After hearing the great news about the recent arrival of a true New York-style pizza restaurant in town, I grabbed the iPad to check out their story.
I was pleased to see that Victoriano’s appeared on several local online directories – a great start given many new businesses run into challenges getting on the web in a timely manner. However, when I did a more general search for ‘Pizza Stillwater MN,’ Victoriano’s was no where to be found.
A quick and smart way to begin solving online anonymity is to claim one’s business listing (pages) in several key directories. It takes a little time, but worth the effort since these listings are typically free.
Here are my Top 5 Directory suggestions:
- Google Places/Maps – Yes, you want to be here. Google owns nearly two-thirds of all search traffic, so claiming your page is priority one. Ten of Victoriano’s competitors were already listed here.
- Yelp – A must for anyone in the service or hospitality industry. You’ll be able to update your important business information, add photos, monitor site traffic, message customers and receive email alerts when someone submits a review.
- Bing Business Portal – Just like Google Places, you’ll want to claim your Bing page, as it represents about 15% of total search traffic.
- Yahoo! Local – Similar to Bing, Yahoo is still hanging in there with 14% of total search traffic according to comScore’s latest stats as of Feb., 2012.
- CitySearch – While Yelp has surpassed this site for reviews, CitySearch is still a worthy listing to round out your efforts for higher search rankings.
When claiming your listing, be vigilant about consistency, as search engines frown when your address and business data don’t match across the various local directories. Be sure to throw in the fun stuff as well including photos, videos and a snippet about why you do what you do.
Go forth and start claiming today!
In her 8 years at Deluxe, Julie Gordon has used her expertise in product management and marketing to rise to her current position as an Integrated Program Manager. Prior to Deluxe, she worked for nine years at catalog/retailer Northern Tool and Equipment, marketing everything from log splitters to hunting decoys.