The most popular trends in digital marketing today are social media and content marketing. This is quite understandable. After all, content marketing is the "white hat" SEO strategy that Google loves, while social media marketing capitalises on the masses' enduring fascination with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. But these trends don't necessarily mean you should just forget about rudimentary marketing techniques like using local listings. We're not talking about the old printed Yellow Pages here. We're talking about their online equivalent - Yelp, YP.com, Yahoo Local, etc.
Local directories and SEO
For most people, SEO inevitably means ranking well on Google, as this is the search engine that most people use. In the US, Google has a market share of 67.55%, and its dominance is even more pronounced in mobile search, where it owns 87.1% of searches. Google is also very popular with consumers of all kinds, with almost 6 in 10 using it to search for a specific local business.
So it's only logical that you want to rank well in Google searches for your keywords. However, what most people don't realise is that including citations in online directories can help your local SEO efforts. In local directories, you are always allowed to place a link to your website. This is good for your rankings.
Local directories ensure that your customers receive more information about your goods and services than is provided on your website. And if you are represented in numerous directories, you can assume that the number of visitors to your website will also increase. These directories are extremely popular, as Yelp alone has around 80 million monthly visitors in the USA.
That means more people will come into contact with your brand and be exposed to your advertising, and that can potentially mean more sales for your business. But here's where it gets interesting: since a large part of Google's ranking depends on how many websites link to your own website, having dozens or even hundreds of citations in local directories is very helpful for your search engine optimisation. After all, having numerous high-quality websites linking to your website is good for search engine optimisation.
Achieve more visibility through local entries
The reason why companies spend outrageous amounts of money on TV adverts, newspaper and magazine adverts and billboard advertising is because they want to reach as many people as possible. That's almost certain. It's also why you have a website in the first place. To be seen by potential customers. This is not a trivial marketing strategy, because 70% of all internet searches are for local businesses.
Now if you consider that Google receives almost 12 billion searches per month at the last count, that means that 8.4 billion searches were primarily for local businesses. If you have your own website, it's like having just one number in a roulette wheel for the ball to fall on. But if you're listed in a local directory, it's like having an extra number on the roulette wheel.
You get more chances to be seen by your target group. It's like placing an extra advert in a magazine or on a billboard that can be seen by more and more potential customers. The more local directories you list in, the greater the chance that you will be seen. So if your business is listed in a hundred different local directories, you have a hundred different ways a potential customer can find you.
Local entries draw attention to your company
Like the old Yellow Pages phone books, local directories give you the opportunity to publish your business address and phone number in a profile so that they can be displayed on the website. This alone gives you an edge over your competitors if your business is listed on these sites and they are not. Local directories offer much more information and more opportunities to interact with customers than the big, heavy phone books of the past.
Local directories, reviews and you
It's no secret that customer reviews can have a dramatic impact on your business. Word of mouth has always had a huge impact on purchasing decisions and customer reviews can make that decision easier. Almost 9 out of 10 people consider online reviews to be more trustworthy than recommendations from friends. That's a big influence! But you should also know how important your own reactions to reviews are.
You can say thank you for positive reviews and Binding between your company and the respective customer. This creates brand loyalty and superfans for your company. You should respond to negative reviews by apologising, offering an explanation or highlighting your good points. By responding to negative reviews, you can minimise the damage they can cause.
There is also the possibility that the reviewer will reconsider their negative review just because you responded and showed them that you care. Almost a third of all negative reviews are turned into positive reviews just because someone recognised the problem.
Quotes are a good thing - get them
If you haven't already, it's time to prioritise your local listings. Most local directories are free, but they can make a difference in many ways. It doesn't cost you much time or effort to get your business listed, and as a small business owner, it just makes sense to use cost-effective resources to grow your business.
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