Find Buffalo Blog

I’m pleased to announce that FindBuffalo.com now has a section devoted to homes for sale in Buffalo, MN. Local Realtors can now submit their Buffalo listing for a free 60 day posting on our website at FindBuffalo.com/homes. Realtors are able to upload a photo of the listing, short paragraph about the home, number of beds, number of baths, square footage, MLS number and of course price. Along with the listing information, Realtors submit their email address, web link and phone number. Their contact information is displayed and linked with the listing. This provides a Realtor the following benefits:

• Free advertising for their listing
• One more marketing plan tactic for their customer
• Online marketing to a local audience
• Online marketing to those looking to move to Buffalo
• Branding/exposure of their name
• A link back to their site for SEO help

Could it get any sweeter? Feel free to comment and let me know. All that we ask in return is that they link to FindBuffalo from their website. This is also to their benefit as it gives their users/clients access to great local info. Next I will be looking to add a printable listing feature to the display so that a user can print off their favorite listings as well.

Since I rarely post on Real Estate, I thought I would also promote a few in the industry that have blogs I have checked out. I have come across their blogs through MyBlogLog and enjoy them.

Cari McGee - Tri-Cities, WA Real Estate

Monica Foster - Dallas & Forth Worth Real Estate

Kevin Boer - San Francisco Real Estate Blog

Damon Pace - Realtor Marketing

Teresa Boardman - St Paul, MN Real Estate

Teresa also has a great interview on her blogging life, from why she started to what she’s learned, read the interview. If any of you make it here, please check out our new listing feature and comment with your 2 cents or ideas to make it better for users or Realtors. Thanks!

Great websites come in “ones”, not hundreds or thousands. So why do so many small businesses buy a packaged web solution with their content all ready created, some design choices (nasty ones), and “Search Engine Tools”? I would rank their most common reasons as:

1. Price point
2. Turn-key with content & design
3. They don’t know any better

The first reason is easy to understand to a point. Every business and organization should be financially responsible and how great does a $100 set-up fee and $20 a month look compared to thousands of dollars for a custom solution? They think it’s priceless, but really it’s costly. These businesses range from Real Estate/Mortgage to Lawyers to Car Dealerships. They launch their shiny new pre-packaged site and join 50 or 100 or 1,000 other sites, saying the same thing and looking the same way. Instead of saying, “Here is what we do different to earn your business” they scream “At least we have a website that tells you nothing different that a bunch of others.” Search Engines could care else about these sites, they already have indexed thousands of pages with this content. Other sites? Not many see value in linking to you and your stale content. All these pieces result in few leads developed, converting only those that were seeking you out in the first place.

So what should these businesses do?
The first step is realizing the value in doing things correctly, even at small level. Here is what I recommend to those weighing out a fabulous 100 page pre-packaged website vs. a 5 page custom site.

1. A basic, clean and professional design is better than anything. Create, shoot or buy one good image (pro photographer) to build your image around. A simple layout makes it easier for users to both understand your site and use your site.

2. If you have very little creativity, hire a free lancer that does! Using a web savvy copywriter is the best bang for your buck. A good copywriter will interview your staff, find the key components to telling your story, give it some energy and also have some understanding of search engines and keywords. The bonus: Good copy can also be used or tweaked for print materials.

3. Answer the top ten. If your website does not answer the top ten questions you get from a prospective client on the phone or in person, your going to loose out when a potential client is comparing you or trying to get a feel for you. Sounds simple, but most websites fail this test.

So small business owners and decision makers, keep these points in mind and consider my parting point. What equation sounds better to you, little money for no leads or some money for more leads?

I’m not taking $7.50 for this post as I want to write about this on my dime. I came across RockStartUp.com a few months back through one of the CSS gallery sites, maybe Remix. I was in awe. I love web, I love video, I love entrepreneurs and I love watching a business start up and go somewhere. Combine those and give some transparency to an idea taking flight, a web business making it’s way and I’ll watch daily (or check every day for a new episode). So far there are 6 episodes to date, keep ‘em coming. The first one highlighted founder/CEO Ted Murphy getting his VC money and getting things going. Some of the videos are great … the ones that cover more of the business side. The others offer some entertainment but I could skip those, but I can see how others tune in for that alone.

As far as PayPerPost, I don’t know where I stand. PPP should know that after watching RockStar, I went to the site, signed up but was denied as I had just started blogging at the time. I have yet to go back to resubmit now that I qualify. The plusses are a little coin for your efforts and having them put me onto new products or services. The fact that I can choose to post a little or a lot with these paid posts is enough control for me. The cons I guess are letting the money fog or direct your agenda or opinion. I know PPP doesn’t mandate a glowing post, but still … it does for many. You can also get more inner workings on PPP at their blog.

So I would recommend the RockStartUp vids to any web entrepreneur, it’s fun to watch someone making moves. As far as PPP, we all are in search of some currency, whether it’s cash, popularity, compliments, comments or just an avenue to rant. I’ll let you decide what your posts are worth.

