Blogs, Press and Praise

Google Business Profile Policies Have Changed

nick@kineticcurve.com (Nick Gartside) — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 21:57:18 GMT

Google has stated that any content added to your Business Profile must accurately represent your location’s business.

If below you read something in italics, then that is directly from Google. For the rest of this, everything here is from Google. We / I am not taking credit for anything, just making it easier to read because when Google publishes something like this it is not always easy to read.

Let’s get started!

Google has stated that any content added to your Business Profile must accurately represent your location’s business. If you want a Google Business Profile, Google issues your profile a violation or you need help getting yours verified. Reach out to Social Media Torch as we are experts in speaking with and decoding what Google wants, so your business profile gets approved.

Where Is The Complete Google Business Profile Policies & Guidelines?

In this outline, I will share the updated policies and explain the most common issues that businesses may be experiencing. If you need a complete list of the policies and guidelines click => View a complete list of Google Business Profile policies & guidelines .

Prohibited And Restricted Content

All of your content that is added to your Business Profile must abide by Google’s prohibited and restricted content policies (such as harassment, misrepresentation, violence, solicitation, etc.). Google’s policies apply to all of your content formats, including but not limited to Reviews, Photos, and Videos. If your profiles and content that do not meet Google’s criteria may be rejected. If for some reason your content does not abide by these rules, you may receive different levels of restrictions.

Account Level Restrictions

Your Business can lose or have their access restricted to their Google Business Profile for these reasons and more. Remember all of your content must abide by Google’s policies.

Your Google Account Not In Good Standing

If for any reason, your balance on your Google Account is not positive and kept current. Meaning it is not disabled , suspended , or deleted ), you may lose your access to your Google Business Profile that is associated with that account.

Your Account Is Restricted From Business Profile Activity

If your business displays a pattern of violating Google Business Profile policies, access to your Business Profile is or will most likely be restricted.

If your business’s account is restricted, all Business Profiles associated with that account will be suspended. Be careful about who you allow on your Google Business Profile.

When was the last time you reviewed who has access to yours?

If you ignore Google’s restrictions and still attempt to post content, it will be rejected and Google is tracking everything so all you are doing is making life more difficult in the future when you attempt to make this right.

Your account must be reinstated before all previously removed content can be published or new content added to the profile.

Profile Suspension Due To Other Google Product Account Restriction

If you create a Google Business Profile and it is associated with another Google product like Google Ads, YouTube or other Google Subscription and has been restricted, your Google Business Profile may result in suspension.

All Google accounts must be reinstated and in good standing before all previously removed content can be published or new content added to the profile.

Eligibility For A Google Business Profile

Google is choosing to simplify their restrictions and qualifications for Business Profiles, and I love the transparency. This also makes it easier to speak to their customer service team because everyone is on the same page.

Ineligible Businesses

For your business to qualify to receive a Google Business Profile, your business MUST make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours of operation.

For example, the following businesses are not eligible for a Business Profile:

· An ongoing service, class, or meeting at a location that you don't own or have the authority to represent.

· Lead generation agents or companies.

· Brands, organizations, artists, and other online-only businesses.

· Rental or for-sale properties such as vacation homes, model homes, or vacant apartments.

For those of you who want to read more, click here: Business eligibility & ownership .

Business Does Not Exist

Yes, People Try To Trick Google

Google’s goal is to provide all of us with a great customer experience and to do this Google must keep their data as accurate as possible. Google uses information from different sources such as user reports and licensed content which means if Google determines that your business doesn't exist in the location you claim, Google will disable your profile.

P.O. Box Address

You May Get In Trouble For Trying To Do This

If your business only has a P.O. Box address, you are not permitted to own a Google Business Profile. If your business is using a P.O. Box and does not have an actual location, your profile may get suspended.

Ownership – Do you own your digital assets?

If you have a business with a Google Business Profile, are you the manager, owner or primary owner? Because if you are the Manager, then you don’t own your Google Business Profile, someone else does.

Unauthorized Profile Access

If Google finds that someone has access to your Google Business Profile that should not have access Google may penalize your Google Business listing till you remove that “someone” from the account.

Inactive Owner

If you don’t check on your Google Business Profile and are labeled inactive for long periods of time you may have your access revoked and content removed after adequate warnings.

Posting Restrictions

If you post content that is consistently unhelpful, harmful, off-topic or generally violates Google’s Policies, your profile may be limited or suspended from posting user-generated content to your profile. One example would be if a profile receives a series of poor reviews not related to the business itself. Learn more about posting restrictions .

Reasons Submitted Content May Be Rejected

Content added to a Business Profile may be rejected for several reasons.

Deleted, Disabled, And Suspended Profiles

Profiles may have their content and appeals may be automatically rejected and removed by Google. The profile must be reinstated before content, appeals, and reviews can be published.

Verification Required

Google wants to be sure your business is being created to their standards so they may ask you to first verify your business before allowing your profile to populate across Google.

For more guidance on getting verified, follow these steps .

Content That Fails To Publish

Sometimes your submitted content may not be published for non-policy reasons like: You already published this content.

You may not add content you already published. Remember it may take time for published content to make it back to your device. Be sure to give Google some time. Depending on your location and internet speed - the father out you are, the slower your internet is… give Google some more time.

Submission Error

If you receive an error in your submission process, double check that your account is in good standing or you can always reach out to the Google Business Profile support team .

For any of you who want to know everything about Google Business Profile’s policies and guidelines you can view All Business Profile policies & guidelines here.

Branding And Website Foundations That Many Believe Are Unnecessary

nick@kineticcurve.com (Nick Gartside) — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 17:48:45 GMT

Branding And Website Foundations That Many Believe Are Unnecessary

When we talk about the foundations, we're talking about the bottom of the funnel. The network that supports the rest of your marketing ecosystem. In this blog we are going to break down some of the foundational pieces you need built and connected so you can succeed online. If after reading this blog you know that you need this done for you, just call us or book Nick into your calendar . As a business owner or operator you need to make data-based decisions instead of emotional decisions or guesses. We can help you do that!

Schedule A Consultation !

The first place that we're going to start is having a website with a domain you own (not owned by someone else) and having an email branded to the domain. What does that look like?

First, when you purchase your domain, it is always best to create your own account through a website domain brokers such as GoDaddy , domains.google or namecheap.com , to name a few. If you allow an agency or another person to purchase your domain for you without creating an account, it means that you do not actually own it, they do. This could cause complications later on if you ever decide to part ways. Protect your company.

Once you have your domain purchased through your own account, make sure you are utilizing a domain branded email which can be configured through Microsoft Office, Gmail, or your favorite email provider.

Examples:

Domain Branded: nick@socialmediatorch.com Not Branded: socialmediatorchllc@gmail.com

Why is this necessary? Simple. Because anyone can create a Gmail or Yahoo account, anyone could be on the other side of that. Having a domain branded email implies that you’ve invested into this company and are a professional account. While this is a simple explanation, not many people think of it from that perspective. Do you trust every Gmail email that comes to your account? We hope not.

If I Only Had...Branding!

While many believe that branding is mostly dealing with their logo, colors, fonts, and tag line, there is a huge misconception that is missed. Branding is the things mentioned before but it is also the idea of communicating to your audience a few key pieces of information. If you are a large corporation like Frito Lays or Starbucks , the strategy is a little different. For most small or mid-size businesses, people are still learning about you and becoming aware of what you are all about.

When people land on your website, within 3 seconds they need to know…

Who you are AND what you do OR what solution you bring OR what problem you solve

FOR

A business niche or geographic area

The branding then needs to move into your social media platforms you want to grow. Your information, banner, profile image, etc. should all be branded to help explain the story of who you are, what you do, and who or where you provide this good or service for.

