Digital Agency

Importance Of Online Listing For Your Business

We all remember the huge yellow pages that were available next to the telephones. That was how you’d get contact information about a business you were interested in. Every business had to put their information in there, they couldn’t afford otherwise. Every year a new and updated yellow book would be delivered.

Then the internet came along and changed our lives, how we interact, how we do business, and how customers engage with businesses. Information was more easily available. As technology progressed, so did the way we use it. Information was just a click away on your phone. This made yellow pages redundant just like phone booths. But not the idea of having your business listed. It was important to have your business listed online now than ever before.

This is because more than 85% of people would check your business online through your website, directories and search engines before considering to visit the physical store. They want to see your online presence, reputation and credibility before they engage with your business.

There are hundreds of online directories out there that you can have your business listed to increase your visibility to both current and potential customers. The biggest being Google My Business, Facebook, Yelp etc. The more sites that have your information the better for your business to be seen in both  local and global searches.

Let’s discuss why you need an online listing for your business in more detail.

1. It’s easy to do it

Anyone with the basic computer knowledge can list their business online in most of the directories.

It will take a few minutes to input all the facts and will take a couple of days for this information to be visible on search engines.

2. It’s more than contact information

Online listing contains more than just your business phone number and address. It allows you to pin the maps to your location, working hours, holidays, pictures of the premises and even your latest offers.

Now with Google My Business, you can even have your social posts on your listing, your website and other relevant information about your business. This all helps in your search engine optimization marketing strategy to help your business grow and reach more potential customers.

3. An easy way to implement SEO

Search engine optimization is used to make your business more visible in search results. The more consistent you are with your SEO strategy, the higher your chances of the algorithms showing your business in all relevant searches.

Google is currently the biggest search engine and we don’t see that changing anytime soon. Most mobile devices use Google search engine so it’s important to have your listing on all of its platforms. Google My Business considers many factors to determine which business show on its coveted first three spots on the first page. It’s organic so it depends solely on your determination.

Here’s some of the factors that the Google considers
  1. Consistency across all directories – all information across all sites must be consistent. You’ll be surprised by the inconsistencies other listing websites make due to mistakes with competitors, other businesses with similar names. They automatically update information they believe to be true. This misinformation, misspellings and confusion will cause Google not to have confidence in your business. So you have to check on a regular basis the information listed on all sites about your business is correct and up to date.
  2. The more sites you’re listed on, the higher your chances – . the more mentions you business receives on other sites that google considers to be  trustworthy sources, the more credible your business will seem. Google will prioritise those businesses with more listings than those who don’t.
  3. Google reviews – it’s also another way to build your reputation and credibility online. Google will consider what people are saying about your business and your overall ratings. The higher your good reviews, the more the search bots will show your business in relevant searches.
  4. Business website – outdated websites are not user friendly, Make sure your website is mobile friendly as well. Also the content you put on your website must relate to the purpose of your business.
What can you do to ensure your listing is correct and consistent on all platforms

Having your listing on hundreds of directories can be tedious and time consuming. Apart from inputting all the information manually, you might even need to hire someone to keep track of your business listings on all sites, considering some sites will delete your listing if they believe a business is no longer active.

With our software we help create a strong foundation for your business and build your online presence to improve your search engine ranks and make sure your information is correct across all sites.

Get in touch with us and let’s talk about how your business can benefit from our software.