About the Company: Midwest Balloon Rides
Midwest Balloon Rides owner and operator Tony Sandlin has more than 20 years of balloon experience. Tony attended Excelsior Flight School in California and received his FAA Commercial License for Hot Air Balloons in 2005. Now raising a family full of balloon enthusiasts, Tony based his business in Indianapolis, Indiana, and serves the entire Midwest.
The Problem: Google, Where’s my Business?
Tony’s enthusiasm and love for ballooning translated into a truly successful business venture. As interest in Midwest Balloon Rides grew, Tony was able to purchase more balloons – three in total. Tony even began garnering international attention, flying in Canada, Mexico, and Qatar. Locally, however, Tony’s customers had a problem finding his business. Tony hired a team to create a website. However, even with a solid website, Tony still found that he wasn’t as visible as he wanted to be.
Stumped as to what the problem was, Tony contacted Find8 to figure it out. Our team found that Tony hadn’t fully tapped into the power of Google.
The Solution: Verified and Complete Google My Business Profile
Find8 found that Tony hadn’t realized the power in local search listings. Starting with Google Places, we discovered that Google had created a profile for Midwest Balloon Rides by pulling information from his website to fill out the profile. Sometimes Google pulls information haphazardly and without much attention to detail. Find8 optimized Tony’s Google Places profile – verifying the profile’s ownership and adding pictures, videos and business details to the profile.
One paramount aspect to a Google Places profile is categories. Midwest Balloon Rides wasn’t categorized when Google created the profile. Google wasn’t thinking of Tony’s business as a balloon ride agency. His site just wasn’t going to be pulled up when people searched keywords like “balloon rides.” Therefore, customers searching for balloon rides in Indianapolis were missing out on Midwest Balloon Rides. Using relevant categories was a firm step in the right direction to optimizing the profile.
The Result: Google, You Found Me!
The results were immediate and outstanding. Since optimizing the Google Places profile, the number of people that saw Midwest Balloon Rides business listing as a local search result increased by 231%. Overall impressions rose from 2,150 impressions in the first half of 2011 to 4,981 impressions in the latter half of 2011.
To put it simply, impressions are recorded when an Internet surfer clicks on a link to visit a page or ad.
This optimization couldn’t have occurred at a better time as views soared in the prime months for balloon rides. Interested clients would see Midwest Balloon Rides in the top search results on Google Places and Google Maps at an opportune time for balloon rides – summer and fall.
2012 is shaping up to be an incredible year for finding Midwest Balloon Rides locally. January 2012 impressions have doubled from last January. Tony, now on the right track with potential customers’ local searches, has a very impressive year to look forward to.