I've been meaning to get to this post for quite some time. Chris Silver Smith put together a great post over at Search Engine Land which discusses how restaurant owners can effectively market their restaurant online through proper use of menus.

It seems like I'm frequently online looking (or trying to look) at restaurant menus, and I'm often times frustrated. Menus are hard to find, and hard to read. Some of the tips from the article include basic things like:

• Link to the menu in an obvious manner from the home page
• Avoid Flash menus - especially since mobile devices often times have problems with Flash
• Display Prices - don't frustrate your site visitors by not giving them an idea of how much dinner is going to cost.

He also recommends having pdf menus - which I think is fine to have as an alternative. I think a lot of visitors are probably browsing with mobile phones, and .pdfs can be a bit of a hindrance for mobile phones if they are the primary method for you to display your menu information.

It seems like the majority of restaurant websites are doing this wrong. I encourage you to check out the original post - which is full of good menu ideas for Denver restaurant owners.

How Does This Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

Denver restaurants are hit as hard as any sector during a down economy, and need to make the most of the available online resources at their disposal.

Be certain to own your listings at local search sites like Google Places, Yelp, CitySearch, Bing and Yahoo. Also, take advantage of websites like Groupon to help in promoting your restaurant and building your brand.

Finally - restaurant owners more than almost all other local businesses really need to be exploring mobile advertising opportunities. It is likely that a disproportionate amount of searches for restaurants occur on mobile devices when compared to other industries.

Good news for Denver small business owners who have a presence on Google Places - and if you're a Denver small business, you need to control your listing at Google Places. Google Places now allows business owners to respond to reviews - both good and bad. For the full story, see the blog post addressing this topic at the Google Lat Long Blog.

Review Websites

I have expressed my opinions about review sites in the past because it is extremely important for Denver small business owners to manage their brand online. Small business owners need to know what is being said about their business, and review sites give them the opportunity to manage their brand.

The problem with review websites is that only a certain amount of the reviews are legitimate - and it isn't always easy to tell which ones. Here are just some of the issues with review websites as I see it:

• Business Owner Provides Fake Reviews - Five star reviews are often the business owner (and friends of the owner) padding their own positive statistics. I have come across this many times in the past.
• Competitors Provide Fake Reviews - One star reviews could be competitors, or someone with an axe to grind. I have a client who clearly was the victim of this tactic by one of their competitors - fortunately he was able to get the review removed.
• Real Reviews are Rare - 2,3,4 star reviews are probably the most likely to be real reviews and be representative of the business - positives and negatives are represented - but these tend to be the most rare review ratings that I come across
• No Official Response Channel - The other main issue is that there hasn't been a vehicle for business owners to respond to the reviews - especially their accusers.

Small Business Owners Get a Voice in Google Places

Fortunately, the last issue I have with review sites is no longer an issue at Google Places. Business owners can now respond directly to reviews. Google provides some guidelines for how to respond to reviewers. The key is to be professional, be nice, and address their needs.

How Does This Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

If you're the owner of a Denver small business, you need to make sure that your business is listed within all of the local business sections of the major search engine providers. You also should get listed in other local business website directories like Yelp.com, and CitySearch.com. This will allow you to help manage your brand online.

Google Places Strategy

More specifically, you need to monitor and be involved with your Google Places listing. If someone posts a review - good or bad - reach out to that reviewer in a professional, non-personal way. Let them know that you appreciate the feedback that they're providing your business and you hope to use that knowledge to improve your processes in the future.

Your response isn't so much for that one reviewer as it is for the 99% of Google Places visitors that won't leave a comment or review - but have arrived at your Google places page interested in learning more about your business products or services. It will let that prospect know that you take a proactive role with customer service and are continuously looking for ways to improve your business.

Want prospects to click on your Denver small business ad? Of course you do. Well a recent report by Chitika shows that Bing users are much more likely to click on ads than Google search engine users. Bing users clicked on ads 1.67% of the time - Google users just 1.09% of the time. This percentage puts Bing users higher than both Yahoo and Google users - although lower than users of AOL and ASK.com search engines - who both have much higher click rates (2.48% and 2.92% respectively).

