{"id":14806,"date":"2014-09-23T09:00:40","date_gmt":"2014-09-23T14:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.adviceinteractivegroup.com\/?p=9883"},"modified":"2014-09-23T09:00:40","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T14:00:40","slug":"local-search-part-2-4-steps-to-create-accurate-online-business-listings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/local-search-part-2-4-steps-to-create-accurate-online-business-listings\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Search, Part 2: 4 Steps to Create Accurate Online Business Listings"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the first post of this series, I outlined five steps for getting your business found through local search<\/a>. The first of those, “Have Accurate Online Business Listings,” is covered in detail in this article.<\/p>\n

A Little History of Business Listings<\/h2>\n

If you remember the old Yellow Pages that were inside printed phone books, you already understand the basic principle of online business listings. It\u2019s just that now these listings are in digital format rather than print. The publishers of printed listings provided a bare bones listing free of charge to all businesses in a certain geographic area, but they also sold enhanced listings as advertisements to those businesses that wanted increased visibility.<\/p>\n

Online Business Listings Today<\/h2>\n

\"LocalThings are similar in today\u2019s digital environment, only there is much greater competition among companies that are trying to establish themselves as \u2018go to\u2019 listing services. Many of them collect public information about local businesses and list them on websites. Your business could be listed right now, yet you may not even be aware of it. The bigger question then becomes how<\/em> are you listed? Is the information accurate? Are there popular sites where your company should appear but doesn\u2019t?<\/p>\n

Many listing websites are eager to have you create or claim your listing\u2014for free. That\u2019s because they need accurate content to establish themselves as search destinations, and because they sell advertising based on that content. This is an opportunity for you to manage your company\u2019s image and get found when local consumers search for the things you sell.<\/p>\n

4 Steps to Maximize the Opportunity<\/h2>\n

1)<\/strong> Google yourself.\u00a0With the location service activated on a smartphone, stand in your office and do a generic Google search for your business. If your business website came up near the top, that\u2019s great. If not, you\u2019ve got some work to do because Google is the premier place for local search. Google+<\/a> and Google My Business<\/a> (formerly Google Places) also have local listings, and these should come up near the top of your SERPs. If they don\u2019t, do a separate search to see if and how your business is listed there. You want to be included on both.<\/p>\n

2)<\/strong> Scroll down\u00a0into the results listings.\u00a0Depending on the nature of your business it may be listed on several third-party sites, such as Yellow Pages<\/a>, White Pages<\/a>, Yelp<\/a> and others. Check each site where you are listed and, if possible, suggest edits where necessary. Some sites, such as Foursquare and Yellow Book, include links you can click on to claim your listing, add information and upload photographs, among other actions.<\/p>\n

3)<\/strong> Once you have claimed and enhanced all of your existing listings<\/a>, search for your competitors. For now, resist comparing the content of their listing to yours (we\u2019ll get to that later in this series). What you are looking for at this point is to see if your competitors are listed on third-party sites that are unknown to you. If so, go to those sites and create a listing for your business. (It\u2019s neither necessary nor practical to appear on every internet listing site, but you do want to be on those sites where your competitors are.)<\/p>\n

4)<\/strong> After identifying, editing and setting up profiles on the sites that are key for your business, do a monthly search as in step 1 so you can identify new listing sites where you may want your profile and eliminate defunct sites that are no longer relevant.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
Learn the best ways to create and optimize your local business listing by @BernieColeman<\/a><\/div>\n

Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In my next post, I\u2019ll cover how to manage the reputation of your business on review sites such as Yelp and CitySearch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the first post of this series, I outlined five steps for getting your business found through local search. 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