Top 5 Do’s and Don’ts for Local Business Marketing 

  

  Today, there are four billion local searches conducted every month, almost half of which coming                             from smartphones. Not having control of your business’ local listings is one of the biggest                             mistakes brick and mortar companies make. By not having consistent data across the web,                           confuses search engines into thinking you are multiple businesses. Search engines prescreen                       their results based on what is called a quality and confidence score. Do people call your                               business now asking for a different company? If so, you have an issue with the quality of your                                   business information that is on the internet. Fixing inconsistencies is not hard, but if you ignore                               these early warning signs you could be in trouble.      

  

The Top 5 Do’s :  

 1. Claim your Profile  This can be done a few ways. First, you can go to directories websites like Google+, Yahoo,                                 Bing, Yelp, Citysearch and Foursquare and manually enter your businesses information. This                       method does take some time and doesn’t cost much, but it is well worth it because search                                 engines will take that consistent information and apply it to their algorithm getting your business                             found and ranked much quicker for a consumer. Consider the categories that best fit your                             business. If you sell burgers, don’t list deserts are your main category. This boils down to “being                                 there” when a consumer is searching for your product or service. If it is too difficult or frustrating                                   for a consumer to find you they will abandon their search and look elsewhere that is more                                 convenient for them. Remember the attraction of the internet is that we have access to anything,                               anywhere, at anytime so make it easy for them. Additionally, if you are looking to save time and are willing to spend a little money, you can take                                     the route of a data aggregator. Data aggregators update your information across a multitude of                             directories and you only have to input your businesses information one time and it is applied to                                 all directories across the web, but again this is going to cost you a decent amount of money.                                   With that said, if you have some time during the day spend it updating directories. Your                               business metrics will thank you for it later. If you do not have much time spend the money and                                     get it done.   

 2.  Maintaining consistent NAP What is NAP? Name, Address, and Phone number. The three essential pieces of data that                             comprise how a consumer can find your business. Search engines like Google and Yahoo see                             inconsistent data as a negative signal. This means even if on one directory your business                             address is listed as “Drive” and another is listed as “Cir.” that is considered incorrect and will                                 receive a lower priority in ranking or substituted for another business altogether. A great way to                               make sure your information is correct is inputting your information into data aggregators which                           scan the internet and deliver real time results that show you how fragmented your businesses                             information is. Again, from there you can take the route of manually updating your NAP or                               paying someone to do it for you, both of which are time/money well spent.   

 3. Publish Pictures Everyone knows the old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” When it comes to the                                 internet a picture is worth a million words. Consumers will judge the heck out of you based on                                   the content you publish. Whether it’s a low quality photo of one of your restaurant's dishes or                                 your dealership's garage of Ferrari’s for sale taken with a 250 megapixel camera, you are going                               to be judged on what you put out and an impulse decision will be made to stay on the page or                                         look elsewhere. This is a great way to demonstrate what your business does and why a                               consumer should choose to use your product or service. High quality images are a great way to                                 keep a consumer on a site longer because if the content provided is compelling, it will more than                                   likely lead to a conversion. On the note of compelling images Google also offers a “see inside”                                 option for businesses. This allows a consumer to actually walk through your store, shop, or                             restaurant from their desktop or smartphone which is a great way to translate that you are up to                                   date on the technological front putting your business ahead of the competition.   

 4. Offer Incentives Providing incentives for consumers increases your chances of getting click throughs to your site                           or landing page. Offering a 2 for 1 deal on drinks or 15% off your next oil change are just a few                                           examples we have seen to encourage customers to check out your product or services and                             ultimately lead to a sale. As we mentioned before some directories offer a “specials” option to                               run for a limited period of time which creates urgency because the consumer will feel as if they                                   are missing out on something if they don’t act now. In order to give your business a chance to                                     show customers that you can deliver the highest quality product or service, you have to give                               them something for free from time to time. From there, it is up to you as the business owner to                                       ensure success for repeat business.   

