Claim Your Business Page
Talk about your low-hanging fruit! Before you spend another dollar on advertising, check to see that your business is listed everywhere it should be. And once you’ve looked into the obvious places, take some time every so often to find the less obvious listings. You’d be surprised at how directories can help boost the visibility of your business – for free!
While black hat "link farm" techniques are simply unacceptable these days, there's still quite a bit of value in having your website link on pages that Google considers authoritative such as business directories. Being listed
on directory websites not only boosts your business's overall visibility, it can affect your SEO as well.
People use directories to find goods and services all the time. Honestly, they want to find you. It's up to
you to make it easy for them.
At the very least, you should be listed with the business directories at search engines such as Google My Business and Bing Places for Business. Once there, you "claim" your listing. That is, they may have posted some of your information from other sources and you
take ownership of it. Once you have proven you are the appropriate representative, you can
update the phone number or office hours and whatever else is incorrect or incomplete as well as
add new information.
A Facebook page for your business is definitely worth some
of your time to set up. A few minutes a day spent posting and responding to posts proves you are an active business –
even if visitors don't interact as much as you think they should.
Claim your listing at Yelp, Manta and similar directories as well. Upload your logo and photos and don't be afraid of your customers posting reviews of your business. Just remember to respond promptly and professionally.
Also don't forget about your Chamber of Commerce, industry directories and vendors. Nearly everyone
will have a free option as well as varying levels of paid options. You may as well start with the free
listing. In a few weeks, check your web analytics. See where your traffic is coming from. If, for instance,
Yelp is doing well, you may choose to upgrade to a paid listing there. You may also see some referral
traffic from places you didn't even know you were listed at and will want to investigate further.
It only makes sense to get your business name out there as much as you can for as little expenditure as
possible. Help your customers get the satisfaction they are want by being where they are looking.
Since many of these directories may already be referring back to your website, you'll want it to represent your business well. If
your site isn't representing you as well as you'd like, contact us today to talk over the possibilities. We're
happy to help!
Kate Gingold
I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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