Are you a local business, but can't be found locally? Here are some surefire ways to make sure you can be found on local searches and directory’s.
May 26, 2016 | Shannan DuShane
There are so many companies out there today with hundreds of
free internet tools, e-books, directory sites and search engine rules, it can
be difficult to keep up with all of them plus make sure your business is
up-to-date with correct business information for your customers to find
you. On average there are probably over
500 different directory sites out there, some are paid listings, but most are
free listings like MyBusiness by Google that allow your business to create an account, upload pictures,
list business hours, let customer place reviews and much more. But now what? The most common question I get
asked is, “what are the top directory sites I need to be on and how many should
I sign up for?”. The best answer that I
can give is, look up your local directories -create accounts with your service
area in mind. If you are located in
Grand Rapids, and you don’t do business in Cadillac, make sure you aren’t
listed on the Cadillac city business listing; it’s that simple. The hardest
area most businesses suffer is management of the accounts once they are
created; your business is ever changing; your accounts should reflect your
business. One thing I know from experience is that people love to discover and
shop at locally-owned, businesses that invest in and build up their community. So
give them the opportunity to find you and use your services.
So here are my top 5 ways for business owners to reach out
to new customers and make sure they can be found on local searches:
My
Business page by Google. This is probably
one of the most common yet effective way to optimize your rankings for local
search. Google has some powerful yet simple options for all types of owners
from beginners to expert. You can visit www.google.com/mybusiness to get started.
All of your information in one simple dashboard, it is up to you to ensure your
information is correct, to keep up with reviews, and the best part about this
is Google also gives you insights to your page for reporting purpose to see
what’s working and what’s not. If you
think you have no time, well now you can update your information on the go,
post pictures and update business hours so there is no excuse to put it off.
Online Directories. There are 1000’s of
directory sites out there on the internet probably more listings that you will
ever be able to manage. The most important thing to remember is to make sure
you claim all of your business listings that you can, if it is means hiring a
part time coordinator to go through all of your accounts and get them in order.
There is a chance you will find some that are out of your service area, or if
you’ve moved recently, make sure to delete or update the account to mimic the
correct business information, you don’t want customers showing up to a wrong
location or showing up when you are closing. Then the next step is to manage
each of them regularly. Create a spreadsheet and keep an accurate record of the
site url, username and password for safe keeping. Add small keywords in your
business name such as a city, add alt tags to your images to ensure those are
working in your favor as well.
Custom Landing Pages. For local searches
you can create and manage localized pages, you do not have to list only your
business name in the meta data of the page, make sure to add a major services
and your city or service areas, be consistent with NAP (name, address, phone),
and have customized content for your page that reflects your business services
or products you are promoting in that area and you’re on your way to better heathier
local search results that your customers will be able to trust. Here is a great article to read if you’re interested in learning more.
Mobile Friendly Site. With the advancement
of the internet and more searches that ever being on mobile devices from iPads,
tablets and cell phones, the need to have a mobile friendly website is crucial.
There are too many tools to count out there on the world wide web, but one
great tool out there to definitely utilize is the newly launched Facebook
Instant Articles, you can click here to read more. Always be ready to service your customers through any
means necessary to gain leads and move forward, because the search engines are
always on the move your business needs to be right up there with the latest
services too.
Post Local Content. Your clients are sponges leaning to you for information and
if you are not there to provide it, they will seek it elsewhere. You cannot post
your company services and products in their faces every day, they need
stimulation from other sources that provide a certain amount of value to their everyday
lives. By providing local news, activities, events and other local content on
your blog on a regular basis will help you aim to boost your local search
results and keep your followers content.
And it does not take hours to find content, go to a local news station
or chamber of commerce website and you will find an enormous amount of
information to post on a daily or weekly basis however often you post. You can
take it a set further by editing the Title of the article to include the City
name and add meta data including alt tags to all images you post. Make sure to optimize the post further by
posting to your social media channels to push it further.
Shannan DuShane is an independent blogger, marketing specialist and graphic designer in the Grand Rapids area. She is a social media specialist, marketing enthusiast, and network fanatic. Feel free to connect with Shannan on Facebook, Twitter,LinkedIn, Instagram and Google+
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