Excited about getting
your business listed on this directory site?
A lot of other Australian business people are as excited as you.
How Google Works in your Favor
If you think that you just need to get the right information at the right time for everything to fall into place, then you are sadly mistaken. It doesn’t work that way. It shouldn’t work that way.
Why? Well, you have to understand that local businesses have to become visible. For that to happen, not only do you have to use local directories such as this website, you also have to gain the attention of Google.
These two are not joined at the hip. Just because you did one doesn’t necessarily mean that the second factor will kick in automatically. It doesn’t work that way.
Filling Out the Form Properly
You have to make sure that when you fill out a form for a purely local listing, it should be formatted in such a way to get Google’s maximum attention. I know that the information I’m going to share with you below seems pretty straightforward.
However, believe me. There are a lot of things that seem straightforward that a lot of people are hell-bent on complicating. This is one of those situations.
The three most important listing items you need to get right
Please note that if you screw up any of the three items below, it’s going to be so much harder for Google to find you. Even if Google does find you and categorizes you as being located in a particular city, it’s probably not going to rank you all that highly.
Everything has to be in place. Everything has to be formatted properly. Everything has to be in the right location in our forms. Otherwise, you’re just rolling the dice.
That’s really what you’re doing. You’re taking a massive risk with your ranking. Given how competitive local SEO has become, this is the kind of risk you really cannot afford to take.
You need to get this done right. You need to make sure that the following three factors are presented properly and updated regularly.
Name
I know that sounds pretty basic, but you have to be consistent about the name of your business. Unfortunately, a lot of local businesses have an official name, a legal name, and a name that they are known by.
We can all control the first two. The problem is we cannot control how people name our business. Believe it or not, our customers can name our business.
If for example, you run a fish and chip shop and the official name of your shop is “Lucas Fish and Chip Company”, it would not be a surprise if your long-time customers name your business “Lucas Shop”. The worst part to all of this? You have absolutely no power to change this.
This is why it’s really important to perform solid consumer intelligence. Get into their heads. Figure out what they call your business and the likelihood that they would use such names to fund your business. Make all your online directory listing entries reflect this reality.
Address
This one is pretty straightforward. If you move from point A to point B, make sure that all your listings on the internet reflect that change.
This means keeping meticulous records of where you’re listed. This also means doing searches for your business so you can find the address you’re listed under.
Once you find this information, you can then change it so everything is updated. Please note that if Google detects any kind of discrepancy in your online listings, it can tank your rankings.
Phone and contact info
Use the same guidance regarding address when it comes to phone and contact info. In terms of frequency of change, most businesses actually change their phone and contact info more frequently than addresses.
Whatever the case may be in your situation, make sure that your stuff is update. By keeping a tight watch on all of these, you increase the likelihood that Google will continue to find your local business.
It’s all about visibility. Understand that this is not ministerial. This is not some random paperwork that you just have to do. This can mean life and death, as far as your business is concerned. You have to give it the seriousness that it deserves.
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