Get Your Business Listings on the “Big Four”
You probably haven’t realized it yet, but it’s likely that your business has suffered at the hands of incorrect business listings.
And as a customer I’m sure you know from experience the negative impact it can have. To put it without remorse, when someone is trying to buy a product or service and an incorrect listing causes that process to be more challenging, you can expect that customer will waste no time finding another place to spend their hard earned money.
Don’t let your customers lose out on business because of silly mistakes like incorrect listings—claim and correct them instead!
Out with the old, in with the new
As you are probably aware phone books are starting to corner the doorstop and firestarter market. As tech-savvy generations age and account for larger percentages of our population, target customers are continuing to shift further away from paper and toward digital. 63% of people under 40 never use phone books to find local listings. This means having your business listed online is critical to tapping into a huge demographic of potential customers in the up-and-coming 80-million Millennial generation.
The Internet’s hottest spots for business listings
With 85% of consumers browsing online to find your business, it’s more important than ever to be showing present and accurate NAP (name, address, phone number) data in the internet’s hottest spots. For this article, we will narrow our focus on “The Big Four”: Bing, Yelp, YellowPages and Google. These four listing hubs account for 85% of all search traffic and providing businesses with access to 314 million monthly users, these are the listings you want claimed, corrected and working in your favor for free.
(1) Bing
Bing is a big up-and-comer in the digital world. This engine now accounts for 30% of all searches performed online. That’s a huge amount of traffic for local consumers looking for your business. Accessible from Bing Places, getting a business online is as easy as one, two, three!
(2) Yelp
Traditionally known as a review platform, Yelp has evolved over the years. Its now your one-stop-shop for your business to manage information, reviews, post photos, promotions and events for your customers. Yelp is a huge draw to businesses because it has so much to offer and so much traffic! With up to 36.3 million monthly users looking for reputable and trustworthy businesses, wouldn’t it be great to get found on Yelp? Get started now.
(3) YellowPages
Aptly named for its predecessor, YellowPages (or YP as we more affectionately know it) has taken over where the original Yellow Pages left off. With a built-in user base from its paper days, YellowPages has become a reliable source for listing information. On top of all that, YP has some of the highest US local search numbers in the game. This makes it the perfect place for your business to get found online. Get started here and get YellowPages working for those local businesses of yours!
(4) Google
“Just Google it” has become a common phrase in most of our daily lives. This comes to no surprise that its listing source, Google My Business, makes our Big Four. Unique to the other three, Google’s demographic reaches far beyond the female decision makers, 45+ age group, and $60,000+ income earners using Bing, Yelp and YellowPages. In fact, part of Google My Business’ draw is that its listings are seen by everyone who uses Google. With up to 175 million monthly users across every demographic, that’s a pretty big draw.
Not only does Google My Business get you found in searches, but on Google Maps as well! Accounting for 78% of mobile travel usage, if your business isn’t on found on Google My Business, there’s a good chance it’s not getting found in real life either. Don’t send customers driving around in circles; get your businesses on Google my Business now.
Accuracy really is everything
Now, let’s talk about how your business information should be listed online—100% accurately! Customers trust Bing, Yelp, YellowPages and Google to give them the correct information they need to find the business they’re looking for. Alternatively, when the information is incorrect, customers lose major trust in the brand. Not only can inaccurate business listings and inconsistent NAP data diminish your brand, but it can also affect search engine optimization (SEO)? Yep, you read that right! Listings with false location information are the #1 negative local ranking factor when it comes to SEO. So, not only can false listing data make it hard for customers to find you physically, but online, too.
As you can very well see, being present and being accurate where it matters most in online listings is crucial to survival in today’s dog-eat-dog digital world.
Make sure your business listings are being shown where it matters. Advent has the most efficient tool to help you manage all your business listings in one place. Contact today for a quick run down on how it all works.