Ever searched for "<business type> near me" or "...closest"? Google Trends  shows that those searches have double in the last 2 years. These searches aren't pitting your business against those in the next state or even the next city. They are ranking you against your competitors in the SAME town. If you search for "restaurant near me" and you're sitting in Central Auckland you'll get vastly different local results than if you were on the North Shore. Citrus heights will be different to Folsom, and Peoria will be different to Goodyear. So it's vitally important that you local listing information is up to date and relevant.

Reason 1

Their business listings are accurate and optimized. Because we're talking, mainly, about Google, we're, therefore talking about Google Business Listings. Are these up to date? Make sure all your contact details are correct. Add  photos and videos. Don't forget to add all your name variations. You need to do here, everything you can to make your business visible.

Reason 2

They have been proactive in obtaining more, more relevant, and more current reviews. Online reviews are a top ranking element in Google's ranking algorithm. That's why we began offering a great little

 We're all told to be vigilant about internet scams, and to safeguard our online profiles. But, in trying to do this, have we unwittingly exposed ourselves more than we already were? A few years ago, probably through a post on a forum somewhere (I don't remember), I heard about a site called "Have I been Pwned?" From memory, the author of the post touted this as a great way to go and check if your email had been hacked. At the time, there had been a spate of email hack attacks so I went and did a check. Phew! I hadn't been hacked. Now that this latest scam has come around, I have to wonder whether that was a good idea. I mean, really, I had no clue if that site was legit or not. Did I stupidly give hackers a working email address? I haven't linked to the site for a good reason... read on McDuff!

The latest scam is an email giving a password that the author claims to be yours. Interestingly, in one of the 2 emails I've gotten, the password quoted was quite like a password I used about 5-6 years ago (but don't anymore). Initially

When we began CitrusKiwi 9 years ago, no merchant processor would touch us. No surprise really. Brand new company, owner brand new to the USA, no credit history. We had a lot going against us. So we went with PayPal. And, for 9 years, they have provided reasonably good service. Yes, they're expensive; yes, their reporting is a joke; yes, their search and filtering is an even bigger joke. But at least they gave us an account and they've improved from when we first signed up. But, finally, it was time to move on.

So, we signed up with Total Merchant Services. Setup was slow - well over a month to get the account in place and connected with Authorize.net. On top of that, we were never sent any documentation regarding our account - didn't know how to log in even! So, we processed a few transactions, and, despite the initial issues, business seemed to be working. Until last week....

I had a couple of clients say they were having issues setting up their payments. Then I began to get declined emails - Error code 38 - "The Global Payment System identification numbers are incorrect. Call Merchant Service Provider." 

One thing is for sure, video is IT! As the Boomers and the Gen Xers become much less of a driving force in the buying market, those in the know see a new trend in how the up-and-coming purchasers - the Millennials - are consuming online content. Those of us who have been in website design for a while used to design shorter pages, minimizing scrolling. We used images sliders, and (I shudder to even remember) flashing banners and Flash presentations. 

However, Millennials consume differently. They don't care about scrolling (and almost all do it on phones), and they LOVE video, and it doesn't have to be a Spielberg epic production. Take some time to browse through YouTube and look at the content being uploaded. Or scroll (yes, scroll long!!) through Facebook and look at the plethora of "selfie" type videos. THIS is how Millennials are consuming content.

So, to answer the question in the title, "YES!" phone videos are OK to use on your website or blog. Millennials like the spontaneity of the "selfie" type videos, how they capture the moment. But there is a caveat here. While Millennials (and, for that matter, most everyone else) will accept that phone videos generally

Today, May 25 2018, marks the introduction of a new law in the EU regarding privacy of data. For most of my clients (primarily based in the USA and some in New Zealand and Canada), the EU seems an awfully long way away. At best, if you're in New York, it's a little over 7 hours flight time to London. Or, if you remember that Britain is, technically, not part of the EU anymore, it's about 7.5 hours from New York to Paris. Unfortunately, in internet time, it's a few seconds at most. And that's where, if you're not ready today, you could be leaving yourself wide open for legal action through your website's behavior.

The EU is tightening up on how and when companies collect, then store, then use private information. We agree that data protection is an extremely important topic, one which most companies fail to take anywhere near enough care over. Just Google data breach 2018 to see the woefully long list of high profile companies who have been hacked. However, we believe the EU has really over-stretched itself with this one. And the reason we believe, or at least part of the reason, is their previous data

• Windows/popups that open at stupidly small sizes. They're just never big enough, right? I am constantly resizing them, only to have to do it again the next time they appear. I found a little program called AutoSizer that allows you to specify not only a size, but a location as well (I now generally use "Center:). 
  
• Add to My Places Bar. Ever wish you could add different, custom locations to the side of dialog boxes (like "Open" or "Save")? Now it's easy with PlacesBar Editor!  Download, install, and run (you

If you're like me, you'll have heard that around 90% of all buying decisions start with an online search. And about 60% of those searches are done on mobile devices. A recent survey of 1000 people has revealed some very interesting shopping facts.

1. In store shopping is still popular though decreasing over most age ranges. The surprising trend is an increase in instore shopping among the 25-34 age range. Also, families with an annual income of less than $75,000 show an increase in instore shopping.

2. Desktops and laptops still remain popular methods of buying online, however laptops trump desktops. Interestingly, only smartphone ownership and use for shopping online is higher than similar numbers for laptops among 18-34 YOs.

3. Just over 1/3 of wearbles users say they shop with these devices! These devices are most owned by the 25-34 age rang, with 35-44 next.

4. Frequency of shopping decreased across the age range, except for for the 25-34 age range which showed a significant increase.