If you own or manage a business, it's important to make sure your information is accurate on local business listings sites and directories. Why? Because potential customers use these sites to find businesses in their area. If your information is wrong you could be missing out on valuable leads.
And it’s not just about serving the people in your local area with the best set of search results. Accurate business listings management is also a fundamental part of any organic “local” SEO effort.
The benefits are many, and it may seem overwhelming to the inexperienced, so the goal here is to give everyone in need a confident head start by the end of this article. Leveraging business management tools can also play a pivotal role in ensuring seamless operations. Let’s start with the basics…
What is Local Listings Management?
If you've ever done a search for a local business on Google, you've probably noticed the “knowledge graph” box that displays on the right side of a SERP (Search Engine Results Page). These often include the business name, address, phone number, website URL, hours of operation, reviews, and even photos. This information is pulled from what's called a "business listing," the most well-known and potentially effective of which is Google Business Profile.
Local Listings Management Definition: The process of adding a business to relevant local directories and business listing sites, and making sure that information remains up-to-date, accurate and consistent across sites and over time.
Adding your business to the most authentic local directories and business listing sites, and making sure your information is up-to-date, accurate and consistent, is commonly defined as “local listings management”.
A local business site or directory is a website that provides information about businesses in a particular geographic area. These sites may be national with individual categories for cities/states (Yelp.com, CityOf.com, USChamber.com) or unique to a specific area (Brattleboro.org, LocalTorontoBusiness.ca, DetroitBusinessDirectory.net).
Usually, these sites allow users to search for businesses by category, keyword, or location. In addition, they often provide user-generated reviews and ratings, as well as business listings including contact information and maps. Some local business sites also offer the ability for businesses to share and rotate deals or coupons. While most local business sites are free to use, some do charge a subscription fee. Overall, they are a great way for consumers to find information about businesses in their area, and to allow said businesses to control their own online narrative using business management tools.
So - the goal of a local business site/directory is to help consumers find the goods or services they need, while also providing a platform for those businesses to promote themselves. In recent years, these sites have become increasingly popular, as more and more consumers turn to the internet for information about local businesses and “social proof”.
Many local business sites are affiliated with a specific Chamber of Commerce (COC) or other formal business organization. These types of COC sites are a great starting point for a new listings management strategy, as they often have the most qualified audiences and greater “domain authority” which is beneficial for local SEO. A search for [Your City/State] + [“Business Directory”] will get the ball rolling. You may be pleasantly surprised at all the options available.
Outside of the COC variety, depending on your location there may end up being hundreds of options, and it can be a challenge to separate the wheat from the chaff - or find those specific to your industry. Here is a list of the big-ticket national versions to help make the best use of your precious time.
If, after creating a certain number of business listings, the management process seems overwhelming - you’re not alone. There are a number of local listings management tools and services that we’ll cover in future articles.
The short version: managing your local listings is relatively easy, and only requires a bit of time and effort using the right business management tools. First, you'll need to claim your listing on each worthwhile site. This usually involves creating an account and verifying your business through a phone call, email or (in the case of Google Business Profile) snail-mail postcard.
Once you've claimed your listing, take some time to fill out all of the relevant fields. Include as much information as possible, such as your hours of operation, contact information, and website address. You should also add photos and videos, if possible. Finally, be sure to monitor your listing regularly, and update any information that has changed. And definitely keep all of the resulting URLs, usernames and passwords in a handy spreadsheet for when you need to make updates. By taking these simple steps, you can ensure that your business's local listings are accurate and up-to-date.
Businesses should both claim and manage their listings to (obviously) ensure that all of the information is accurate and up-to-date - or engage with a local business listings management service to do it for them. While you’re going to have to create most of these listings yourself if not working with a listings service, sometimes they occur naturally if a directory pulls in information automatically, you purchased your business from a previous owner, a departed employee started building them without your knowledge, etc. But you won’t know what you don’t know until you crack the lid on a management process.
Beyond keeping your NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) consistent across the web, which is critical for human beings and algorithmic local SEO efforts alike, there are other reasons why managing your business listings is important for both users and search engines.
Showing Up in Local Search Results
Managing your business listings is one of the core foundation tactics for good local SEO. That's because when you claim and verify your listing on a site like Google My Business (GMB), Bing Places for Business, or Yelp, you're telling search engines that your business is active and legitimate. This signals they can trust your details and rank you higher in local search results.
All in all, managing your business listings is essential if you want competitive local SEO visibility and the best chance of converting potential customers in multiple ancillary ways. By claiming and verifying your listing on sites like GMB and Yelp - and keeping all of your information consistent and up-to-date - you're telling search engines and potential customers alike that you're a credible source of information, and worthy of both their trust and hard-earned income.
If you haven't claimed your listings yet, it begs the question: “What are you waiting for?” If the strategy seems overwhelming, start by populating one or two sites with your listing and work out from there, maybe working on an additional directory once a week as you have the time. Don’t obsess over speed or volume of listings, just focus on rolling up your sleeves and getting started, in any capacity, in your business's best interests.