Local listings are one of the most important elements of online marketing. In fact, having a consistent message on local listings is just as important has having a user friendly website. Your website and listings work in unison. There are a things to avoid when working on local listings and a few things you should always do.
Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your local listings.
- Have a quality website
- A spammy website will not help your local listing success.
- Good website content
- The content on the site should be substantive enough to be helpful to the user.
- Keywords used correctly.
- Make sure the keywords are used correctly and not just fluffed or stuffed.
- Homepage with content AND keywords
- Your homepage should have content and keywords. Don’t rely on images with alt text.
- Use tags correctly
- Choosing the correct tag will help your rankings succeed. Be sure to thoroughly search the tags or categories.
- Use multiple directories
- ‘Don’t put your eggs in one basket’ also applies to online marketers. Don’t just focus on Google, Yahoo and Bing but also consider Manta, Hot Frog and Yellow Pages. Set a daily schedule to work on the listings to complete a handful each week.
- Obtain Reviews
- Obtaining reviews will not only help your business, it will also help your listings rank better.
- Revise and Refresh
- It’s important to check on your listings and hit the refresh button. Google, in particular, seems to favor listings that are logged into often and updated. Our company practices logging into the listings once a week to check and respond to reviews.
There are a number of items that can help the success of your site and your listings, but the above list is a great starting point. If you need help with setting up listings or improving your list rankings, give us a call!