Local Biz Blogs Official Blog

This week we rolled out a new feature that allows you to measure the performance of your BizBlog and gives you insight as to how people have been finding your business. BizBlog Stats shows you the number of visitors that have come to your BizBlog and which search terms they used to find you. BizBlog Stats is being sent to you as a weekly summary and will eventually make its way to your Dashboard.

Let's take a look at Shannon's statistics for last week. Shannon is a Certified Nutritionist in San Francisco who offers individualized nutrition consultation programs. She has received several leads since she began blogging in December, and she has also accumulated significant page rank on popular search engines.

This week Shannon had 51 unique visitors (number of individuals) with a total of 128 page views (includes multiple visits by same visitor). 8 visitors found her BizBlog through search engines using 6 keywords or key phrases. 6 visitors came from Google.com and 2 from Live.com.

As you can see, Shannon's BizBlog is establishing high page rank for keywords that directly relate to her business. This kind of data exemplifies exactly what LocalBizBlogs strives for - driving valuable traffic to your BizBlog by way of relevant keywords.

Now keep in mind that Shannon's success is the result of many blog posts. The content she adds to her BizBlog has an impact on how search engines guide people to her business. BizBlog Stats makes this traffic data available, giving you feedback that can be acted upon.

Armed with this information, Shannon is able to target specific topics and measure the results of her efforts. For instance, if she hears that Martha Stewart had a segment about cooking with Stevia, a plant-based all natural sweetener. Shannon could reach out to potential clients by blogging about Stevia and posting related content like a YouTube video of the Martha Stewart episode. Her BizBlog Stats would provide a basis from which Shannon could rate performance and refine her strategy.

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Search Terms: How People Find Your BizBlog

Dear Pixar,

Remember a couple weeks ago when all those cars pulled up to your front gates (eight cars alone between the hours of nine and ten-thirty) and kept asking about some cafe your security guard had never heard of? A cafe with free Wi-Fi and legendary cafe lattes?

Sorry about that.

We created a demo-Biz Blog for a fictitious local coffeeshop called Espresso Cafe. One of our founders used to work in Emeryville and thought he had picked a fake address. Turns out, he was wrong. That was your address, Pixar.

Again, sorry about that.

We want to thank you, however, for emailing us about all the commotion our little demo-biz had caused. Who knew a single Biz Blog could generate that much in-the-door traffic? Again, eight cars. In an hour and a half.

Our sincerest apologies, Pixar. We've changed the address of Espresso Cafe (a totally fictitious business that is for demo purposes only). We promise it won't happen again.

Oh, and we're totally going to go see WALL-E. It looks awesome.

Sincerely,

The Team at LocalBizBlogs

Taking your own photographs for your blog. Sure, it's one way to add a personalized touch to your BizBlog without infringing on copyright laws, but don't you ever wish you could skip the battery-charging, cord-finding, good light-lacking tedium of DIY amateur photography? One of our top bloggers, a Certified Nutritionist named Shannon Schafer in San Francisco, was telling me that the one thing that slows down her blogging is the time and energy it requires to take photos and import them to her computer. This is where free stock photos can save you time!

There are dozens of sites offering free stock photos in hundreds (if not thousands) of categories. Looking for a great shot of a beautiful sunset? Or an image of a fresh fruit? Dreamstime's the place to go. You'll be offered pages upon pages of amateur and professional photography related to your search terms.

A word to the wise: some of these sites claim their photography is "free", but will make you jump through some annoying hoops in order to find the 100% free photos. After test driving a few of 'em, I found Dreamstime to be the most hassle-free. You will need to register as a member at all of these sites, but it's worth it! You'll have access to tons of unique photos that you can add to your BizBlog at a moment's notice, such as the one below.

A few other well-known free stock photo sites include stock.xchg, photogen, and Free Stock Photos. And, hey, if you can swing it, you might as well splurge on a couple paid images. Check out iStockPhoto. They're inexpensive and have a big selection to choose from.

Starbucks' invasion of every street corner spells disaster for local coffeehouses, right?

That's what one might think. Actually it has the reverse effect, according to Slate's article Don't Fear Starbucks.

The coffee giant's aggressive propagation means big business for local shops. Each new Starbucks draws more coffee drinkers. When lines get too long and their limited menu doesn't satisfy, people turn to the independent coffee shop next door. Often less expensive, mom and pop coffeehouses can compete by offering unique drinks and personalized service.

Check out these surprising numbers:

Here's a statistic that might be surprising, given the omnipresence of the Starbucks empire: According to recent figures from the Specialty Coffee Association of America, 57 percent of the nation's coffeehouses are still mom and pops. Just over the five-year period from 2000 to 2005—long after Starbucks supposedly obliterated indie cafes—the number of mom and pops grew 40 percent, from 9,800 to nearly 14,000 coffeehouses. (Starbucks, I might add, tripled in size over that same time period. Good times all around.) So much for the sharp decline in locally owned coffee shops. And prepare yourself for some bona fide solid investment advice: The failure rate for new coffeehouses is a mere 10 percent, according to the market research firm Mintel, which means the vast majority of cafes stay afloat no matter where Starbucks drops its stores. Compare that to the restaurant business, where failure is the norm.

It is refreshing to hear how local businesses can thrive when competing with big national chains.

Today we're launching two new features: Media Manager and Autosave. Yes, that's right... Now you'll be able to store and add photos to your BizBlog. And your posts won't skip a beat!

Media Manager - Browse uploaded photos and insert them directly into blog posts with the Media Manager. Choose from two different sizes: medium (fits blog width) and thumbnail. This feature replaces the need for Photobucket, however Photobucket is still the recommended way to create slideshows for your blog.

Autosave - Now your blog automatically saves as you write. Posts are saved every 60 seconds. You have the option to Recover Changes in case of a crash.

Keep in mind that the Media Manager and photo storage/hosting will become paid services when we launch BizBlog version 1.0 in the near future.

Let us know how the new features are working. Post your feedback in the forum.

Wishing you a healthy and prosperous 2008!

-The LocalBizBlogs Team