Maps & Other Vital Listings For Your Local Business
Here’s my take on the key locations where your business should be listed. I’ll also provide links to where you can get started creating your listing too.
This location service is an essential listing location. Anyone who uses an iPhone uses Apple Maps. Even me, I keep Google Maps on my iPhone because I prefer it, but anytime I click a link to an address, the iPhone operating system automatically opens Apple Maps. So, by default, I am exposed to listings on Apple Maps no matter what. So is everyone else on an iPhone.
Google My Business & Google Maps
Google uses 1 consolidated system for aggregating business information, it’s called Google My Business. Completing a profile gets you on maps (as long as you jump through the hoops to get your location and phone number verified) and will create a profile that shows up in regular search results. Your My Business profile can contain images, reviews, business hours, and descriptions. All this makes this listing location amazingly important.
Watch out Google, Bing is quickly becoming more and more relevant every year. Bing is an interesting search engine because of how people use it. For example, Bing is used when someone searches via Siri, Alexa, and Cortana (Xbox); all of which are voice controlled.
Making sure that your business information is accurate on Yelp is important for a few key reasons. First, people will often call or map your location directly from your Yelp page. Also, Yelp is one of the most used search engines in the United States and not just for restaurants. Once you claim your listing, you can include key info about your business and manually add photos. Yelp also has some nice paid features which give you better image control and search presence.
The listing service operates with the same general purpose as Yelp. Aggregate reviews and showcase key business info. Depending on what part of the county you’re in, Foursquare may be more widely used than Yelp.
Yes, Yahoo is still around and many people still use it, especially those individuals who have a Yahoo email address.
This list is what I consider to be the most vital. I would suggest that at a bare minimum, your business be listed on these sites. There are also dozens of nationally recognized listing sites. Getting your business up on more listing sites is a great way to improve SEO too. Here’s a larger list of 50 sites if you care to dive into it.
In conclusion, getting your business listed is an important step toward creating better online visibility, but you shouldn’t stop there. Many of the listing sites I discussed allow you to build and update profiles for your business. Keeping your profiles fresh helps improve the appeal of your business online and communicate key pieces of information with your audience.