Every business that has been talked about even once has a representation on Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Whether you have a website or not, search engines have made decisions about your company – specifically, where you are allowed to be on a search page and what you your business sounds like to others based on factors you’re not in control of.
Businesses that don’t know they are being determined by outside factors mistakenly ignore the importance of an accurate and claimed business listing.
Yes, you have the right as a business owner to enter your information in the most flattering light, under the right terminology, and with as many helpful tools as you can think of to help your customers find you.
As a matter of fact, your involvement is encouraged by the search engines. When you claim your business and verify that you are the owner, you can add the things that really enforce who you are to your audience. Things like video, pictures, and location on maps – things that when missing, often leave your business image to anyone who would like to associate a name with a picture.
Once you claim your listing, anything you add overrides what they’ve previously associated with your company – they want accuracy. Unfortunately, they often make you pay for it through the nose.
That’s great news, right?
If you are a tech-savvy business owner with time on your hands, uploading the right information may be a breeze if you know what you’re doing. For those of you who are busy running businesses that require much of you, however, listing your company accurately can be a real pain.
Don’t let the aggravation stop you. To me, the difficulty isn’t so much the actual setting up, so much as edits don’t take well. You’re probably already listed inaccurately, and fixing it I find terribly time consuming.
It needs to be done, though. Directories that include your accurate company information are great reputation and link builders back to your website, showing up on search results before your company website does in most cases. Considering small mobile screens, you can’t afford to not show up in search results. Make it a point to attack one a week until you have a number of them finished accurately.
I seriously advise you NOT to pay for the additional listing services they offer. They mass-upload your information and then they charge to fix it. These fees can run thousands of dollars a year. The free listing will do a good job of representing you, but it will often take over an hour to get right as possible and verified. It’s not uncommon for them to hold an inaccuracy over your head and tell you only a paid service can address it. Once they get you to pay, you see, you can’t reach them to stop the monthly charges. I haven’t found one that could be reached, including my favorite locations. Some even have fine print that authorizes them to charge every time a spider or bot crawls the page, and call it a lead! Be listed, but be careful. Keep it free.
Don’t wonder if your company website can keep up with your competition. Take advantage of the resources available for your small business today.
MerchantCircle is my favorite directory, what’s yours?
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