be finding the best time to actually do the writing, not so much the content. I'm up at 5am to get ready so I can be at the shop by 7am to get the day going. As much as I would love to write in the morning, my body just hates those before dawn hours and my mind is usually flooded with what needs to be done at the fabrication shop.

Not the best recipe for quality writing. 

So you would think during the day or in the evening would be perfect. Unfortunately, the strain of the day keeps me away from the keys and all I want to do is relax. 

However, I do like writing the blog and will continue searching out the best time for writing and getting my thoughts down. Especially since the company is and will be changing for the better over the next few years.

As with anything in a small business, finding the time to do anything can be a challenge. All of us know there is only one way to run a successful company and that is to work your butt off day in and day out.

So I guess finding the time to blog will just have to go on my goals sheet as something I want to accomplish from week to week. I'm just gonna have to find the time.

Business or Personal?

I have a couple blogs, one for myself (which I have not updated in a while) and the one you are currently reading.

Why?

When I originally set up the accounts I felt separation was warranted because why would I want people on the business side having to deal with anything from my personal life and vice versa. Plus, keeping personal and business life separate seems logical.

However, after looking at my accounts recently I realized that except for a few profanity ridden tirades in regards to my favorite sporting franchises, the majority of my comments pertain to business or something in the ballpark, minus some personal friend tweets. Then I thought, my life is this business, it's all I think about or do on a daily basis. I'm the K for goodness sake, so shouldn't this blog reflect what the K does day in and day out regarding business and how it affects myself or the family? I feel like I try to do just that, but maybe it's not interesting enough for a casual reader.

So should I consolidate everything onto this site? Make an effort to bring more personality of my own to the blog instead of trying to keep it as PC as possible? Do people only want to know about your business when they come to your company blog or are they looking for something real, warts and all? As a reader, I feel like as long as what I'm reading is interesting it doesn't really matter. Obviously the core of this blog is what goes on in and around our family business, the HVAC metal industry and our customers. But as humans, there is more to me and us as a family.

Yes, I am the only one who actually writes the blog, but does that mean I should only post things having to do with business, personal views and the metal industry or can I throw a little flavor in now and then? The goal is to find readers and ultimately customers who we retain as a growing business. And yes, ultimately I am going to post what I want, but asking the masses is always an option, which I choose to enact in this case.

So what do you think? Should I only post business related topics or should I open the borders up a bit?

Leave your answers in the comments section. Thanks for your help!

Squarespace the Magnificent

Hiatus?

If there is a such thing as web hiatus then I have been on it for the last few months, having really posted nothing to the web blog or much on the twitter. This is not because I have lost the passion for business or have become frustrated with social media. On the contrary, I have realized the power and I need to have it! 

Plus, with the addition of our new equipment business has picked up and the shop has been extremely busy, leaving little time to keep up with things. 

The bottom line was we needed a change after gaining data on what was going on with our current website.  Out with the old, in with the new.

Let me calm the drama

I loved the previous website, having built it with Wordpress over the course of a couple months before we invested heavily in the business. Along with the website came more focus on marketing, Google Adwords in particular for promoting the business online. I hired a fantastic company, Flourish Digital Strategy, to take care of the campaign and all things marketing. The relationship has been great and things online are really starting to pickup.

However, after seeing results I noticed some things about the website that seemed a bit overkill and could maybe be scaled back. I wanted to simplify the site, making it easier to navigate with clearer information for customers to digest and easily get in touch with us. 

The sad part being Wordpress is difficult for me to easily change without substantial time and with business growing, getting busy, my time is stretched. I needed something easy and powerful to get the new website up and running quickly. 

Enter Squarespace

Just let me say right off the bat, I have no affiliation with Squarespace what so ever.

The product is magnificent!

I transferred, built pages, you name it in half the time it would have taken with Wordpress. I have tried multiple "site builders" in the past and they all blow. This one literally blew me away!