Why are Bing Users More Likely to Click?

Well, this is just one study - from one ad platform provider. It should be taken with a grain of salt. That said, reasons for the higher clicks could be due to Microsoft's intense focus on users who are looking to make purchases - a theory promoted by the article. It could also be that the Bing organic (free) search results aren't as relevant as Google search results. There is also a theory that the users of other search engines are less sophisticated than Google users and are more likely to click on ads.

How Does This Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

As a Denver small business owner, it is good to be aware of where your marketing dollars are going and how much return you're getting on your ad spend. With Bing search ads getting ready to appear on the Yahoo search engine, it is particularly important to be aware of click trends like this. However, this click data must be put into context.

Assume for a moment that Bing ads are clicked more than Google ads - there are two reasons why this doesn't mean that you should invest your ad budget in Bing first - and Google second. First, Google dominates search. Even if proportionally Bing will bring you more visitors - even with the addition of Yahoo search, ads through Microsoft's adCenter platform will still only reach less than 30% of all searches. Second, clicks are great - you need clicks to have people visit your website so you can promote your products and services. But ultimately, it is all about converting those prospects into clients. You need to look at the ad spend as well as the revenue from each search platform.

My Advice to Denver Small Business Owners

Start with Google AdWords. Get your campaign running efficiently. Get a solid ROI. Then migrate your campaign over to Microsoft adCenter. By starting with Google, you'll learn a lot about your market and your prospects for success quickly. Once you have everything running efficiently, move on to adCenter platform.

I found this post from Search Engine Journal particularly interesting. Thanks to Gab Goldenberg for putting it together and inspiring this blog post.  The title "Is Google AdWords Advertising Itself Honestly?". The post attacks certain Google AdWords claims including that you can get started in minutes.

Become a Champion Boxer in Minutes!

Google's claim that you can get started in minutes is 100% true in my opinion. It is easy enough to set up an ad and web page quickly. I also believe that you could get started as a boxer in minutes. Head down to the gym, put on some gloves and give your local Golden Gloves champ a lesson. Getting started actually wasn't so hard, was it?

Unfortunately, in both cases, the outcome is the same. You will leave the arena - real or virtual - bloodied and discouraged. Just because you can get started with something in minutes doesn't make it a good idea to go ahead and jump into it.

The claim about getting started in minutes is probably made to draw contrast to other forms of advertising - like yellow pages, direct mail and tv. There is a long lead time getting media ready and working through the distribution channels for these alternate forms of advertising. With Google, you can in fact have your ads running in literally minutes.

AdWords is a Mature Advertising Platform - Be Prepared

The fact is that Google AdWords is a very mature advertising platform. Many - if not most of the advertisers that you're likely to go up against have been advertising on AdWords for quite some time - more than just a few minutes. You need to spend time and do your research up front or else you will lose a lot of money very quickly. You must have the following in place get your return on investment - (the article mentions many of these):

• Keyword Research
• Lead Capture Mechanisms
• Analytics Tracking
• Conversion Tracking
• Tight Ad Groups
• Effective Matching - especially negatives
• Compelling Ad Copy
• Ad Copy Testing Mechanisms

The most entertaining - and enlightening - part of the article was this quote:

AdWords: The Most Cost Effective Advertising Available

Google AdWords is at the core of the marketing services that I provide my clients. It is highly effective and provides a great ROI for my Denver small business clients. That said, it isn't necessarily an instant or easy implementation. It usually takes significant time to get a new online ad campaign and associated landing pages off of the ground - probably a week or two in most cases to do it right. AdWords is complex enough that hiring an expert is advisable to make it effective for your Denver small business.