The goal of local search is getting more defined as providers of pay per click and search realize that local means “in my neighborhood”. Currently Google or Yahoo can provide PPC ads for specific larger cities or states, but new technnology seems to be emerging that would allow PPC advertisers to specify zip codes and even neighborhoods they want to market to. Imagine waking up on a Sunday morning, typing in “fresh donuts” and getting the results of two bakeries, just 4 blocks away that have yummy donuts at a special price for you. It may just happen.

BusinessWeek.com put out an article on December 26th on Skyhook and how their technology can provide this scenario if the right partnerships fall into place (read article). Skyhook Wireless out of Boston has developed software that employs a computers Wi-fi to pinpoint the users location and then, with the cooperation of the big search engines, relevant ads can be delivered based on their location. This can be another major step in small business internet marketing and one useful tool for consumers.

Reports cite that Skyhook has mapped 100 of largest cities in the U.S. to date with more to come. Skyhook also stated that rollout of the service in some form is scheduled for 6 to 12 months down the line. It will likely take time after a full roll out to reach a community the size of Buffalo, but when it does, it will be great for getting a steal on a dozen donuts.

The business directory on FindBuffalo.com offers a local business the opportunity to have more information displayed on their company and offering. The PLUS listing allows the display of the company logo, up to four (4) photos, contact info, website link, text on services or products, directions and a Mapquest link. The PLUS listing page will also have editable page titles, meta information and unique URL to aid in SEO efforts.

View an example PLUS listing at: findbuffalo.com/foxefyre

In Fox Fyre Gallery’s case, they do not have a website, so the PLUS listing can now be the most informative page about them on the internet. It also allows them to eventually be indexed with keywords/terms related to their services and locale of “custom framing Buffalo, MN” or “picture framing Buffalo, MN“. This benefits the business and FindBuffalo as well for generating traffic. Foxe Fyre also receives a custom URL (as linked) that they can give out over the phone to someone wanting directions or to use on a business card or other print collateral.

My goal is to provide the business with an internet presence or another quality link into their site to improve their own SEO in addition to the lead generation the page on it’s own can have through users searching the directory. I’ll be sure to post more once I have some examples of these PLUS listings generating traffic from search engines.

In doing some searching on Yahoo I came across the Yahoo City Guide for Buffalo. (search buffalo mn on yahoo and this will be your first organic result)

I’m mostly a Google searcher so this is the first time I have noticed this feature, so forgive my ignorance if this has been in play for some time. The page provides a Yahoo Map with an option to see Wi-fi hotspots, but there are none listed. I have you beat Yahoo, here are the Buffalo, MN Wi-Fi hotspots. Below the map are columns that provide user ratings on Buffalo, MN restaurants and other local favorites, very cool. Yahoo user Jud, rated BJ’s Deli a 4 star out of 5 and I agree. BJ and Matt make some great sandwiches and wraps however you want them right in the heart of downtown Buffalo.

Also getting some props is The Mill Creek Inn. The Mill is known for it’s nightly specials and good value. Here is a great example of a business getting buzz or mileage from patrons willing to post about their experience, but Mill Creek has no website to further the experience of a user who read their ratings and then went to search for their website. The next time I’m eating out there I’ll try to leverage the power of a Directory Plus listing on FindBuffalo to give them a bit more exposure online … where people are already speaking up about them.

While I await being indexed I’ve poked into a few search terms and what currently shows as results. When I search Google for: pizza buffalo, mn the first three results from Google Local are:

Local results for pizza near Buffalo, MN 55313
	Domino’s Pizza - 0.9 miles N - 96 14th St NE - (763) 682-3830 Pizza Hut - 1.8 miles N - 1101 Highway 25 N - (763) 682-2592 Buffalo Superamerica Inc - 0.9 miles E - 301 10th Ave S - (763) 682-5541

This is interesting because there are also 3 other pizza places in Buffalo, but they somehow lose out to Super America, a gas station with a pizza shop in it. I’m not sure if the local results are limited to 3 displaying, or how they determine/weight which 3 are displayed, but I would think Bucks Pizza, Pappa Murphy’s or Ageno’s Pizza would be more relevant for searchers. This is a good example of when a company should use a service like LocalMN to bolster their local search presence and results in Google, Yahoo, Ask and others. You’d better believe that the importance of this local search service and how it can convert searchers to customers is extremely important.

The first organic result is a page on Career Builder for Pizza Hut and a management opening in Buffalo. The next 10 results are all yellow page or directory results. I would think Domino’s or Pizza Hut, who both offer online ordering would find a way to tweak their SEO to have a local presence at this level of search. But, they obviously don’t. As soon as I get indexed this will be one of my goals, to get the top ranking for pizza listings in Buffalo and to also sell a PLUS listing to each of them and try to get those pages on page one.