Why Local Business Listings Are Important for SEO
What is a Local Business Listing?
Local business listings, or local listings, are short profiles that contain your business’ essential information and appear on directory websites and in search results. This information typically includes your business’s name, physical address, hours of operation, phone number, website, and customer reviews. Oftentimes, it’s free to add and claim one’s business on these platforms, although it is up to the business owner to maintain the accuracy of the information on the listing over time.
Why is Having a Local Business Listing Important for my eCommerce Business and Website?
Having a local listing for your eCommerce business may seem unimportant, especially if you tend to sell most of your merchandise online. However, there are many benefits of having a local listing for your business, a few of which are listed below.
Drive In-Store Traffic
If your business has a physical location, a local listing is a great way to drive more in-store traffic, especially during the holiday season. Giving your consumers another channel to shop from helps to increase sales, and a local listing is the perfect way to create awareness of that other channel’s existence.
Increase Visibility & Improve SEO
An up-to-date and complete local listing can increase your business’s SEO, search rankings, visibility, and credibility online.
A Free Advertisement
A local listing on platforms like Google My Business essentially creates a free advertisement online for your business, and is an easy way to gain brand awareness.
Communicate with Your Audience More Effectively
A local listing can help you to communicate with your business’s audience better in terms of holiday hours, early/unpredicted store closures, and other important updates.
Obtain Valuable Feedback
A local listing gives you a place to view and interact with valuable feedback on your business’s performance. Being able to read and respond to reviews in a timely manner will allow you to better engage with your customers, improve their experience, and your business’s reputation. Potential customers will also be able to read your business’s ratings and reviews, so it is important to check your local listing regularly.
How to Create a Local Business Listing
One of the most popular local listings platforms is Google My Business. The goal of Google My Business is to store and show information about all types of businesses, and to help searchers find accurate information about a business easily online. Your Google My Business listing will appear in not only Google Search results, but also in Maps as well. To get started on setting up your own local listing, just follow the steps below.
- Create Your Google My Business Account: You will have the option to either claim or create your account. If your business pops up when you search for it, then you just have to claim it. If not, then you will have to make a new account.
- Verification: This is just Google making sure that you are, in fact, the owner of your business. Verification typically happens through mail, and can take up to two weeks.
- Choose Categories for Your Business: After verification, you’ll get to choose one main category that you feel best represents your business’s core offerings, and up to nine secondary categories as well. Choose wisely, as this is what Google will use to determine whether or not to show your business’s listing in a user’s Google search.
- Add Professional Photos of Your Business: These photos should ideally represent your business and its core offerings. These photos can include a physical tour of your business, some of your products, and even your staff– whatever your customers will find the most appealing.
- Add Your Business’s Basic Information: As stated previously, include your business’s essential information such as physical address, phone number, hours of operation, description, website, and appointment links.
- Monitor Reviews: Try to gather as many positive reviews as possible from your customers, and be sure to reply to their feedback frequently.
- Add Offers to Your Listing: You can also add posts to your listing, and alert your customers to any special deals and discounts that your business may be running.
- Make Regular Posts to Your Listing: Adding new posts to your listing attracts customers’ attention, increases engagement, and increases your business’s likelihood of appearing in Google search results. Be sure to refresh these regularly, as they are automatically removed from listing’s first view after a week.
- Set Up Messaging: Setting up messaging on your listing will let customers get in touch with you easily and will increase your likelihood of generating more online leads.
- Contact Bytes.co for Help
Feeling slightly overwhelmed? No worries, because Bytes.co is here to help. Our digital marketing and website expertise make us pros at everything Google My Business and much more. Schedule a call with us today to get a free website consultation at a time that is most convenient for you!
