Neighborhood Image

PO Box 664, Marion, Ohio 43301-0664
740-751-6548 //

Get, or Correct, Your Google Places Page

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One of the most important things you can do to improve your search ranking on Google is also one of the easiest to set up. Simply register, or update, your Google Places listing. Let us show you how.

You’ll see Google Places in action if you search for a business in Google. You can also see these when you look at Google Maps. Ever notice that you see businesses on the map? Ever wonder how they got there? This is how.

First, your business may already be listed with Google Places. To find out, go to Google Maps and search for your company (Neighborhood Image, Marion, Ohio) and see if you show up. If you do, it’s time to make sure all the information is correct and add more details.

googleplaces1

 

Click on the company name and you’ll be taken to your Google Places page (an example is shown above). Below you can see an example of our page. It has your name, address, phone number, website address, as well as a description and keywords. Or at least it should.

If the information is wrong or incomplete, and to claim ownership of your page, click on the “Edit this place” at the top right-hand corner. Note – you may have to sign into your Google account to do this. Fill out the details and click “Publish.”

You’ll also want to claim ownership of the page. To do this, click the “Business owner?” link in the top right-hand corner of the page. Follow the directions. You will have to verify your information to complete the process.

Like I said, couldn’t be easier.

Now, you can, and should, go further by uploading some photos or your business or work. You can also encourage people to leave reviews of your business. Of course we say you should do this, but as you can see in the photo, we have not done this. I guess I need to get to work.

As always, let us know if you have any questions or need any help!

Get a Better, Custom Facebook Address

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facebook_sketchIf you have a Facebook for your business, or even for yourself, you may have noticed that the url address to get to your page is long and has a bunch of numbers. What you need is a shorter, easier to remember address.

For example, the Facebook address for Neighborhood Image is www.facebook.com/neighborhoodimage.

So how do you get you this super special address? It’s easy.

  • Log into Facebook and go to your page.
  • Click on the button that says “Edit Page” (up near the top, right-hand corner) and you should see a bunch of options.
  • Click on “Basic Information” on the left-hand side.
  • You should see an option in the middle of the page that says “Username”.
  • Click on the option and go through the options to get your new, shorter, easy to remember, address to your Facebook page.

A couple notes – You must have at least 25 “Likes” to your page before you can claim a custom address. Also, be sure about the name, because once you have chosen a name, it is yours for life. There is no way to change it (at least for now).

Let us know if you have any questions and we’ll do our best to help you out.

Facebook Profile vs. Page – Use the Right Type

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facebook_sketchIf you’ve ever gone to what you thought was a business page on Facebook only to see a button that says “Add as Friend,” then you’ve just witnessed a violation of Facebook’s terms. It doesn’t really mean anything to you, but this business or organization is in danger of being shut down by Facebook. We’ve noticed lots of local organizations who have unwittingly violated the rules.

Here is what Facebook says about businesses using a profile instead of a page:

facebook_business_violation

If you are one of those who accidentally went the route of creating a personal profile rather than a business page, there are only two options. Well, three actually, but the third is a really bad idea.

First, you can start up an actual page on Facebook and then tell all of your current friends to “Like” the new page. After a certain amount of time, you would shut down the “illegal” personal profile. This works, but takes time and not everyone will hop over.

Second, you can simply migrate your current profile to a business page. This is automatic, and permanent, and means that all of your current friends will still be on your new page. Again, this is a permanent change so DO NOT test the migration with your own personal Facebook page. Only do this with the profile you use for your business or organization.

Third, you can just keep doing what you’re doing and “hope” that Facebook won’t catch you. This is a bad idea. If you are shut down, you won’t get a warning. It will just happen. Then all of the work you’ve put into building your community will be lost.

So, we recommend the second option. As we said, it’s quick, saves (most) of your information and all of your fans.

The reason we say most is that your photo albums will not be moved, just those in the Profile Photos section, so you will have to save those manually. You can find details on saving your photos by clicking here. You may also lose previous wall posts. At least one person has also reported losing an event they had created when they were still a profile.

The important thing is that you maintain your audience and avoid having to rebuild that valuable resource for your organization.

To migrate your Profile to a Page, click here.

You’ll notice you have several options. The vast majority of users will be happy choosing “Local Business or Location” or “Company, Organization, or Institution.”

Once you’ve migrated, make sure to go through all the options available by clicking on the “Edit Page” button.

If you have any questions or need pointed in the right direction, just let us know. You can also find lots of information on Facebook by going here.

We’re moving on up! (Quite literally!)

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Some of our clients know our current office is pretty modest. And by modest I mean that we’re in the basement. In what feels like a cave. With no one but ourselves. And really, 4 days out of the week it’s just Sean… so yeah. Things can get pretty lonely!

But we’re happy to announce that soon we’ll be moving up – literally! An opportunity has come up for us to get out of this windowless cave we’ve called home and move to the 2nd floor. (cue the Jefferson’s theme song, because it’s what comes to mind when we think about moving up a few levels)

Our new digs are still under construction, but I snuck upstairs to take some pictures to share while things are in-between.  We’re really looking forward to being out of the basement. Because let’s face it: basements, no matter how nice, are just kind of creepy.

office-frontView of the front office into the back office

office-backThe back office, complete with our favorite thing: THE WINDOW!

office-windowOur soon-to-be new view of the Busby Park, which looks really sparse since it’s winter.

office-candiceThanks for taking a quick tour with me 🙂

Don’t get scammed!

