What would your temperament be if one of your direct competitors stood just outside of your office and started promoting their services to people who were coming into your location? I doubt that you would invite them inside for tea and muffins.

That said, how would you feel about competitors who are bidding on the name of your company or your branded keywords in the sponsored results? They may not physically be at your doorstep, but this is worse, as they can man the post 24 x 7 if they so choose.

The fact is that Google AdWords now allows companies to bid on the name and branded keywords of competitors. You can’t actually mention the other company in your ad title or ad copy, but competitors can be visible for searches for your most important keywords.

With this in mind, it’s essential that you devote the resources to both track who (if anyone) is bidding on your branded terms and also devise a strategy to both ensure that you maintain a strong presence on your branded terms and also possibly bid on your competitors. Don’t make the common mistake of complacency. Protect your branded search results by developing branding campaigns so as not be overtaken by your competition.

While there is no debating the fact that the internet has revolutionized the way that companies sell their products and services, it can also be proclaimed that websites have become incredible tools to funnel interested parties through on-site lead generation activities.

Whether the call to action is a webinar, whitepaper, pdf or just “request more info”, the fact remains that these are all inquiries, not sales transactions. With that in mind, it is essential that a game plan be put in place to evaluate the leads that come into the site, separate them by source, quality / potential, and follow up with them in a manner that is appropriate for each.

Some leads will require a telephone call, while others may just warrant an email. No matter what the strategy is, the important thing is to make sure that it is being implemented consistently and promptly. You should assume that if someone has reached out to you online, that they have reached out to your competitors as well, and if your response is lax, your likelihood of gaining the new client is significantly diminished.

Lastly, your strategy to tackle leads shouldn’t be stagnant. Evaluate whether what you are doing is working and tweak where appropriate.

As we all know, cell phones are a term from another era. Today it’s all about having a handheld device, a smart phone that can tackle everything from email to the internet to the myriad of apps that somebody wants to have at their fingertips.

One thing that hasn’t changed so much over the years is the fact that people still like to eat in restaurants as well as get delivery or carryout. The future (and the now) however is consumers using their smart phones to help them facilitate their meals.

The user experience differential of viewing a restaurant’s mobile website vs. standard site on a mobile device is dramatic. One helps conduct business and one essentially repels it. The mobile site may not include all of the pictures and aesthetics that a regular site does, but it will incorporate the menu and directions (even to multiple locations), which is in all likelihood what someone wants if they are searching for the restaurant from their phone.

So few restaurants have mobile versions of their sites today that an argument could be made to wait a year or two before embarking on this endeavor. Just like with regular websites, the companies who were early adopters are the ones who have a considerably more advanced and profitable online presence today.