 5. Take control of your reviews Let’s be honest for a second, the only time consumers have ever written a review about                               something organically (meaning a business did not ask them to) it was more than likely a                               negative experience. People will go out of their way to write something negative if they truly had                                 a poor experience with a business, especially if it was not handled professionally. No matter the                               extent of how negative the review, always respond! What that does is increase customer                           advocacy by double digits. When a consumer finds your business for the first time and see’s a                                 negative review, yes it will suck. However, when that same consumer sees that the owner or                               customer service rep took the time to handle the issue and make it right, goes way further than                                   a positive review does. Additionally, when responding to negative reviews there are a couple of                             things to make absolutely certain of:  

1. Respond as authentic as you can and stay calm, remember a negative review means someone had a poor experience and will not let it go unless resolved in a professional manner.  

2. Put yourself in the customer's shoes whether you think they are right or wrong. Telling someone they're wrong after they just had a poor experience is dumping fuel on the fire, so don't do it!  

3. Be the bigger person and apologize publicly. Other consumers that see how you operate when faced with a displeased customer goes a long way. 

4. Provide a detailed explanation of how you have or are going to resolve the issue. As a business that experienced a negative review should work twice as hard to make it right with the customer.  

5. Offer something to have that customer come back. “You screwed up why should I come back?” Again place yourself in the customer’s shoes, and take the journey with them. 

6. When appropriate, apply marketing efforts to all negative reviews, that is the first place consumers look and it's what makes businesses real. If everything people see is rainbows and positive reviews it looks a little false. No one is perfect. 

7. Ensure to take the rest of the dialogue offline after publicly apologizing.             

The Top 5 Don’ts :  

 1. Inconsistent NAP  Yes this is in the Do’s section, but it needs to repeated because it is the most important aspect                                     to local listings. It can be devastating to a business if this information is incorrect. Again, make                                 sure your business name, address, and phone number are the same across platforms.  

 2. Using a 1­800 number When adding or updating business listings never use an 800 number because search engines                           have a hard time determining what number is for which location causing fragmented data and                             starting that ripple effect of lower rankings in search engines and missing out on opportunities.                             Always use a local landline or if you are just starting a business and don’t have the revenue for                                     a land line use your cell phone. Remember, if you do take that route make certain you go back                                     into every directory your cell phone is listed on and change it to the new landline.   

 3. Use a P.O. Box as your business address This “don’t” follows right behind using an 800 number. Search engines have a difficult time                             understanding which address is relevant for your business. If you operate out of your home you                               have to bite the bullet and list your business as your home address. Additionally, always use                               your physical office address even if you get your mail sent elsewhere. The only time you would                                 list a P.O. box is if you get your mail sent to the post office but local listings, list your physical                                         location where you do business.   

 4. Post dishonest reviews This is just as important as inconsistent NAP. Sure, you might be able to get away with posting                                   fake reviews for a short period of time. Search engines are becoming more advanced at                             detecting fake reviews. When you do get caught (I say when because it is not a matter of if, it's                                       only a matter of time until you're caught) posting fake reviews your business will be faced with                                 penalties and plagued for a very long time in search results and ranking. At the end of the day it                                       is not worth the time or money you will lose. Everything these days on the internet is organic                                   and content based. Encourage positive reviews from your actual customers through on premise                         signage or in email communication.  

 

 5. Change your business name  Don’t change your business name from acme to acme LLC unless you need to. If this is the                                   case you should update all the directories with acme LLC thus creating consistency with your                             NAP (name, address, phone). If you need to change you business name altogether, you should                             consider the effort of updating the previous listings you have built as well as the effort it will take                                     to update new listings with the correct categories, etc.    We hope you have found this post helpful. If you have any questions feel free to leave a                                   comment below. Additionally, if you would like a confidential local assessment we are here to                             help.