5 Ways You Can Ensure Your Business Visibility Online

Importance of Online Business Visibility

Trust is a major component of the algorithm used by the search engine. As a result, search engines look for consistency when evaluating your business on the web. Consistency in your NAP info (Name, Address and Phone number) is a critical component in establishing this trust. More importantly, trust is a crucial factor when consumers are purchasing products online.

5 Things Business Need To Do

1. Establish Official NAP Information

NAP information is your Name, Address and Phone number. The search engines are confused when your name has different versions.
Example:

• My Flower Shop & Gifts
• My Flower Shop LLC
• My Flower Shop & Gifts INC.

The search engines can’t tell if this is one business or three.

Pick one name and use it everywhere on the Internet (directories, local listings, etc.).
It is best to use the DBA registered with your Secretary of State.

***Use our Official Business Profile form (find a copy inside FSNf2f.com under the Marketing Center section) to document your Official NAP Information***

2. Validate Your Physical Location

The search engines (especially Google) are very particular about business addresses. Confirm business address by making sure it is formatted correctly.

• Does the city, state, zip code and address you use for your company match the format the USPS has for your physical location. (You can use the www.usps.com/zip4 to help structure your address correctly.)
•  Determine the official version of your information and stick with it, example: st or street.

Again consistency matters.

***Fake addresses and incorrect city information will create a distrust in the search engines as well as your customers.***

3. Local Phone Helps Local Search

Use your local phone number as part of your official NAP information. Your toll-free
numbers can be listed as an additional number, but should never be used as your primary
phone number in your NAP info.

4. Analyze Your NAP

There are a few places where you can check your NAP Information across the web.

Use the free tools on these websites:
_____ Universal Business Listing
_____ Get Listed.org
_____ Yext.com

5. Verify And Monitor Your Information On The Web

The search engines gather information about your company from several different sources.
Make sure your information is correct in the following places:
_____ Google Places Pages
_____ Bing Local
_____ Yahoo Local
_____ Yelp
_____ Super Pages
_____ City Search
_____ Yellow Pages
_____ Info Group
_____ Insider Pages
_____ Niche Industry websites

Create or claim only one listing in each place. Merge or remove any duplicate listings.

***Use our Business Visibility Audit Checklist and Claimed Listing Tracking Reports to co-ordinate, monitor and verify your information (find copies inside FSNf2f.com in the Marketing Center section.) ***

• