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Claim Your Free Business Listings (Part 1) - Get your business listed on Google+ Local, Google Places, Google Maps, Bing Business Portal, Yahoo Local, MapQuest, Yelp, FourSquare, and TripAdvisor.com. A "How To" Guide to Claiming and Optimizing your free listings, and submitting a listing request. A complement to a small business's search engine optimization (SEO) plan.
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About Mary Anne● Owner of INNsights Internet Marketing, based in Sylva,
NC.● 28 Years Experience in Destination Marketing, Tourism,
and Hospitality as the VP of a large resort company in Florida.
● Originally from Ohio, spent 28 years in Florida, moved full time to the Sylva area in 2011.
● Dedicated to helping small business owners market their businesses on the Internet so that today's consumer can find them.
Basic Internet Marketing Strategy for Small Business
● Website● Claim and Optimize Local
Business Listings – predominantly Google Places
● Social Media - Facebook Business Page at a minimum.
● Email Marketing
What You Will Learn in This Class:
● This class is for local businesses who want to be found on the internet locally.
● By claiming and optimizing your free business listings, your business will become visible on local search results and on mobile phone map searches.
● The way consumers find a local business has fundamentally changed in the last few years. Small businesses can no longer rely on printed directories, local advertising, or passing foot traffic to attract new customers.
● When was the last time you saw someone walking around town with a paper map in their hands?
How Consumers Search for a Local Business
● 97% of consumers search for a business on the Internet.● 2/3 of consumers use local search weekly and even more
importantly● 70% of mobile searches lead to action within one hour.● You no longer control how people find you. Therefore, it is
essential to have your information everywhere that consumers search.
● People who search on mobile apps aren't just browsing the web, they are actively looking for a place to eat, stay, or shop. If you’re not listed, they won’t find you.
What is Local Search?
● Local search is any type of search, whether from a desktop or mobile device, that includes the name of the city/town within the search term.
● Also known as “geo-targeted” keywords, examples include:○ Restaurants in Bryson City○ Auto Repair in Bryson City, NC○ Bryson City Hair Salons
What We Will Review TonightThese local search sites:● Google+ Local/Google Maps/Google Places● Yahoo Local● Bing Business Portal● MapQuest (AOL)These top review sites:● Yelp● FourSquare● TripAdvisor (for lodging, attractions, and restaurants)Next class (Part 2) will cover how to manage these listings and also include instructions on how to track, respond to, and promote your reviews/listings.
What does Google+ Local/Google Maps/Google Places do?
● It lets you create a place for yourself/ your business and it shows it along with a map (google maps)
● This is local powerful search, plus listing on google maps makes it so effective.
● Your local listing will be found in Google+ making it easy for people to review and share your business with friends and around the web.
● People search on the move, and google maps makes it easy to reach your business.
What You Need to Know About Google+ Local
● Every business listing must have a mailing address. If you work from home or you are a mobile business you can specify a “service area” in the sign up process and choose to hide your physical address.
● There should be only one listing per physical location.● New features coming soon - Over the next months,
Google is making lots of changes to improve their local listings experience and bring the community, identity, sharing & relationships of Google+ to local businesses.
How to Get Listed in Google's Local Search Results:
● Go to maps.google.com● Type in your business address and click
“search/look up”● If your business does not show up, go to
www.google.com/places, and login to your Google account.
Yahoo Local
● Go to http://local.yahoo.com/● Search for your business. If it is listed, click on “edit
business details”, and then click on “edit as business owner.”
● If it is not listed, go to http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/○ Click on “Marketing Dashboard”○ Click on “get Dashboard Free”○ This will take you to “Submit Your Business
Information”
Bing Local
● Go to www.BingBusinessPortal.com● Login to your Bing account (or set one up)● Under “My Businesses,” Click on the “+” button (next to
the search bar)● Bing will take you through the process of searching for
your business first and offer you a choice of either claiming your listing or adding a new listing.
MapQuest (formerly known as AOL Maps)
● Go to www.mapquest.com● Search for your business address. If your
business is found, click on it and click “Claim this business.”
● If your business is not found, go to https://listings.mapquest.com/apps/listing, and either sign up for a business listings account, or sign in.
● Click on “add or claim” listing to begin the process.
Yelp - What Is It?
● Yelp is an online city/town guide that helps people find places to eat, shop, drink, relax and play, based on the informed opinions of an active community of locals in the know.
● Sixty percent of Yelp searches are from desktops● The company's mobile apps are used by about 7 million
people.● Yelp.com gets 78 million visitors per month.● Like other social media companies, the trend is
definitely favoring mobile.
Yelp - Set Up Your ListingGo to www.yelp.com and search for your business. If it is listed, look for “Work Here? Unlock This Business Page” and follow the directions from there. Once you have claimed your listing, your business account will be located at: https://biz.yelp.com/If your business is NOT listed, search for your category in your city/town. Go to the bottom of the search results (there could be more than one page of results) and look for a red button that says, “Add a Business.”
FourSquare: What Is It?
● Foursquare connects people to businesses.● Foursquare is an app for your phone. It's
also a website.● People use it to find the best place to go
based on what their friends & experts recommend.
● They check in at businesses in the real world & leave tips to tell others what they love.
● Foursquare also has free tools to help businesses get discovered & connect with customers.
FourSquare - Set Up Your Listing
● Go to www.FourSquare.com and search for your business in your city/town. If it is already listed, click on the listing and look on the bottom right for “Do you manage this location? Claim here”
● If your business is not listed, go to http://business.foursquare.com/, set up an account, then click on the orange button that says “Claim Your Business.”
TripAdvisor - What Is It?
TripAdvisor is the world's largest travel community. Listings available for lodging, restaurants, and attractions.
○ More than 60 million monthly visitors○ 32 million members○ Over 75 million reviews and opinions○ 30 sites in 21 languages
TripAdvisor - Set Up Your Listing
● Go to www.tripadvisor.com and search for your business. If it is already listed, scroll to the bottom of the listing, and look for - Owners: What's your side of the story? If you own or manage “___________________”, register now for free tools to enhance your listing, attract new reviews, and respond to reviewers.
● Click on “Manage Your Listing”, where you will be prompted to set up a business account and create your listing.
TripAdvisor Continued:
If your business is not listed, go to:http://www.tripadvisor.com/GetListedAccommodation for accommodationshttp://www.tripadvisor.com/GetListedRestaurant for restaurantshttp://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/getlisted_attraction_new.html for attractionshttp://www.flipkey.com/list/ for vacation rentals (these are paid listings, however a free trial is offered)
Other Internet Directory Sites:
● www.CitySearch.com● www.Local.com● www.YP.com● www.MerchantCircle.com● www.Manta.comFor Restaurants Only:● www.UrbanSpoon.com● www.OpenTable.com● www.MenuPages.com● www.WhereToEat.com
Additional Information● To ensure that your small business is listed in
major search directories for your small business, go to Google.com and search for your business - including the name of your city/town.
● Click on every search result on the first 2-3 pages (not local results), to see what directories are coming up strong in Google search - Chances are very good that listings on these sites are free - you just have to claim them and update them.
