Can Customers Find Your Local Listing Online?

The importance of local listings online can’t be understated. We recently hosted a #whiteboardworkshop episode with Richard Sexton and Chris Woodruff on this very topic.

Here’s what we know.

Organic search results have significantly shrunk over the years. In place of the formerly beloved Google results page, we’ve seen the addition of:

• Paid listings
• Shopping carousel
• Map Pack (7-pack version)
• Map Pack (3-pack version)
• Organic listings

Because of the disappearing organic results, having prominent local listings is necessary. We’ve broken down a few areas that can help you improve your location information.

Start with the NAP

While local management certainly deserves a nap, it’s not the term we’re referring to here. Local listings, also referred to as Local Citations, are the most valuable asset to furniture stores in the world.

There are three fundamental elements for every local citation. It is essential that no matter how long since your last local listing update, you update these elements FIRST.

• Name
• Address
• Phone

“NAP” updates (name, address, phone number) are the foundations to your local listing or local citation. Google, Bing and the third party directories (paid and organic) use the data you provide as the roadmap for customers to find your store. There are different places in the world wide web that pull your NAP information.

• Your website
  • Structured data and contact pages
• Online directories
  • YP, Dex, Merchant Circle, and more
• Maps and other directories
  • Google, Yahoo, and Bing
• Social Media Sites
  • Facebook, LinkedIn
• NEW: Press Releases

Consistency

It is crucial to keep the NAP consistent across the board. If you are using Avenue on Google but Ave on Bing and Ave. in your press release, your data is now inconsistent. The small inconsistencies may seem harmless to the local search results.

False. Search engines index websites and connect your NAP data to the websites associated and result in traffic. If your citations are inconsistent, your directory listings will not sync with search engines and your customers won’t find you.

Local Listing Online: Summary

Accurate map listings and directory information are great for customer experience and making sure you are consistent across the internet. All of these factors do improve your local SEO but it takes time and effort. Staying on top of the changes to major search engine algorithms is critical. What works today may not be relevant tomorrow, as you’ve seen in the changes to search results.

Find resources to learn about changes to local listings online, search results, and Google algorithms. We recommend:

• Moz.com
• Searchengineland.com
• Searchenginejournal.com
• And, of course, MicroD’s Industry Insights blog

Still need help? Talk with MicroD’s local listing experts about how we can help you update and maintain your local listings.