Business Local Listings
The more your business shows up online, the more people that will be exposed to it, and the more customers you will draw in. That’s the entire line of focus in digital marketing. Some marketing tactics are simple, and other are quite complex. One that is simple…signing up for business local listings.
What’s a local listing?
When you sign your business up for a local listing, or Google My Business, you are allowing Google to share your business information for when it meets specific search criteria. The information you provide is nothing personal or proprietary. You only have to share your business name, address, phone number and website URL. Certainly you want people to know how to find you or contact you, right? How else would you get customers?
By providing said business info. to business local listings, Google can share it through advertisements, Google Maps, the knowledge panel and the local 3-pack.
How do those four things help your business?
Advertisements
If you’ve ever used the internet then you’re familiar with pop-up ads. These ads pop up based on your recent search history. So, say you recently searched “what flooring is best for a kitchen?”. You may have clicked a few links, but that is all that is required for similar advertising to appear the next time you visit the internet.
From a local listing perspective, and as a business owner, you want your business to show up in one of those ads. That is, when someone searches something pertaining to your industry. If you’re not signed up for business local listings, then your business will not show up in ad space. In other words, you’d be missing out on some serious exposure.
Google Maps
Every business in local listings is mapped out in Google. Google maps simplifies searches by saving a few steps. Just by searching a business on the internet, a map of the business location will populate on the results page. Thus, you can get on the spot directions.
This opposes the process in which a user clicks on a business link, searches for an address through the business website, and then searches the address for directions. Google maps minimizes the searching. As such, your locally listed business will have an edge up on businesses that can’t be found on google maps.
Knowledge Panel
The knowledge panel shows up on the right side of a search engine results page and essentially summarizes the specific business that was searched. Within the knowledge panel, you may find a brief description of what the business does, along with an address, a phone number and any reviews.
Like with google maps, the knowledge panel provides a shortcut to the information that a visitor may be looking for. It also provides direct access to the business website and directions to the business location.
It’s all about the Local 3-Pack!
The ultimate goal for business local listings is to see your business populate on the local 3-pack.
What is the local 3-pack?
Basically, anytime you search a product or service online you’ll see a list of three businesses populate in three consecutive rows. This list shows up on the first page of the search results and is located either at the top of the screen or toward the middle. And above the three listings will be a google map that pins each business location.
Anytime your business makes this list, you should be very proud. Why? Because google has isolated your business, making it the focal point of a search. The local 3-pack stands out more so than links and it provides your business name, phone number, location, hours of operation and rating to the searcher.
As an example, if you are the owner of a flooring company in Dallas, TX, you want your business to show up in the local 3-pack when someone in Dallas searches something related to flooring. The local 3-pack is the aspect of a local listing that will give your business the greatest online exposure. Exposure will lead to site visitors and phone calls. As a result, your customer base should grow.
How do you get a local listing?
There is very little to setting up a local listing. You just have to have a gmail account and then complete four quick steps in getting your business information prepped.
You just go to www.gybo.com/business, enter your business name in the search bar and click “find out”.
From there, you’ll find out whether your business is already verified, if you need to update information to your current account or if your business is not listed in any capacity. If it is not listed, you just have to click the link where you “Add Your Business Info”.
You enter your business address (no P.O. boxes) and select the applicable category in which your business falls under. Just like that, you are listed! Oh, and it’s important to mention that it’s free to sign up.
Post on your google my business account
On your Google My Business account, you can post about events and post images, promotions, coupons and specials. These will be linked to the knowledge panel for your business and they will link back to your website.
Beyond search engine rankings, google business local listings also acts as a promotion platform for your business. The promoting aspect is a lot like social media; however, less direct.
When you post something to social media, you know for the most part who your audience is. Of course, likes, retweets and shares can increase the number of people who see a particular post. Google my business may not have quite the widespread influence that social media has; however, you never know who might come across your business promotion when skimming through google pages.
How will a local listing benefit my business?
We’ve mentioned a few benefits sporadically, but we’ll hone in on them here.
First off, a local listing gives your business range. You want people to know where to find you and how to contact you, right? Well, a local listing will enable more people to find your business and contact your business. Just think about the popularity of google. Millions, probably billions of people use google on a daily basis. Even if a fraction of a percent of that total is specific to your industry and location, that’s still a lot of searches. You’ll definitely get more eyes on your business if its locally listed.
You can also track statistics internally through google local listings. You can track how many people visit your site, how many people have called your business through local listings, how many people have searched for directions and how many people have viewed photos of your business.
Thus, you can track your PROGRESS. Local listings is yet another way to promote your business, and it’s a lot easier than planning detailed marketing campaigns and deciding on promotional tactics. With local listings, all you have to do is sign up and let the results speak for themselves.
What can I do to improve my local listing rank?
There is some work that needs to be done so your business can be seen favorably in the eyes of google business local listings. Though, this work should be no different than what you were already doing for your website.
Specifically, local listing rankings will look for quality of backlinks, quality of SEO and overall quality of the website. These three things are imperative to establishing and maintaining a successful online platform.
Search engines (google, in this case) have advanced algorithms that track all sorts of web activity. These algorithms are what ranks each website that exists. If your site has quality web design, content, backlinking, and responsiveness, then it will probably rank high in certain searches.
Ultimately, all facets of a website play into web traffic. The more traffic a website gets, the higher it will rank in search engine results pages. The same concept applies to local listings. Traffic represents popularity and helpfulness. Google wants to promote websites that people will enjoy and get helpful input from. That’s kind of what the internet is all about, wouldn’t you agree?
So, yes, it’s easy to get verified in local listings, but the work doesn’t stop there. You and anyone else who is responsible for running your website must take the necessary steps in executing SEO campaigns and maintaining quality design. As a result, you should eventually see your website as a member of the local 3-pack.
Click4Corp
Click4Corp can help! We help oversee all matters pertaining to business websites and let business owners handle the everyday offline operations. Search engine optimization, web design, web construction, content writing, social media posting, pay per click campaigning, and, of course, local listings are all areas of expertise for us.
Part of our process is ensuring each of our business clients gets verified by google business local listings. As we mentioned, it’s up to the business owner to actually make this happen; however, we will monitor a local listing’s effectiveness. In order to increase search engine results, we will implement SEO methods and make necessary changes to your website.
Please visit our website—www.click4corp.com—to learn more about our services. Also, visit our blog to gain additional knowledge on all sorts of digital marketing topics.
4 Steps for your Google 3 Pack Listing