Local listings on sites like Google, Yelp, and Facebook help consumers discover new businesses and make informed buying decisions. Learn more about claiming your listing, updating your information, and solving common problems.
Relocations are necessary for all different reasons, but when businesses move locations these days, they need to do more than just print up new stationery and business cards. Moving from one place to another means updating your local listings, too.
Acquiring another business is a major achievement for any company. To preserve existing search equity and avoid suffering from any drop in search engine ranking during the transition, businesses should follow these steps.
For businesses, it can be helpful to have multiple people managing local listings. Business owners, managers, and even outside agencies can all work together to keep local listings updated and accurate.
Being listed on Google Maps is an essential part of a local marketing strategy. But what happens when the location that pop ups when people search for your business in Google Maps isn’t where your business is actually located?
More isn’t necessarily better when it comes to online listings. Having multiple listings for a single business location can make it harder for customers to find the business and negatively impact search engine rankings.
Many business owners are surprised to learn that they need to claim their listings on Yelp. While your business probably already has a business page on the popular directory service, claiming your listing is the only way to upload photos, add website links, and ensure that accurate contact information is listed.
More than 90% of businesses with storefronts in the United States are already listed on Foursquare. By claiming your listing on the local search and discovery service, you get the opportunity to customize how people interact with your business on the platform. You also get access to Foursquare’s business tools, like customer rewards and analytics.
Facebook has become an important referral source for local businesses. Being listed on Facebook makes it easier for potential customers to discover your business and interact with your brand. One common question that business owners have is how to claim a listing on Facebook.
In recent years, Bing has expanded its presence in the local marketing space. Having a claimed listing on Bing ensures that businesses show up in local search results.
Apple Maps is the default maps application on iPhones, which means business owners can’t afford to be absent from the service.
For most businesses, publishing the hours of operation is straightforward. However, if your business has multiple sets of hours, like seasonal hours or limited hours during holidays and special events, then you will need to follow the specific style guidelines from Google, Bing, Yelp, and other local listings platforms.
The business name you use in local listings should be the same as the name your business uses in the real world.
Creating local listings is one of the first steps most businesses will take when launching a digital marketing strategy. In order to make sure their listings are appearing on important platforms like Google, Facebook, Yelp, Bing, and Foursquare, businesses need to follow each platform’s style guidelines.
Claiming your listing on Google is one of the first steps to take when building a local marketing strategy. Using the free Google My Business (GMB) tool, business owners can claim their listings and manage how their information appears on Maps, Search, and other Google properties.
With a local listing strategy, you can make it easier for people to find your business on search engines like Google and Bing. You can also take steps to ensure the information that’s published about your business across the web is accurate and up-to-date.
Data aggregators compile data on businesses from the businesses themselves and from marketing companies, government sources, telecommunications records, and online sources, and spread the information to multiple platforms or directories. Over the years, data aggregators have played an important role in listings management.
The best time to come up with a digital marketing strategy is before your business has opened its doors. Google encourages business owners to create Google My Business listings before their businesses have officially opened. This is a great strategy to build excitement in the community for your upcoming business launch.
Certain digital marketing platforms are more relevant to international audiences than others. For multi-location brands with storefronts located outside the United States, it is important to get listed on the websites and apps that global consumers are using each day.
What should you do if you have multiple Google My Business listings for a single business? The simplest solution is to claim and merge those listings.
Businesses may close temporarily from time to time. Some businesses are only open seasonally, and they may be closed for months at a time each year. Whether because of a pandemic, like COVID-19, inclement weather, or any other reason, it is important to update your online listings to ensure customers aren’t showing up when your business is closed.
Service-area businesses, or SABs, are businesses that visit customers directly at offsite locations. SABs don’t serve customers at their own business addresses, and that fact can sometimes make it difficult for SABs to create effective Google My Business listings.
When business owners move to new offices or change store locations, the last thing they’re usually thinking about is local rankings. However, Google takes location and address changes very seriously. It is important to follow the recommended guidelines when moving your office to avoid dropping in local search rankings.
You probably already know that Yelp is one of the most influential review websites, offering millions of reviews of local businesses worldwide. Yelp has the power to drive people into stores, restaurants, and other businesses like few other platforms. What you might not realize, though, is that Yelp’s power extends beyond the local review space.