The Importance of Listing Your Business Online

Did you know that 66% of your ability to show up in local search and outrank your competitors is directly linked to managing your listings and reputation? That means you are in control.

When a consumer wants to find out more about your business, where do you think they look? Probably not an encyclopedia or newspaper. Nowadays, we all head to a search engine. That’s why we want to talk about the importance of business listings. Then we are going to look at your business’s online reputation and how reviews can make a huge impact on your bottom line.

When a consumer wants to find out more about your business, where do you think they look? Probably not an encyclopedia or newspaper. Nowadays, we all head to a search engine. That’s why we want to talk about the importance of business listings. Then we are going to look at your business’s online reputation and how reviews can make a huge impact on your bottom line.

Did you know that 66% of your ability to show up in local search and outrank your competitors is directly linked to managing your listings and reputation? That means you are in control.

Many online business listings are powerful, but often overlooked. Listings give consumers critical information about the business they are searching for like; location, hours of operation, and how to contact them. Have you ever looked up a business online only to find they have no hours of operation listed, or you found a different address on their Facebook page vs on google? That’s frustrating, right? If your business cannot be found online or your customers are being pointed in the wrong direction, they are more likely to give up on you and go to a competitor. 

Listings are one of the best ways for your business to get found. If you only have a few listings, you’re missing a huge opportunity. With the majority of time spent online whether it be for leisure or beneficial purposes, you want people to be able to stumble across what you have to offer at your SMB. 

Here’s a shortlist for listings that matter to your small business in North America. They might not all matter to you personally, but to search engines, they can hold a lot of weight:

- Google My Business

- Facebook 

- Instagram

- Twitter

- BING

- Navmii

- Factual

- Tupalo

- Whereto
- Opendi

- Yalwa

- Hotfrog

- Acompio

- iGlobal

- Bell Canada

- WAND

- HERE

-TomTom

-Yelp

- Car Manufacturer

- Ford

- GM

- Audi

- Mercedes

- VW

- FIAT

- BMW

- Toyota

Google My Business 

You’ll notice that Google My Business is right at the top of the list. That’s because it’s one of the most popular search engines. Creating a Google My Business listing is free and very effective in establishing an online presence. When claiming your Google My Business listing, make sure the details of your business are accurate and robust, so Google sees your listing as a valuable response to search queries. It doesn't build any confidence for a customer to read conflicting business hours on a business Facebook page and Google listing and Google knows it, now you do too.

You should know that while most local searches start in Google, Yelp and Facebook aren’t too far behind, so it makes sense to be listed on a variety of sources. That being said, listing your SMB on Google My Business is a fantastic place to start for customers, new or returning, to find you and your SMB. 

Listings are the foundation of your online presence. Once your listings are established properly, your customers will be able to find you. The next step is managing and controlling what they will find out about your business once they find it. Stay tuned for next month’s blog about reputation management when we dive into reviews and testimonials.