In the previous update, I covered using your companies social and local assets to communicate with your target audience. Let's delve a bit deeper into the Local side. Today we'll cover your map listings and the importance of having a fully optimized Google My Business account.
An active online presence and publicity are essential to both large and small businesses. Technology is slowly transforming the business sector. Companies should keep up with the latest trends in technology. Technological innovations are changing how business is being conducted.
An active online presence and publicity are essential to both large and small businesses. Technology is slowly transforming the business sector. Companies should keep up with the latest trends in technology. Technological innovations are changing how business is being conducted.
Google local listing
Google's Local Listings refers to the business listings that appear at the top of Google page results. These listings appear when you are searching for a keyword. These searches are different from pay per click listings and other organic results.
You should have a Google My Business account before you can submit your listing. Businesses that are already listed do not need to open another account. They are only required to verify it so that they can have access to their account. Ensure that you have filled out your profile entirely. The information required includes the payment option, business hours, photos, and coupons.
When listing, you can also upload YouTube videos and up to ten photos. Filling your information shows that you have an active business. Your listings should also be relevant to the keywords that are being searched. If your business is in a competitive market, you should check your competitors listing more frequently. This provides you with an opportunity to expand on relevant information that they may have left out. It also helps you to compare their information with yours.
Optimizing your listings is very important. You should add your company's information to multiple places other than in Google local. The information should be duplicated as many times as possible. Duplication of content means entail displaying your business name, services, phone number, and address in all platforms. Examples of sites that you can add your information include Apple, Yahoo, Bing, Yelp, Linkedin, Yellow Pages, CitySquares, Moz Local, Ziplocal and MOZ Local.
Worth Mentioning:
Worth Mentioning:
- Brownbook
- BubbleLife
- Chamber of Commerce
- Dun & Bradstreet
- eBusiness Pages
- Enroll Business
- Express Business Directory
- Factual
- Foursquare
Google Map Citation
Google Map citation refers to the referencing of the company's information on the web. This information includes the business name, website URL, state address, and location. Your business citations should appear the same way as they appear in website resources. This is to determine the relevance and accuracy of your business location.
The information that you publish on other external websites must be consistent with the information that you have included on your Google business page. How you post the information should also be the same. Inconsistencies in how you publish the information can decrease the impact and authoritativeness of your source. Businesses that pay attention to these minor details have authoritative citations. This also helps the company to compete at a higher standard in the local search result.
Your local citations also need to be trusted and credible. The process of creating these local citations can be tedious and time-consuming. If you already have an established business, you can benefit from the local listing.
Google Local Pack
Google's local pack is also referred to as Google Map Pack. A Local Pack is a section of a search result that shows the businesses that are related to your search. Sometime back, local packs were described as 7-pack because the search was only limited to seven most popular businesses in the search location. Google has now limited the search to only three search results.
The local packs originate from the Google Business directory. The pack shows the map of the area and a complete list of other businesses. The ranking takes into consideration factors such as the company's information, business reviews, and website SEO.
Benefits of Local SEO
This marketing strategy helps your business to be easily found in the search result page. It does this by adding the information of your business to the search engine listing. This feature is vital in marketing, mainly when you are operating a physical store. After searching the business, customers can use google maps for directions.
One of the benefits of this marketing strategy is that it helps to increase your web traffic. It also ensures that your page shows up more frequently during the searches. This prompts people to view your products and services. It also ensures that your business name comes up when customers search for other similar businesses.
Applying this strategy helps your business earn trust as a result of high rankings. Research shows that clients tend to trust the top listings in the search result page. It also helps in making sure that your business has been ranked higher than your competitors. Besides, having a local SEO can also increase the probability that your business will be ranked among the top three.
This strategy reduces advertising costs. This strategy allows businesses to promote their products locally to customers through a search engine. Once the customer has clicked your link, they are redirected to your business information. This strategy helps in reducing the costs of ads and other advertisement campaigns.
This strategy exposes the business in the local directories. It enables the company to appear in directories where clients can google your services. Having your company information on the local directories can also increase your credibility.
This strategy helps your business obtain more reviews and also gain more customers. Most customers tend to purchase products that have good recommendations. Responding to customer reviews through the business account can boost your SEO ranking. Good reviews on your pages attract more clients.
Recommended Tools
There are a few goodies and utilities available from Google that you may not know exist. Each tool can be classified based on their purpose. They can either be used for marketing, collaborating with business colleagues, staying organized, or running the business. The best tools for marketing your business product are Google Trends, Google Trends, and Google Ads Keyword Planner.
Google Trends is an essential tool for those who want their sites to be ranked higher. It provides you with a complete analysis of how many people have searched a particular phrase or name. Google Trends provides you with specific trends. Google Ads Keyword Planner is essential in finding the most appropriate keywords for your marketing campaigns.
Collaboration is essential in any business. Tools such as 'Google Docs' helps you share or edit documents. Changes in the document can also be shown in real-time. Google Calendar reminds you of meetings, launches, and exhibitions. Google Drive, on the other hand, helps you in storing files.
Google Analytics helps in running your business by giving you an insight into website traffic. It also shows you the traffic sources. Google Trends and Google Alerts are essential in monitoring the business brand reputation. Running a business can be hectic. Having Google tools such as Google Keep and Google Gmail can help you remain focused. Google Keep enables you to convert your data into s photos or voice recordings. Google Gmail has features that help you get your emails quickly without wasting time.
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Written by Tisho Richardson
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Written by Tisho Richardson
Tisho Richardson has 13+ years of experience as an SEO, Content Marketing Specialist, and B2B Social Media Manager. He is highly proficient in the most Digital Marketing utilities including, Moz, SEMRush, Hootsuite, and Hubspot Marketing Automation platforms. He can track and measure large amounts of data to present actionable strategies to reduce marketing expenses and increase KPI.
My ‘Keep it real’ Statement: I am an affiliate of some of the utilities that I mention on this website. Which means I receive monetary compensation for promoting them. I will always denote this by (*) at the end of each Link.
My ‘Keep it real’ Statement: I am an affiliate of some of the utilities that I mention on this website. Which means I receive monetary compensation for promoting them. I will always denote this by (*) at the end of each Link.
