Visibility

Are You Visible? It is well understood today that local listings in search engines is a critical factor in being found online, partly due to the growing use of mobile devices but more so the fact that the major search sites place business listings atop natural results if they know where you are. The common example is Google displaying the “7-pack” of listings first if the user is logged in or if their IP address can be geo-located.

It is also the common response to suggest that the answer to this opportunity is to “Submit your business to local search.”

Why then do we find that over 40% of business listings are incorrect, deficient or missing entirely? At UniversalBusinessListing.org, we partnered with GetListed.org to create an enterprise-level Local Search Analysis tool that can provide a detailed check of any variation in name, address, phone number and URL across several top search engines, online yellow pages and social network sites.  It can do this in the hundreds and the thousands at once and the results are particularly eye-popping for businesses with lots of locations that either get rebranded through mergers, relocated, or switch phone systems. Many are shocked to see lingering hotel brands that should have been in the dead file, bank branches that have changed names twice-over, cell-phone numbers of local service reps being listed for national corporations, and mysterious URLs that seem to be redirects or local resellers.

1.    Distribution Delusion

The most common error made is when a business believes they are covering all bases when they submit to Google, Yahoo and Bing. In Local Search, these sites make up only a fraction of the direct action (traffic, calls, clicks); while online Yellow Pages sites like AT&T’s Yellowpages.com, Superpages.com and Yellowbook.com generate not only 30% of the traffic, but their version of your listing is extracted by sites like Google for both content display and ranking value. So if your content is not accurate on these and a dozen or more other search and social sites, not only will there be a risk of inaccuracy, the rankings will be harmed.

Furthermore, as we get more social and more mobile, the importance of accurate and comprehensive distribution on social networks, like Myspace and Facebook, as well as mobile devices, like smart phones and GPS navigation, becomes critical.

While many of these locations allow users to input information directly, human nature results in most people giving up after four or five sites. At UniversalBusinessListing.org we have found that the most effective method in terms of time and money is to focus mostly on the underlying databases that these sites subscribe to – such as infoUSA, Acxiom and some other providers. This will get your data distributed to almost everywhere on the major outlet list – over 250 locations – plus it prevents bad records being redistributed every month in their updates. In fact, if you don’t correct records with them all, we have found over 50% of errors remain. It’s like a listing virus that needs to be repaired at the root source in the Local Search operating system. UBL’s service is just $30 a year per listing and it works in about 60 days (www.ubl.org).

However, we do advise the best practice is to also “claim” a listing as your own business on at least Google and a few of the other major search sites. This is an identity control issue as it can lock out hijackers; just remember if you do this you also have to keep the record updated every year. We have seen many instances of bad records persisting because of forgotten passwords, staff changes, and abandonment – this is a growing problem.

2.    Call Tracking Numbers

Call tracking numbers are as old as the color yellow on phone books. Advertising agencies use these so the effectiveness of advertising can be measured. Agencies love them as much as publishers hate them, and there is a big push to remove or penalize anyone using them. Search sites view local listings as facts, not ads, so they want to see the main phone number for each location. Multiple phone numbers will lead to duplicate listings and splitting of any ranking value. Furthermore, some call tracking number systems block verification calls, so the business can never be confirmed.

800-numbers, however, are considered a legitimate main number, if that is what is used for the business. They are treated as a separate data file by the databases and will generally be accepted.

3.    Address Social Climbing

Many sites like Google and Yahoo do not accept P.O. Box numbers as valid business locations (which is a problem for home based businesses who don’t want people turning up at their door) and there are a lot of efforts by “virtual” businesses to try to create and verify at real addresses. Most of these marketers know the risks they are taking and are prepared to play the percentage game. But there are often cases where real businesses try to manipulate their addresses to show up in a different location. In Google Maps you can move a marker for your premises a limited distance, but there remains no solution for a business whose offices are in one town while their service area is in another. This can lead to visibility issues when people search for a business or category in a particular location, and to lower ranking. Some businesses might be in a less desirable neighborhood and try to pass themselves off as being in a “better” one. Any mis-match in address, zip or City can be very damaging.

4.    Category Lapses

After location, categories are the most critical factor in Local Search visibility. After all, even if your business name is wrong, your company can still pop up prominently if someone searches for your category in your zip. It is vital that you submit the multiple categories that relate to your business. One will sometimes suffice, but users generally have several ways to search for you. UBL for example has over 50,000 terms that translate to 2500 US Government NAICS categories. It is a similar process to keyword selection.

5.    Missing Data Elements

Every data field accepted by a publisher represents a traffic and revenue opportunity. One of the reasons businesses are so often deficient in this regard goes back to the first point – they just tire of entering all the data into several sites. While Search Engine Marketers and Optimizers spend days and weeks on adapting sites for alluring features, ones that Search Engines all use are often ignored in the listing process. The best examples are Hours of Operation and Payment method. Particularly in the mobile environment, the hours of a pharmacy or service station are naturally crucial.

It’s not just a social and mobile world today, but a video one. A simple product slideshow can make a considerable ranking difference if posted on YouTube and other video sites; it does not have to rival Avatar in 3D. UBL distributes over 35 different data fields, including descriptions, brands, hours, video links, coupon links and social network links. If you make a listing comprehensive, you can take a lot of pressure off your website – and for some small businesses a good listing and a Facebook fanpage might be all they need.

6.    Messing with names – stuffing keywords

Adding product information or location information to the company name might be a good idea on a website, but in a Local Search listing, it can lead to invisibility overnight. If the Search Engine is confused about whether the Puff Bakery is the same as Puff Bakery of Orlando Specializing In Breakfast Coffee and Muffins – it may not show up. It can cause duplication, dividing any ranking value, and also the business may not be discoverable on some sites unless the user enters the entire name supplied. The mistake is applying keyword, organic and advertising concepts to Local Listings.

Local listings now represent the best kind of free promotion – you just need to make sure it is the correct identity.