When it comes to marketing your business, securing your presence in the search results is the first thing to do. However, the hustle does not end here. There is much more to creating your online presence in search engines. Apart from listing your business in online directories, you need to look into several more fields.
That said, here is a checklist to ensure that your free business listings are working for you. By marking this checklist, you can determine that your listing is generating the widest reach for all mobile and local web searches.
- First and foremost, cross-check your business name, phone number, and address on every listing. The information must be the same and consistent on all listings.
- Don’t forget to add a comprehensive company description. Allow your company to shine with a catchy description. You must even highlight the product/service and history of your company.
- One of the most highlighted strengths of local businesses on the web is links. Adding links to your business site drives tons of traffic to your site. Note that local listings are practiced more in mobile searches. Hence, your website should be mobile-friendly. Otherwise, you may lose potential visitors.
- Claim your free business listings. Several local searches enable users to claim their profiles via the verification process. Claiming helps you elevate your listings immediately.
- Add secondary business information. More than 30% of the online local searches are due to address, hours of operation, or contact number. Don’t skip adding items such as a menu, calendar of events, hours of operation, etc. on your local profile.
- Add visuals (videos and pictures). Such media makes a wider impact on the audience. It has higher conversion rates than standard texts. Make sure you upload videos and images to your profiles.
- Collect customer reviews. Generally, reviews send positive signals to the search engines. It is a mark of extensive interaction from customers. Hence, always encourage your customers to leave short reviews about your business. Consequently, don’t forget to respond to those reviews.