Because an increasing number of people rely on the internet to solve their problems, business owners must increasingly improve their online presence. Having your company included in several online directories improves your search engine exposure as well as your brand’s general trustworthiness.
A local listing (or local citation) is an online reference of a local business’s name, address, phone number, or website. These are similar to phone book listings, but instead they are available online.
Online listings assist users in finding local businesses and can have an impact on a company obtaining an increase in traffic. Your business might potentially improve your search engine rankings and gain more clients by expanding on local listings. Several websites and directories give a platform for businesses to create free business listings. The following are some of the reasons why you should be listed on directory listings.
Improve your local SEO
Local listings are important for SEO since they assist a business to gain high-authority backlinks and enhance its exposure in local search results.
Most online directory entries will contain a backlink to your website, and at the very least drive more customers to your business and signal to Google that it is trustworthy.
Local listings are important for SEO since they provide prospective clients with relevant information about your business and increase traffic to your website and physical location. Online directory listings also assist you in outranking your competition by increasing local search exposure. Finally, it provides a forum for customers to submit reviews, which provides social proof and helps to develop trust with new customers and search engines.
Increase web traffic
More people will find you in search results if you have many online directory listings, resulting in more visitors and traffic to your website. Consider your business listings to be a modern-day phonebook. When customers need information about a company these days, they go online to find it. It’s easier for online searchers to find what they’re looking for with local directory listings because when Google crawls the web for information in your local area to give to the searcher, your increased prevalence will make it easier to find you.
Manage your reputation
Google looks for mentions of your company’s name, address, and phone number when it crawls the web. Even simple modifications, such as a changing phone number or an abbreviated business address, can warn search engines that your company isn’t reputable. When your contact information is consistent across all sites, search engines will regard your company listing as trustworthy, boosting your ranking in search results and allowing you to appear in local search results.
Ensure accuracy and consistency
Consistency is important for search engines, but it’s also important for customers. Customers will regard you as unprofessional and irresponsible if they come across an outdated phone number or can’t easily find your business address, and they will then choose to work with your competitors over you. Customers must be able to find your exact contact information every time they search, no matter which site they use. Google will also penalize your business’s ranking if your information is not accurate and consistent.
Make sure your online directory listings are locked in
After you find and correct all of your online directory listings, you should also “lock” the listings to prevent any alterations. Aggregators that collect public data from government entities or other online resources provide listing data to online directories. This information is frequently wrong and out of date, this is why you should take control of your online directory listings and lock the information in place. In past circumstances, businesses have had unethical competitors claim their listing and change the details, or a customer has marked their business closed if they are unable to find the right address. You should lock your business listings to preserve your online reputation and ensure your listings do not degrade.
You have worked so hard to establish and run your business, don’t let lack of online directories and inconsistent information penalize the way you appear online.
Claiming and correcting all this information could take a very long time, that is why our team at Ascent Digital can help make it easier for you. We can claim and verify your listings, and lock your correct business information in so that it remains intact. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your business get found online.