Another aspect when building your social media profiles includes also the “vanity” URLS that go with your brand.

Examples:

Branded Vanity URL: https://www.facebook.com/SocialMediaTorch

Not Branded Vanity URL: https://www.facebook.com/Torch-Wireless-SurgePhone-110091331703984

You need to own the domain or vanity URLs of the different platforms you will focus on for the top of the funnel marketing – learn more about the different layers of funnels .

If you are not going to be focusing on a specific platform, then there is no need to spend your time gaining the vanity URL (unless you have it written down in your business/marketing plan to open up that one in the near future). Remember, that your perfect prospect may or may not be on every platform. If you grab a vanity URL on a platform and then do nothing with it, that may hurt your brand over helping it.

Ding Dong the Analytics are KEY

Now that your website and social media are branded let's talk about analytics. Analytics is how you know what is going on with your marketing by tracking data within website and on your social media.

If you do not have this connected correctly then you cannot make database decisions. Some website builders like Godaddy , Wix , and Squarespace claim to have built-in analytics. While those can be good, it is limited and does not have the tracking power to know whether the traffic is coming through your social media platform, paid promotions, organic post, backlinks, or referral partners.

As a business owner, you should understand where your traffic is coming from. Why would you continue to spend money on an ad or billboard that is generating zero traffic? In order for you to see that data, you have to have the right tools created AND connected properly.

Not sure if you have the right tools? Click and open up analytics.google.com .

If you have an account already created and attached to your email, it will pull you right into your account. See below ��

Click log in if it prompts you to create an account like below ��…You don't have Google Analytics and one needs to be created.

Another way is to download a chrome extension - Tag Assistant Legacy (by Google) is a very fast way of checking for Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google Conversion Tracker, Google Remarketing Tag, and Google Ads Conversion Tracker.

You can test this on my site at www.socialmediatorch.com

In the next blog we are going to talk about Social Media Pixels

Social Media Torch: A Marketing Agency Solving All Your Content Marketing Needs

nick@kineticcurve.com (Nick Gartside) — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 18:36:14 GMT

Social Media Torch Content Marketing Firestorm

On June 1 ^st 2022, new clients can now sign up for Social Media Torch’s Content Marketing Firestorm !

The Content Marketing Firestorm creates content for the three sections of the marketing funnel so our clients succeed online.

1. Social Media & PPC – Content that attracts the prospects to your brand at the top of the funnel for cold leads .

2. Email & Remarketing – Content that reminds and brings prospects to the middle of the funnel for warm leads .

3. Blog & SEO – Content so your website ranks and guides prospects to the bottom of the funnel for hot leads .

Cold Leads: Social Media and PPC

Social Media Content attracts the prospects to your brand at the top of the funnel. Nick likes to say this is social speaking because when you post you are talking to get the right person’s attention to your brand. Therefore, you need to be saying the right words to attract them and start a conversation with you.

Another way is with targeted messaging from a search engine or social media PPC campaign and of course to utilize these tools correctly you must have the right content to put into these tools.

Warm Leads: Email and Remarketing

This is content that reminds and brings prospects to the middle of the funnel.

The middle of the funnel is the most forgotten step by most companies because they are too focused on the top and bottom of the funnel. Even we were guilty of this when we first started and why when we created the Content Marketing Firestorm made it a priority to include this. Nick has consulted with multiple companies and around 75% of the time this is where people forget to create assets.

Within the Content Marketing Firestorm, we focus on Email Marketing and Remarketing. The email is comprised of portions from the Blog so there is consistency when people read the email and click on the links bringing them back to the website for more content. One of the biggest success stories outside of Social Media Torch who utilizes this strategy is Neil Patel .

If your digital foundation has been setup correctly then you have Google and Social Media remarketing pixels and tracking. Now we use the content here to bring people back that have already been to the website and have shown interest in the services or products.