How Does This Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

I highly recommend that every Denver small business owner investigate - and most likely use - Google AdWords to bring clients to their Denver business. AdWords is a mature advertising platform full of competitors who know exactly what they're doing. You can burn through a lot of money quickly if you aren't careful. Many advertisers become discouraged and abandon the platform before realizing the positive impact that AdWords can have on their business. It isn't easy, but you must know what you're doing to get achieve a positive ROI.

AdWords Resources for Beginners

I was recently contacted by a local startup who was interested in online marketing but didn't have the budget to get started with my services. I told her that AdWords was by far the quickest way to learn about demand for services and get new clients.

For Denver small business owners, outsourcing the majority of your online marketing activities - including AdWords is a wise choice. It will let you focus on your core business. For small business owners working on a low budget, here are some resources that can help you get started with Google AdWords.

• Google AdWords Beginner's Guide - Google's own online guide
• Google AdWords for Dummies - by Howie Jacobson. I'm not generally a big fan of the Dummies books, but this provides a great overview
• Advanced Google AdWords - by Brad Geddes. The best book out there for AdWords, but probably a bit too hardcore for pure beginners.
• PPC Blog - the PPC Blog is about pay-per-click advertising
• Search Engine Journal's PPC Section

I recently came across an article in the August Edition of Website Magazine about something I've been meaning to investigate for quite some time, but haven't yet researched in depth until now. Foursquare is a mobile application that allows people to "check in" at local businesses and other locations. When a user checks in, they can see if their other Foursquare friends are around, and they can also earn points, badges, and other rewards from Foursquare. Someone can even become "Mayor" of an establishment if they visit the location enough.

So, I went on the Foursquare website and searched in my area (Lone Tree) to see just how popular Foursquare was for local businesses. The answer was... not all that popular. Not a huge surprise, since Lone Tree isn't all that large, and the demographics skew a bit older than I would picture for a fanatical Foursquare user.

Searching for Denver businesses, yielded quite a different story. Below is a screenshot of the Foursquare page for Breckenridge Brewery. You can see that they have a total of 240 people who have checked in the last 60 days - a total of 319 times. Users that arrive at the location can check in and see if they have friends who are present at the Brewery. They can also leave tips for other visitors to Breckenridge Brewery.

Note that many (if not most) users of Foursquare will publish their Foursquare updates through Facebook - so this provides an even larger potential audience exposure for local business owners. As a local business owner, you'll want to be as accommodating as possible to these Foursquare visitors.

How Does This Help Me Market My Denver Small Business?

Well, to start off with, exploring marketing through Foursquare may or may not make sense for your business. I would recommend that retail businesses and restaurants that receive a high amount of traffic - especially traffic that caters to a younger demographic (under 30) - explore Foursquare as a marketing tool for the Denver business.

Claim Your Business Listing on Foursquare
Most businesses that I viewed in Denver may have had a lot of visits, but they didn't actually claim their listings. I would advise all businesses to claim their listings - whether or not they plan to actively market on Foursquare. You can claim your Foursquare business listing here.

Here's why you should claim your business listing (from the Foursquare website)

"you can use foursquare to engage your increasingly mobile customers with foursquare "Specials," which are discounts and prizes you can offer your loyal customers when they check in on foursquare at your venue ... you will be able to track how your venue is performing over time thanks to our robust set of venue analytics"

Foursquare offers a variety of specials to take advantage of - Mayor specials, check-in specials, Frequency based specials based on visits and wildcard specials. Combined with the analytics and the fact that you should always be aware of what is being said about your business on the Internet, you'll want to claim your listing. You'll also want to periodically check your listing as well as tips that visitors are leaving about your business.

Is Foursquare a Great Marketing Opportunity for My Business?

If you have a younger demographic, a retail presence, and a decent amount of traffic coming into your business, you should definitely explore Foursquare. The businesses that have hundreds of checkins and haven't claimed their listings are missing out on an incredible opportunity to market to their patrons and let them know that they "get it" (Foursquare) and that they appreciate their business. Most Foursquare users are likely heavily engaged in social networks and their opinions and experiences reach a large amount of potential customers.