A business has to be visible to the local customers first for it to be successful. Small business listings help improve the local visibility of businesses which in turn results in increased customers and revenue. Hence, add your business to quality local business directories for it to perform well.

Benefits of Having Local Business Listings

About 80% of web users research a business online before buying from it. This makes the businesses with a strong online presence gain a stronghold in the market. Local business listings introduce your business to potential customers. The information you provide, when rightly done, can convince customers to get associated with your business.

Think of local business listings as your business card on the web. There are more benefits to having these listings.

Enhanced Brand Visibility

Apart from improving your online presence, the local business profiles will also help increase brand visibility. Make sure you provide as much information as possible about your business and be accurate about it.

Create local business listings with various websites with the same information. For example, you might have a company logo – ensure you use the same across all local business listings. This would make your business and brand more recognizable among the customers.

Boosted Website SEO

Using target keywords for your local customers in the business profiles will greatly help boost your website SEO. Local business directories have high domain authority and hence business listings on these sites are more likely to appear at the top of the search results. This provides an advantage for your business over your competitors who do not have a local business listing.

Better Search Results

The businesses on the first page of the SERPs are the ones that have the best chance of getting customers. Unfortunately, it is hard to get the top spot, especially for small businesses.

Your business has to show up enough number of times on the search results page before the user is convinced to check it out. With local business profiles on high-ranking websites, your business can dominate search results.

Building Trust

Local business profiles have the provision for customers to review the products/services. Almost all customers check the reviews before deciding to get the product.

This makes managing the reviews important. Express your gratitude for the positive reviews and try to resolve the issue mentioned in the negative ones. A well-maintained local business profile will convince the customers of your brand’s reputation.

How to Get a Local Business Profile for My Business?

You might now be convinced about the importance of business listings. Are you thinking of adding your business to the local business directories? Then here is a guide towards doing it right.

Finding the Platforms

The first step in creating the local business listings would be to find the sites that offer them. There are thousands of business directories and you cannot choose to add your business to every one of them. Research the quality ones that would offer the maximum benefit.

Start with the prominent ones like Google Business Profile, Bing Places and Yelp. You can also choose the business directories that concentrate on the area where your business is located or choose ones that focus on your niche. Make sure that whatever you choose offers you the maximum benefit.

For example, at LocalBizNetwork we offer the option of including articles, videos, important events and more to our local business listing. The more the information presented about your business, higher is the possibility of the customer trying it out.

Pick out the best ones and add your business to them. You should also regularly update the business listings with recent information.

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Adding Information

Adding the business information to the directories is the most crucial step of this process. This is the information that the potential customers are going to see and it provides the first impression about your business.

First, include all basic information starting from the name of the business, business hours, contact information and a list of products/services offered. All information provided should be accurate. Most directories also include the option of adding your website, social media links, photos and more to your listing. Make sure that the links are working and the photos are of high quality.

Regularly Manage the Business Listings

Once the local business listing is complete, the job isn’t over. You have to continuously optimize the listing with relevant keywords so that it dominates the search results.

Check the information that you have provided and if there are any changes, do it fast. Inaccurate information makes the reputation drop, both in the search engine and among the customers.

Monitor the customer reviews regularly. Do not remove negative reviews or reply harshly. Deal with them rationally and try to resolve the complaints. This would convince customers that your business is a trustworthy one.

LocalBizNetwork

LocalBizNetwork has been helping small business owners shine despite the increasing competition in the digital world. Check out our business listing options at localbiznetwork.com/add-biz.php.