How does your business look online? You probably have a website, which is great. If you don’t, you’ll want to take a look at that first. Beyond your website, how are you showing up online? Online listings in directories and search results are an important part of your business’ online success.
There are many (hundreds or even thousands) of places to be found online. The more places you are accurately listed, the better. However, you have to start somewhere. Here are the top five topics that you should know about when considering your online listings.
Pay Attention To These Online Listing Topics
1. Google Business Profile
Having a solid Google Business Profile is probably the single most important thing to have claimed and correct. It is constantly changing and something that should be monitored regularly. Learn more about Google Business Profiles in this blog post.
Claim your Google Business Profile listing here: https://www.google.com/business/
2. Apple Maps
Are people searching for your business, product, or service on an Apple device? The answer is yes. Apple uses their own map tool and if you don’t have your information correct, you are sending potential customers on a wild goose chase! Make it simple for customers to find you. Have your information correct. Here is a blog post with more details regarding listings on Apple Maps.
Claim your Apple Maps listing here: https://www.apple.com/maps/
3. Bing Places for Business
While Bing doesn’t get as much traffic as Google, it is still one of the top search engines and your information and business listing is important. The process for this online listing claim is very similar to the Google My Business process.
Claim your Bing Places listing here: https://www.bingplaces.com/
4. Facebook Pages
Does your business have a Facebook page? If your answer is no, double check. You might have an unofficial page (or more) that people are seeing. There could be comments, reviews and interactions about your business. Being active on Facebook can influence your online search presence. Even if you aren’t active on Facebook, make sure any references to your business are claimed and cleaned up. Here is a blog post with more details about Facebook unofficial pages.
Claim your Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/
5. Gaining Citations Online
As I mentioned earlier there are many online listings. If your information is online, it should be correct and consistent. Pay attention to your business name, address, phone number, and web address. Are they listed EXACTLY the same everywhere? Learn more about why this is important in the blog post Gaining Citations in Local Search Marketing.
Start with these five tasks. Once you have a handle on that, there is a much bigger world of online listing management. We have to start somewhere. Overwhelmed and need help?
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