Hot Leads: Blog and SEO

Blog Writing or Copywriting is the bottom of the funnel, the foundation upon which the other parts of the funnel sit upon and where the content is at it’s core the most needed. When Social Media Torch writes blogs, it is specifically with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in mind. Take a look at this blog and you will see specific keywords, internal links, external links and more that have gone into the SEO strategy for this content.

The Content Marketing Firestorm will also optimize your website by having the image’s names, alt text and other pieces of SEO ready so the search engines use your content when your prospects search for images related to the products and services you provide.

When we make content for you it is so your website ranks and guides prospects to the bottom of the funnel. Creating “KLT” Know Like Trust while explaining the solution you bring to the problem you solve.

Turn-Key Solution: Content Marketing Firestorm

If you are looking for a team to create content for each stage of the marketing funnel, let’s get connected. If you are wondering if this works, notice that you are on our website and are considering clicking our Call To Action?

If we can do this for ourselves and other companies, let’s talk to see if we can do this for you. We are only wanting to bring on 7 new clients and we want to be sure we bring our clients value for the $1,000 per firestorm we are creating for them.

Click to schedule 30 minutes with me – Nick – and let’s see if we are the right fit for your needs. To see examples of our work, click on the different linked examples below.

Example 1 - Health Care Industry

Example 2 - Podcast Industry

Social Media Torch has been recognized as one of the Top Digital Marketing Agencies in Texas by DESIGNRUSH

nick@kineticcurve.com (Nick Gartside) — Thu, 12 May 2022 18:33:38 GMT

Top Digital Marketing Agencies In Texas by DESIGNRUSH

Social Media Torch - Top Digital Marketing Agency in Prosper, TX

After years of hard work, learning, adapting and streamlining Social Media Torch has been recognized as one of the Top Digital Marketing Agencies In Texas by DESIGNRUSH. DESIGNRUSH works with verified agencies and trusted by top brands like Toyota , Sony , P&G , Wix , Microsoft , McDonalds , and Doforms . Unlike Fiverr or Upwork , majority of the clients that use DESIGNRUSH for their projects start at around $50,000 and scale to $300,000+. One can submit your project (CLICK HERE) and receive up to 5 handpicked proposals from them for FREE.

Branding and Creative

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Website and Apps

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Submit Your Business

If your business fits into one of their categories, you can LINK and submit your information to apply to have your company featured on DESIGNRUSH (CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR AGENCY)

Thank You

We are honored Social Media Torch has been recognized as one of the Top Digital Marketing Agencies In Texas by DESIGNRUSH and look forward to receiving more awards for our hard work.

Google's Current Fight

nick@kineticcurve.com (Nick Gartside) — Wed, 09 Feb 2022 14:43:03 GMT

Legislation Google is Fighting

Google's Lobbyist are working overtime right now.

Below are are three legal changes that will affect Google and their users.

1. There is legislation what would basically kill the “cookie." California has already passed some legislation like this, but the new bill will make it almost impossible to target prospects and retarget visitors.

2. Google is fighting legislation saying that Google cannot share their data with outside companies from users who use Google products and services.

3. Google is also fighting an anti-trust suit where government is asking that Google break up its monopoly. Remember back in 1984 when the government made AT&T breakup all their businesses into small subsidiaries and sell them off? Same thing.

Nick's take on this.

The government believes Google has been running free and unregulated because U.S. laws are so far behind technology. Now the government is trying to bring META (Facebook), Google, Amazon, Bing, and other large digital companies under its legislation.

Personally, Google may be stretching the truth a little and you may receive this email because it is in Google’s best interest to stay outside of regulation. No company wants the government coming into their business and start telling them what they can and cannot do.

Behind closed doors they will go into negotiation. Because at the end of the day, no one has more power and resources than the United States Government... so these companies will have to compromise somewhere.

What are your thoughts on this? Should META (Facebook), Google, Amazon, Bing, and other large digital companies be brought under the government's regulation?

Share your thoughts...