Countless entrepreneurs, who engage in local businesses only, fail to take full advantage of the internet. They’re placed under the false impression that only the big boys engaging international trades can benefit from the web.
Getting a brick and mortar business profile listed in the numerous directories may prove to be extremely beneficial when it comes to increasing exposure. The mere fact that a local business has its name scattered across the web (at reputable listings) instantly places customers under the impression that the business is popular and trustworthy.
Furthermore, the amount of traffic the top directories receive is massive, which in turn can potentially drive more paying customers to the businesses listed. Using this in combination with a website or blog is a clever strategy to further increase income streams.
However, it’s important the business profile that’s submitted to these directories contains information that is accurate and consistent. The more info that’s fed into these online profiles, the better it is for local SEO rankings, therefore increasing chances for winding up in the first page of the search results. Moreover, the profile created must be identical or contain the exact same business details in all directories.
The reason behind that is the fact that search engine algorithms take note of all this data, so seeing any differences amongst these profiles may cause it to doubt the credibility of the business establishment, thereby forcing it to penalize by means of dropping rankings or de-indexing pages.
By inputting complete info, such as address, contact numbers, email addresses, etc., Google and its competitors will be more likely to trust the business establishment. Also, the more mentions of the business (also referred to as citations) spread throughout the World Wide Web, the better it is for local SEO rankings.
The task of getting citations may be tedious, and will take time. That being said, it’s best to start off with the high-ranking directories first, as they provide more SEO value for the search engines. From that point onwards, work on the rest of the lower-ranking directories. Some people like to skip out on these since they don’t offer much SEO value, but nevertheless, they do help bump up rankings and increase overall exposure.
Lastly, just like webpages and links, it may take time for Google and its counterparts to index these citations, so don’t be surprised if they don’t show up straightaway in the SERPs.
