MerchantCircle.com

The MerchantCircle blog lets local and small business owners know what's going on in their marketing world. Whether it's online marketing solutions, yellow page directory statistics, business video solutions, or general merchant musings, we make sure you're informed.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Bonfire of the MerchantCircle Vanities

Vanity The web is the most vain place on earth. You're defined by a URL, what you do, and how you look. It's a good thing I look good! (2.3 on HotorNot baby!!!!) Since the release of our new features, parades of merchants have taken the torch. In just a few days, more than 500 merchants have customized their URL. Here's a sample:

We pushed hard for this new feature because we realized that a large percentage of our merchants were either, new to the web, using us as their main web presence, and/or finding that their MerchantCircle listing was coming up higher in search engines than their own.

Sorry - guilty as charged!

Don't worry; you can still link to your website if you've already created one. Just don't be mad at us, if you paid someone thousands of dollars, only to find out your MerchantCircle listing comes up higher in search engines! (And it cost you nothing!)

Bonfire So we may not be torching our vanities just yet,( in fact, just the opposite), but hey, why fight it when it feels sooooo good to be me? (Or you, for your purposes. Although I can be bought for the right price!)

Sincerely,

Kevin L.

Labels: Merchant Circle, MerchantCircle, URL, Vanity

posted by MerchantCircle Staff at 5/09/2007 07:44:00 PM , 0 comments,

Thursday, January 25, 2007

They Call Me Hammer

Ok, they don't, but it would've been cool. T-Bone. Red Dog. Diddy. Definitely not Koko the Monkey. Where would we be without nicknames - a short, easy-to-remember moniker that people can remember, while at the same time adding depth and personality. Check out this picture below. What would be a good nickname for them? Kraus and Boharshik? Probably not.... Serial Killers might be easier to remember. Back in the day, this storefront with the family was a company's personality. As the years progressed, reviews and letter grades were sometimes placed prominently in the windshields and business names got trendier and easier to remember. Now as customers browse for businesses on the web, those same reviews and personality come back into play - only this time on the web. For the 80,000 merchants who have now claimed their MerchantCircle business listing, half of them use their listing as their sole source of a business website! And why shouldn't they? It's free, easy-to-use and puts them in touch with like-minded individuals. Now it's time to up the ante! If we are your web presence, sure, people can find your MerchantCircle listing through generic search on Google or Yahoo because our nearly 15 million listings are search-engine-optimized, but for those who ask, you should be able to tell them something easy. www.merchantcircle.com/fillintheblank That's right, come up with your own store name or nickname and tell people how to find you on the web. Merchantcircle.com/Hammer or Merchantcircle.com/Koko. As long as it's not taken, that's your new identity baby!!! I'm sorry, I got a little excited. I probably shouldn't call you baby yet. This is a feature we plan to add in the next few weeks. So keep an eye out and let us know what you think. Until then, this is a strictly platonic relationship....baby. Monkey love Sincerely, Koko, Community Relations