I wouldn't even disrespect Squarespace by calling it a site builder at all. Its a website creation machine with all the bells and whistles you could need to get anything from a basic to intense website up in no time. The ability to quickly and easily make changes will help me immensely considering most of my time is spent fabricating custom sheet metal for many satisfied customers.

I would recommend the service for any small business who is looking to build a quality website.

Finding a Balance With Time Management

One of the hardest things we deal with as a two man small business is time management. Especially since the recent purchase of our new CNC plasma table, with the goal of growing the business, our time is split between many things. Learning a new system, a new way of doing what you've done for over twenty years can be daunting and many things will sadly be neglected in that ongoing process. For my father and I, especially me, it has been keeping up with many responsibilities in regards to the website and social media.

We have recently hired someone to take-on the marketing aspects of the business, but that also requires attention on a daily basis. With more traffic to the website and orders coming through the door, there is more that must be done to be available for our customers. We want to make sure that our customers are finding us online and that we accommodate them, no matter how small the order. Therefore dialing in our search results to make sure keywords etc. are up to date is on my mind constantly, creating more work and time to make sure things are running smooth.

Keeping up with Twitter and Google+ have become a challenge because of the extra work established by our new machinery. I have neglected much of these responsibilities for over a month, which does not help people engage you looking for your services. It's called social media for a specific reason....social reasons. Organizing myself down the road will help me to make sure I am on top of everything. At this point we can't afford to pay for more help, so it falls on my father and I to get things done.

No one said building a business was easy and I am learning quickly that time management will become one of the best things I can learn going forward. No matter how small your company is, look into time management and how it can help you balance your time and goals.

Should We Start a Facebook Business Page?

I have been pretty open regarding my hatred and questions about Facebook. We have never had a Facebook business page; I deleted my personal account over a year ago and have never felt more free. But...

Now that our company is working diligently on marketing the business, latching onto the power of the web and social media, I may be having a change of heart. Is it time for us to start a Facebook business page?

I openly despise, throwing barbs whenever I can, everything that is Facebook. The incessant baby bumps and people who I've talked to once pretending to be my bestee. However, my hypocritical juices are flowing, not wanting to miss out on any opportunity to help promote our business. Should I really let some, let's be honest, minor personal problems deny our business of opportunities?

These strong feelings I portend to have about Facebook over the last year and a half are all for naught if I decide to start a page. Seems pretty weak of me to cave on something not so important in the grand position of personal and business stances. However, we're not talking about abortion or gun control here.

Gasp...am I a flip-flopper?

Or does it not matter in the grand scheme of business and promoting the brand? After all, this is a personal position, ultimately hurting no one in the process. The caveat being that the company consists of my father and I only, with my dad not really caring or able to deal with any of the online promotion. Hence, much of what I put out there is very personal.

I try to use this blog as a billboard, company news site and sounding board for my thoughts and questions. The Facebook thing has been riling me for months since we started a concerted marketing effort via Adwords and now with the announcement of graph search earlier this month, I'm even more confused. Clearly, this is something I have strong issues with, but am I hurting the business in the process?

Any suggestions in our comments section or twitter regarding whether or not a Facebook business page is a must would be greatly appreciated.

Have You Tried Vine Yet?

I love technology and all it can bring to life or business. A few days ago Twitter ( By far my favorite social network ) introduced Vine, a service that lets you take 6 second video's easily and share them in your twitter feed. The video can them be viewed inside each tweet like so:

6 Second Supply Air Transition #sheetmetal #HVAC vine.co/v/b5Htm1rbF3h

— K & E Sheet Metal (@kesheetmetal) January 24, 2013

This was my first ever vine video tweet, whatcha think? Honestly, I haven't really gotten a chance to really play with or think about the ways we can use Vine to help promote the business. However, as more people get their hands on the app more ideas will come out.

There have been some interesting ideas vaguely floating around, but they have been more creative and centered around the technology. The coat is still fresh and tacky, not ready to hang the pictures and finish the wall.

I will be interested to see how we or other micro and small businesses use this interesting new addition to the Twitter family.

Check out the post about Vine on the Twitter blog or directly at the Vine site.