Alpha Dog Agency | Blog

Alpha Dog Agency South Bend Mishwaka Agencies

Search

The Importance Of Local SEO

Jun 12, 2019

The Importance Of Local SEO

Above all else, you want to drive traffic. Whether it's to your website, social media, CTA's or anything else - that's the ultimate goal. If you drive traffic, you have a chance to convert, which leads to income. Local SEO is the most important part of your strategy to drive traffic, it's kind of all encompassing. Your website plays a major role. Social media plays a major role. Reviews play a major role. Backlinks. Copy. All of it. But it all ties into your Local SEO strateg

Moving Season Is Here & We Have Your Solution

Apr 4, 2019

Moving Season Is Here & We Have Your Solution

Moving season has started and it'll run through the entire summer. Move Eaze is a South Bend moving company and their movers ready for it. We get it, moving is stressful. We don't like to do it either. But one of our clients, Move Eaze, go above and beyond to make sure the entire process is stress-free. We started working with Move Eaze and few months ago and even though we handle reputation management and reviews for the majority of our clients, the feedback we've received f

Google Traffic Update: Alpha Dog Clients

Mar 14, 2019

Google Traffic Update: Alpha Dog Clients

Google traffic is the best traffic. Users are already looking for a service like the one you offer. The goal is to be a Research Ender. Once they land on your listing, channel or website - their research is over and they are ready to move forward. If you are looking for an advertising agency or marketing firm in the South Bend, Mishawaka or surrounding areas, be sure that they have a firm plan in place for your Google presence, like we at the Alpha Dog Agency do. We run GMB (

Why We Focus On Small Business

Feb 26, 2019

Why We Focus On Small Business

I get asked the question a lot. Why don't you go after big accounts? That's where the money is. Alpha Dog has had the same mission since Day 1, we want to help business owners that run small to medium sized businesses succeed with their digital marketing. We hear the same problem all the time. "I run a small business. I'm already working 60+ hours a week. Even if I could somehow carve out the time to learn about building a website, social media marketing and SEO - I would nev

New Site Launch: Downtown South Bend

Jan 30, 2019

New Site Launch: Downtown South Bend

Our team at Alpha Dog Agency was thrilled to get the opportunity to build a new website for Downtown South Bend. It officially launched last week, we'll cover a few of the highlights below. 1. Added Navigation It's easier than ever to find exactly what you're looking for. You can use the Explore Downtown tab to narrow your search to certain verticals, all present in handy maps that allow you to zoom in, zoom out, get directions or visit their website. You're also only a click

A Few Takeaways From The Local Search Survey

Dec 6, 2018

A Few Takeaways From The Local Search Survey

Each year, there are going to be in new trends in local search relating to how your customers (or potential customers) are finding you. And each year, Moz does a great job at breaking down those trends and presenting them in a manner that's easy to digest. This year, Darren Shaw handled their 2018 Local Search Ranking Factors Survey and there are some golden nuggets in there. We're going to highlight a few of the factors that really stood out to us. But it wouldn't hurt to re

What Does The Local Customer Want?

Nov 12, 2018

What Does The Local Customer Want?

We wanted to get a quick blog post up after reading What The Local Customer Service Ecosystem Looks Like In 2019 by Miriam Ellis. It's a fantastic read if you have the time. We're going to highlight the central theme of the post - What Local Customers Want To Know. We'll highlight what we think are five of the most important questions they are asking. 1. Where Is A Business Located? This is obviously the most important question, if you in fact have a physical location. You ne

Using Google Posts To Drive Traffic

Sep 12, 2018

Using Google Posts To Drive Traffic

We've mentioned Google Posts a few times in past blogs but haven't really dove into them in detail. Google Posts is a feature that Google added to the GMB platform a little over a year ago. Basically, it's an opportunity to attach a quick post to your Google listing for when it populates in search results. You are able to access Posts directly from the Google My Business (GMB) dashboard. Below is what you'll see when you are working on your post. You can post anything from ne

Reminder: Google Will Never Call You

Aug 21, 2018

Reminder: Google Will Never Call You

Well, almost never. They certainly won't call you to threaten you about removing your Google listing. Which are the exact calls that business owners everywhere are getting bombarded with. If you are running an AdWords Campaign, they may call you to help optimize that campaign. And if they are legit, they will be able to email you from an @google.com email address. If they balk at that, hang up. And an even better rule, just hang up anyway. It's a scammer virtually every singl

Here Are The Latest Consumer Review Numbers

Aug 1, 2018

Here Are The Latest Consumer Review Numbers

Every year, BrightLocal puts together their Local Consumer Review Survey. The most recent survey came out a bit ago but we have never touched on it here. That's what we are going to do today. We'll highlight a few of the most notable figures and add some commentary on what it means for you. You can read their entire survey conducted by BrightLocal at this link. 97% Of Consumers Looked Online For Local Business, 12% Looked Every Day Obviously, a massive number. The more intere

