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Local Search – Keeping Your Eyes On Your Listings

Local search has been a boon for many small businesses, however, it is not without its issues. There is a post on Search Engine Journal that describes in some length the problems that a small business may face when claiming their business through Google Places (previously Google Local). The writer is not alone in the problems they have faced, but rather than re-hash what has been written in that post, I think it brings to the fore a timely warning for all businesses, small businesses in particular.

Small businesses should be claiming their business listings on all major search engines. Don’t simply claim on Google and leave the rest out. You may not receive significant traffic from either Yahoo! or Bing, but it is still worth going through the process. The danger is that someone else may claim your listing and effectively steal what little traffic may have flowed through. More importantly, they may also cause harm to your businesses reputation.

What is more important, however – and this is an area where most small businesses fail – claiming a listing is not a set-and-forget process. You should be constantly, at least weekly, reviewing your listing for accuracy, and to ensure that nothing has changed with each search engine’s terms of service. Google frequently changes their terms of service so what is okay today in your listing may see it rejected next week.

By keeping an eye on your listings, you can update your information, make any necessary changes, and perhaps request a review if you have had your listing rejected. If you don’t regularly check your listing, you wont know whether or not it has been rejected, except of course for the sudden slow down of traffic.

Local search is an important feature for many small businesses with much of the traffic stemming from those listings. Be sure to keep your data up to date, your listing alive, and the traffic flowing. It can take four or more weeks to have your listing reviews once rejected, and four weeks without traffic can seem a lifetime when your business relies on that traffic.

The post on Search Engine Journal is also a timely reminder to think diversity – don’t just rely on local search, keep your sites well optimised for general search, and consider social media marketing and/or traditional offline marketing where appropriate. You can read the Search Engine Journal post here.