Events @ GTS Blog

Can Your Customers Find you online? (Local Search)

wendym — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:45:08 GMT

Much has been written about advertising on the Internet, and using search engines to get customers to your website, but can those customers really find you in your town? An easy (and free) tool many business owners don’t take advantage of is the “local search” listing section of the major Search Engines.

What is local search? Simply put, local search is a listing within the search engine’s maps database for your business. It is important to note that local business listings are only valid for businesses that have a real physical location. “Virtual” or “mobile” locations are typically not allowed. Local business listings include the company’s name, address, phone number(s), website address, and even hours of business and services offered. And best of all, they are FREE!

As an added bonus, local listings are shown in the local business results section within the regular search engine results page. A Google “10-Box” local business results section is shown below, for the search “commercial roofing products” near Portland, Oregon.

Chances are, your company already has a local business listing on Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft’s Live Search, even if you didn’t enter that information yourself. Here’s why: The major search engines take business information posted on other websites. Data from business review websites, like CitySearch.com, Yelp.com and MerchantCircle.comis imported by the search engines for this purpose as well.

In the example below, the local business listing was created from listings on Super Pages and Dex Knows, and has not been claimed or edited by the business owner. There are 8 additional web pages that mention the company (ABC Supply), and 2 pages of user-generated content, typically blog posts, that also reference the business somewhere online. This business has not received any reviews online, positive or negative.

Some questions to consider about your local business listings:

· Do they exist in the 3 major search engines (Google, Yahoo!, MSN/Live)?

· Is the information they contain correct and relevant to your business?

· Have you claimed your business listing in each of the major engines?

Yes, all of the major engines allow, and actually prefer, business owners to claim their local listings. To quickly find out if your local business listings have been claimed, visit GetListed.org and enter your businesses name and zip code. GetListed.org even gives you easy links to claim your listing in each search engine.

Once you have submitted a claim request to each engine, the engines will verify that you are indeed the business owner by calling you or mailing you a letter with a unique code that must be entered into the listing. After you have verified your ownership and claimed the listing, you are free to edit your listing information. Here are some tips to consider when you do this:

· Make your listings as accurate as possible.

· Place your listing in as many appropriate categories or types as possible in each engine’s local business center.

· Solicit positive reviews from customers! If a customer thanks you for doing a great job, ask them to review your business on Google, CitySearch, Yelp, or other review sites. A good idea would be to create postcards for your company, with the URLs to your local business listing, Yelp, CitySearch, etc…to make it easy for them to find you on those popular review sites.

Total number of reviews, as well as amount of additional user content and web pages helps the local listing to rise within the “10 Box” results section. Note that while negative reviews are not good for the company’s reputation, they do actually help the listing get better rankings in local search, and provide a way for the company to address customer issues publicly, which increases trust.

In review, it is very important to have a good local search strategy in place for your business. You can start by following the tips below:

1. Go to GetListed.org and check your local listings.

2. Claim each listing.

3. Edit/update each listing.

4. Solicit user feedback in the form of reviews and user generated content (blog posts, etc).

5. Ensure your full business address is located on your website.

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING: Quickly Get Your Answers

kevinj — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:23:53 GMT

Forums? Discussions? What is the difference and why would I ever use them?

Answer #1: There isn't a difference. They are the same.

Answer #2: Oh my goodness. If you are not using them you really are missing out on a TON of information.

As a personal example, my clothes washer started to leak - no wait - it started to gush out water. I did a Google search and it took me to a forum which walked me through diagnosing the problem. Bam. Found the source of the fountain in one minute.

Then I went back to ask my next question, "How do I fix it?" Other people had the same question. Fortunately for me many other people have answered that question. Each answer had a little different slant (which is a good thing - I'll show you later). Again, the forum gave me step by step instructions on how to take out the defective part and replace it. I took it out (with ease) and my wife picked up the new part the next day. Now, to get it in... Again, with the simple instructions it didn't take me long. But there was one step that said, "To do this next part, you will need two people." Well, guess what? I figured out how to do it by myself. After I was all done I went back in and told everyone else how to do it without the second person. My wife thought I was a genius and for a small investment I saved TON of money on a Maytag Repair Man.

I didn't have to wait until the morning to get on the phone and call someone. I didn't have to take a training class in washer repair and learn a whole bunch of information when all I wanted was something very specific. I didn't have to lose sleep over it at all. Ahhhhh. Peace of mind.

I also run other social networks for other organizations. On a conference call last night I was asked, "What are the benefits of using discussions instead of the phone or email?"

Your Own Time: You don't have to wait on the phone with "Maytag Support." When YOU have the time, you create a new Discussion, ask your question and walk away. When someone answers (and they will) you will be notified, or use Not authorized to view the specified document 2612.
Many Different Perspectives: When you ask the question, it doesn't go to just one person. It goes to potentially thousands of people (and in the case of the Community Portal, it goes to over 1000 members including our Support department). Anyone can answer it. And the beauty of this is that everyone has a different perspective. Sure, there may be one basic answer to a question, but we all have our own view. My view of it may not match yours - it may be just a bit off. But someone else may share your view and give you the exact answer you are looking for. Also, if the answer can be debated, you get a wealth of knowledge in the exchange of ideas.
Searchable: Email and phone conversations are for that one time. After that you delete the email or hang up the phone. With Discussions the questions and answers will always be there, waiting for you. Do a quick search, use TAGS(like topics) or browse by 'Community'. There are a number of ways to find the information. But it will always be there for you.
1:Many: You get to benefit from others' curiosity! They ask the question (the '1') and anyone (the 'many') can see the answer. It is not so with phone and email.

Try it!

Do you want to know how a piece of the software works? Ask a question in the GlasPacLX community. Want to see what others are doing for a particular part of their business? Ask your question in the Industry community. The more that ask, the more that answer, the more information you have at your fingertips. (You must be logged in to ask a question, but not to view any of the Discussions.)

It is yours for the taking!