Local Business Listing Competition
Everyday there are more commercials being run by high-profile tier one companies and websites that are in the local listing industry. You may have seen TV commercials for Angie’s List, SuperMedia, Yellow Book, and of course AT&T. If you add Internet advertising that includes but not limited to Google, Yahoo, Bing, Merchant Circle, Yelp and Citysearch many others, you have to start wondering how all these websites can attract a finite number of businesses and visitors to use their website. The more relevant question is how a business will manage their local business listing at all the local listing websites? First a little background info.
A Little Background On Local Business Listings
In the early 1990s when search engines had directories listing businesses by categories in addition to their basic search results. These basic business listings gave way to business directories giving the business the opportunity to add more information to their business. Business directories then gave way to the idea of rating a business with companies like Angie’s List, Merchant Circle and Yelp in social communities. In 2007 business listings began showing up in search engines and consumer reviews were already showing up in these local business listings.
Local Business Listings As The New Yellow Pages
Considering all the content that is available, calling local business listings a business directory is an understatement. They get your business marketing information into these listings and become mini-websites for your business. More importantly, they allow consumers to quantitatively rate and subjectively provide commentary about their experience with the business, products and services.
Live social communities that provide location based services like Four Square, Twitter and Facebook create instantaneous feedback to friends, family and followers alike.
You Can Manage Your Local Business Listings From Anywhere!
The traditional Yellow Pages was far too limiting. Before the Internet, business information was located in a single source. The Internet lets business information be found everywhere. With so many sources, it becomes imperative for a business to stay on top of its information, description, marketing materials and consumer reviews. Since you don’t know what source your local customers or mobile application developers are using, you need a way to manage many sources simultaneously. While this isn’t difficult, it is very time consuming.
You are Going To Need Some Help
Website local optimization, local business listings, mobile marketing or geo-social marketing, a business needs proper support to succeed in this new era of local business marketing. You need a partner with experience and expertise in multiple digital marketing fields and can adapt to the progression of new technologies that will become available over the next few years. Some key elements for a company to provide local business listing marketing services include:
- Claim your local listing at multiple local listing websites
- Providing both data and marketing services
- Update your basic business data information monthly
- Update and manage your business marketing information that include photos, videos, coupons, offers, discounts, and events monthly
- Consumer review monitoring and management monthly
- Analytics review of local business listings analytics and the appropriate changes to your local business listings monthly
- Expertise in Mapping Technologies and GPS
Certainly your time resources are limited and Local Business Listing Services are provided by SmartFinds Internet Marketing. This cost-effective service may eliminate your need for yellow pages advertising and its costs. Let experts with over 16 years of Internet marketing experience help you use this local business marketing tool properly and bring you a health return on investment.
