Local search visibility grows increasingly important as “near me” searches on Google continue to rise. Your potential customers may be looking for you at home or work on their desktop computers, or they may be using their cell phone or tablet while they’re on the go! In fact, Google confirmed earlier this year that mobile searches have officially overtaken desktop on its search engine.
In other words, people who use Google are looking for your business, often while they’re out and about!
Here’s how to make sure your business appears in search engine results consistently and completely.
Before you even get started, figure out where you stand! Go to Google.com and do a search for your business name (& even phone number). In most cases, your business is already in the search results. However, just because your listed on Google, doesn’t mean the information is correct AND on other search engines or local directories!
Step 1: Now that you have a general understanding of how your business is represented on Google, it’s time to claim away! If your business is listed but not claimed by an official representative of your business, follow the directions from Google to claim and verify your listing.
Step 2: After your Google listing is claimed, it’s time to see how your business is represented elsewhere. A service like Yext.com allows you to scan how your business appears on directory sites. But if you don’t want to pay a hefty price tag for them to fix it, you can spend just a little bit of time doing it yourself! Just run a quick scan and go to each site and claim your business listings!
Step 3: It will be necessary to make sure your local listings are managed on consistent basis. The way your local business information appears, how it is formatted, new reviews & even what data is accepted, changes over time. Your success with online visibility will depend on making an effort to stay informed.
Four out of five people use search engines to find local business information – it’s time to get your listings under control! Give us a call for more information!