Google My Business Q&A 101

Jun 5, 2018

Google My Business Q&A 101

You may not have noticed but GMB Q&A has been gaining popularity since being released. Sherry Bonelli goes into detail over at MarketingLand but I'll recap what local business owners should know and begin to act on immediately. Google My Business Q&A is a crowd sourced feature that allows your customers (or potential customers) to post questions directly to your GMB listing. The business can then answer the question directly from the panel. But don't be surprised if a Local G

Mimmo's Pizza Celebrates Ribbon Cutting

Mar 29, 2018

Mimmo's Pizza Celebrates Ribbon Cutting

Yesterday was yet another big day for Mimmo's Pizza in Mishawaka. Blake and staff celebrated their Ribbon Cutting, brought by the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce, that saw Mishawka Mayor Dave Wood and Chamber President Jeff Rea in attendance. ABOVE: JEFF REA & MAYOR WOOD ENJOY A SLICE OF MIMMO'S PIZZA Mimmo's Pizza, formerly Bruno's Pizza, opened in the same location (Edison Road in Mishawaka) on January 1st of this year. Their authentic Italian pizza, paired with the

Luxe Wagon Launches E-Commerce Site

Mar 8, 2018

Luxe Wagon Launches E-Commerce Site

Previously, you could only shop the Luxe Wagon offerings from their mobile truck. Then, they made the move into brick and mortar. You can find their shop in DTSB in the Emporium Building right off of the river. And now, you can shop at the Luxe Wagon online. The new Luxe Wagon website launched today along with their e-commerce platform that allows customers from all over the country to shop tops, bottoms, dresses, accessories and jewelry. The online store will initially launc

Letter From The Owner: Blake Schirripa

Dec 18, 2017

Letter From The Owner: Blake Schirripa

Wow! What a whirlwind the last few days have been. In the middle of all of this excitement, I wanted to take a quick minute to give thanks and show some gratitude. First of all, I want to thank our Lord. None of this would have been possible without my faith carrying me through. I know that my faith and relationship with the Lord will carry me throughout all my ventures, personal and business. I also want to thank my parents. They believed in me from the jump. When I came to

Avoid These Local SEO Practices

Dec 11, 2017

Avoid These Local SEO Practices

Miriam Ellis posted a fantastic blog over at Moz. You can read the entire blog here but I'll highlight a few of the main takeaways and give quick notes as they relate to our South Bend area. Just as there are practices that are really important to carry out when it comes to your SEO strategy, it's just as important to avoid carrying out the ill-advised practices. Here are a few thoughts on what Miriam touched on. 1. Creating GMB Listings At Ineligible Addresses GMB listings a

Just Having A Website Isn't Enough

Oct 30, 2017

Just Having A Website Isn't Enough

"But I have a website, aren't I good?" No, you are not. Sure, it's a good start. It's a necessary start. Your website is going to be the central hub for your online presence. Everything will flow from it. But it's far from the end all, be all. For example, your website should be the starting point for your SEO strategy. You'll need to claim your Google listing within the GMB platform and then put that to work for your business. You'll also want to supplement that with user re

Keep A Close Eye On Your GMB Listing

Oct 12, 2017

Keep A Close Eye On Your GMB Listing

Customers and yes, competitors, can edit your Google listing. If you run your own GMB listing, you've obviously noticed some changes over the past few months. In addition to the Messaging and Posts features (we'll cover those in a future blog), you're probably being blasted with update requests from Google. These are important! Potential customers and clients will see this information when they are in the research phase on Google and may make a decision to visit you based on

Debunking A Common SEO Myth

Jul 11, 2017

Debunking A Common SEO Myth

We hear it more often than we should. We'll do SEO when we need it. When we need it can refer to when things slow down, when they really need people through their door or when they have the time (or budget) to get to it. But it just doesn't work that way. We've told you before that Google says you need to give SEOs 4-12 months to get somewhere. Locally, you can slant that a bit toward the low end. But we still see a lot of places that don't want to believe it. If you want unt

Here's The Story: Instagram Is Powerful

Jun 18, 2017

Here's The Story: Instagram Is Powerful

Well, it's only getting more powerful. Instagram, that is. Owned by Facebook, Instagram has been gaining popularity from a marketing standpoint for some time now. HubSpot posted a great blog highlighting why brands and influencers are leaving SnapChat and focusing more on Instagram for their stories. This is something that we're making a priority in the back half of 2017. Instagram is already a powerful tool and more easily understood by all generations. While Snapchat was th

Don't Let 'Google' Callers Scare You

Jun 2, 2017

Don't Let 'Google' Callers Scare You

If you're a business owner, you have no doubt been called by 'Google' about your listing. Fear not, it's always a scare tactic. Google will never call you and ask for money or threaten you in any way, shape or form. Joy Hawkins over at Sterling Sky posted a lengthy blog about this tactic and what you should look out for. She actually highlighted 8 different lies they told. It's worth the read but I'm going to highlight a few of them, the ones that are most relevant to the Sou