Find out the 3 simple things that every local business should be doing. These easy to implement steps can get your businesses name listed at the top of the search results page almost every time, but yet so many are still not utilizing these steps.
1. Google Places Page
If I had a dollar for every business in the United States that have not claimed their Google Places page it would probably amount to the millions. Setting up and optimizing this page is on the highest of my recommendations when I consult with local business owners, but the problem is that most of them have no idea what kind of content they should put on there.
If you do not own a website for your business, the Google Places Page can essentially act as one for you. The intentions of Google is to help people who are searching for things on a local level, so it's ideal to list any of the services you offer, hours of operation and contact information. I've seen people bring in thousands of dollars in revenue directly from the clients they've picked up on the internet, and some without even owning a website.
2. Yahoo Local Listings
Yahoo local listings are similar to a Google Places Page but just a downsized version with not as much control. Even though this tool is not as powerful, it is still very effective to use for listing your business. As I'm writing this, Yahoo is currently up for sale to the highest bidder so there has been a lot of questions about their destiny. Even so, there are still a lot of people in the world who use Yahoo as their preferred search engine and email carrier so it would be foolish to think it's obsolete. They have still ranked the 4th most used website in the world according to Alexa, which means millions of people use it every day.
2. Bing Local Listings Center
Last but not least, the Bing search engine also has a place for you to get your business listed when people are searching for local places. I recently saw a newscast that said around 90% of Bing's users found what they were looking for on their first try, which is impressive considering only about 40% of people find what they're looking for on the first try when using Google's search engine.
If you are using these 3 methods to help maximize your exposure on the web, I'd say that you already have one up on your competition that is not. There are lots of directories that are out there related to your industry in which can help too, and many offer a free listing that I highly recommend you take advantage of.
If you do not know how to go about setting this up or simply do not have the time, there are lots of internet marketing and SEO companies whom you can help you get your business listed for a small fee.
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