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domain_scamJust received today:  a letter from Domain Registry of America! They’d like kindly remind us that we have a few domain names set to expire within the next few months. How nice of them! (You can click on the image to the left for an example of what these letters look like)

This letter can be really deceiving if you don’t pay close attention to what you’re reading.  In the middle of the third paragraph is hidden the words “This notice is not a bill.” I don’t know about you, but it sure looks like they’re trying to pass it off as one!

A little research turned up this lovely bit on the Domain Registry of America’s (DROA) business practices courtsey of the FTC:

DROA is a re-seller of domain name registration services for a company called eNom, Inc. (eNom), an accredited registrar of Internet domain names. It allegedly conducts business by sending mass-marketed direct mail to U.S. consumers, soliciting them to transfer their domain name registrations from their current Internet domain name registrar to eNom. According to the FTC, DROA’s mail solicitations to consumers appear to be renewal notices or invoices from the consumers’ current registrars, advising them that their domain names are about to expire, and requesting payment for “renewal” of the domain name registration. The Commission contends that DROA has mailed millions of such “renewal” notices captioned “IMPORTANT NOTICE,” to urge consumers to act quickly to avoid “Register Lock” or “loss of your online identity.” The company further warns, according to the FTC, that if consumers “lose their domain name” it may be “impossible for you to get it back.”

Not only are they scamming you into thinking you need to renew your domain name with their company… they’re also charging you more for it, too! If you receive one of these letters in the mail, ignore it and trash it!

The full FTC press release on the company can be found here

Neighborhood Image launches new Marion Online

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mol_2010On June 1st, 2010 Neighborhood Image launched a brand new and improved MarionOnline.com to its readers.  The new site is a huge step forward for us and brings a lot more features as well as more potential for future development. We’ve brought our readers a more user-friendly interface, making it easier and faster to access content, as well as cleaning out a lot of the clutter that made the site hard to navigate. For our advertisers we’ve added in not only larger banner ads, but also more advertising options, offering advertising opportunities for any budget!

While nothing is forever, we plan to do several things now and into the future, including:

  • We won’t put ads in the text of stories. These are the words in a story that appear linked and when you mouse-over them, a pop-up appears.
  • We will not compete with local businesses. If a local business advertises with us, then we will not show ads for competing online companies.
  • As much as we can, we will not show ads that take over your screen with pop-up graphics. Sometimes this is beyond our control, but we will make every effort to keep this frustrating form of advertising off of Marion Online.
  • Speaking of ads, we pledge to keep this an advertiser supported site. The main content of Marion Online, including news, sports, calendar, and obituaries will remain free for viewers. We also do not and will not charge for posting full-length obituaries.
  • We promise responsiveness and openness. As best as we can, we promise to respond to questions about why we do and/or don’t do certain things. We hope this website reflects the best of what Marion has to offer. Your feedback will be used to guide our focus so that we provide you with the Marion Online that you want.

Sean and I would like to thank everyone for their support in the process of the changeover to the new format. We’re really happy with the final product, and we’ve had so many great responses about it from our readers as well!  I’m excited about the change, and I can’t wait to see where things go from here as we add new content and such to the site!

Did you know our hosting is green?

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In honor of Earth Day, we’re bringing you a week of earth-friendly tips and information!

Everyone talks these days about being green – reducing your energy consumption, recycling, etc. But have you thought about what powers your website?   A website is there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We shut our computers off at night but the Internet is still there! Shutting a server down every night just isn’t an option.

The company that maintains our server space has taken it upon themselves to do what they can to reduce the carbon footprint servers have. The average server has nearly the same climate impact as a 15MPG SUV! Multiply that by the thousands of servers in the world and that’s a lot! How do you counter that? Our server manager has purchased Renewable Energy Credits, equaling out to be about 130% of their electricity usage. So not only are they compensating for what they are using, but they’re giving back as well!

Green Marketing

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In honor of Earth Day, we’re bringing you a week of earth-friendly tips and information!

How can you practice “green” marketing? With a website! When you use the internet for your marketing you’re not using paper or ink for printed materials. And, best of all, information that is wrong, out of date, or you just want to change doesn’t have to be reprinted all over again with all the expenses involved with it – all it takes is a quick change to your website and it is done instantly!

Receive your bill/invoice through your email!

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In honor of Earth Day, we’re bringing you a week of earth-friendly tips and information!

Did you know that opting for an electronic invoice reduces paper usage for the invoice and envelope, as well as the emissions from mail trucks used in the process of having the invoice delivered to you in the mail! If you’d prefer not to receive a paper invoice or bill each month, we offer the option for an electronic invoice sent directly to your email!

To start receiving your monthly invoice through your email just send Sean an email, or give us a call at 740-751-6548 and let us know!

Neighborhood Image Takes Over Marion Online.com

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In March 2010, Marion Online.com was purchased by Neighborhood Image. With the purchase, Neighborhood Image has taken over the operation of this iconic website serving the Marion, OH area.

Because of our history with the former owners, the purchase will mean nothing but good things for Marion Online viewers. We have worked with the former Marion Online.com owners for years and bring a wealth of experience and energy with us.

Marion Online viewers can expect to see enhancements to the site starting soon. Planned improvements include more news updated more often, increased focus on local sports, as well as updated and streamlined information.

We also plan to roll out a new design for Marion Online which will update the site’s capabilities and speed as well as increase the options available to deliver more services.

To learn more about us, the new owners of Marion Online.com, click here. You will find information on us and some of the services we offer.

We would love to get feedback from Marion Online viewers. Tell us what you would like to see in the future. Tell us what you like and don’t line about the site now. All of the information you provide will go towards making Marion Online that much better in the future.