Small Businesses Get Marketing Help From Yahoo | Fox Business

Businesses looking to grow and improve their online presence gained a big ally today (May 2) when Yahoo! Small Business launched its Marketing Dashboard. The company says this tool will allow businesses to pinpoint marketing opportunities they are currently missing and to manage and enhance their online reputation.

"We created the Yahoo! Marketing Dashboard to help small-business owners who feel overwhelmed by online marketing options and monitoring a wide range of sites and social networks to keep up with customer feedback," said Shannon Parker Hane, director of product marketing at Yahoo! Small Business. "Now, within a single tool, customers can conveniently evaluate their marketing options, campaign results and online reputation without having to search across the Web for information."

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The new tool brings several features, including marketing opportunities, reputation management, website statistics and business metrics, into one place. According to Yahoo! Small Business, the marketing dashboard will offer users:

Search engine and directory listings: "This enables monitoring and provides recommendations on new listing opportunities, covering over 100 sites including Yelp, Yahoo! Local, and more."
Online reputation management: "This pulls information from up to 8,000 sources, including Facebook and Twitter."
Site traffic analysis: "This enables users to understand key website performance metrics, including Google Analytics."
Small-business-focused news and advice: "This is provided from Yahoo! Small Business Advisor."
Campaign tracking: "This provides email marketing, SEO, and SEM campaign tracking, but users must subscribe to these services."

The dashboard also will provide users with 24/7 in house customer support. The service will be free for users to download, although a paid version with several additional features is also available. The free version can be found here.

Len Bruskiewitz, senior director of partner programs at online marketing company Constant Contact, said: "Our partnership with Yahoo! Small Business on Yahoo! Marketing Dashboard is really a perfect match: Both organizations are driven by a commitment to helping small businesses succeed. This dashboard will give small businesses a clear understanding of the effectiveness of their online marketing campaigns."

Reach BusinessNewsDaily staff writer David Mielach at Dmielach@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @D_M89.