If they can’t find you, you won’t get the order.
Many of us make the assumption that search services like Google will somehow append your address from your website or maybe your Hoovers or yellow page business listing. They do not. So every time someone does a search for you or your services, the track is set for hurdles. Your prospect finds you only because Google, Bing or Yahoo is bent on providing them a good result. In milliseconds these search engine processors run the hurdles and piece together bits of information from various sources in order to offer a desirable result. The trouble is, the results are not always accurate and the information is rarely as complete as you’d like it to be. Why not make it easier for the search services to retrieve your business when they come looking for you? Or reveal your business when they come looking for your products but are not yet aware of your company? Now would be the best time to take control and clear the track for sprints.
Getting found these days is half the battle
Managing your business listing used to be a simple matter of keeping up with the yellow pages. Now, as I have discovered, it is a much different matter, driven by the Internet and the search engines that make it navigable. You must now manage your “information” and it must be consistent on your website and anywhere else search engines may check in order to service queries by potential customers who search for you, your products or your services.
Two types of searches to be concerned about:
Retrieving
“I am searching for you, where are you?
Search platforms require consistent and accurate localized business listings, especially anchor attributes like name, address and phone (NAP), which are critical for verification and linking across various platforms. Besides other basic information, like your website address, you might decide to offer your operating hours and/or payment options. Make sure you update each business location you support.
Revealing
“I am searching for these products, I wonder who offers them?
Some of the search providers like Google give you the ability to add a business description and/or other keyword related data like product and services lists. The data you provide creates more inbound paths for searchers and thus attracts more customers.
When you make information about your company and it’s products and services readily available to search engines you satisfy more of the queries that come through. The better you satisfy the queries the better the user experience, the more some engines will reward you for helping them do it.
The answer to all your listing problems
It’s so simple when know where to place your information. There is a service I found that, if nothing else, identifies 8 of the hungriest search engines that you need to know about. What’s better is the free and easy grader they offer to let you know how you’re doing. It’s called “Get Listed” and it’s offered by a not-for-profit. Find out, in less than 60 seconds, just how much work you have in front of you:
“Eighty percent of success is showing up”
Recently, while helping a client look for ways to increase traffic to their new website we had completed, I discovered their company was not listed on most of the online directories—even though they’ve had a website of the same domain for over ten years. What’s more, they had moved their main office about a year ago but Google was still showing the old street address. At the time of their move they had made a concerted effort to change their address in every portal they could imagine. Not knowing exactly how to change the data with search providers, they assumed their new address would be “news” and somehow it would move from their website or maybe their yellow pages listing to the appropriate data sources. Once again, it will not.
Taking care of your business listings for both types of searches is “SEO-101” and it might be the easiest thing you can do to help your company show up and stand out from the crowd.
HIT Solutions believes the more your business keeps up with important trends, the more you will improve your product, and improve your bottom line.
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