A few weeks ago, I did a Google search for a local restaurant and was amazed to find it didn’t have any information on its Google+ business page. It also didn’t help that this restaurant didn’t have a website listed in Google’s search engine. My fiancé and I ended up going to a different restaurant and the other place lost an opportunity to gain a new client. This is obviously a rare case, but I asked myself this question: How many other clients has it missed out on?
It was that moment that I decided to write this article. You see, not every business owner is going to have Google analytics installed on his or her website and know exactly how many visitors it has. That being said, there are some very simple steps ANY business owner can take to increase the business’ findability*online. Some of these tips don’t even require having a website, though it definitely does help to have one. So here we go.
Get Listed! Being listed on as many credible directories as possible is a very good thing for your business. There are thousands of directories on the web. We don’t suggest being listed on every one, but the more times your business is listed on credible sources, the more findable you become to local clients. Need a little direction? Make sure your business is listed on these 25 map listings!
Also, make sure your business’ NAP information (name, address and phone number) is identical for each map listing, and I mean IDENTICAL! There are a number of reasons why your NAP information might not match, and it can be time consuming to get them corrected. The bottom line is that if you have different addresses and phone numbers on your listings, you are probably being penalized on the big search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing).
Finally, we suggest you add flair to your listings. The more testimonials, images, awards and other content you add will make your listing look more appealing to your target client. Some listings will even allow you to add videos, which have a direct correlation to higher conversion rates. If you need help with any of these steps, you can find our contact info here.
*Findability: A fun part of the Leadhub vernacular describing how easy it is to locate your website in an online search.
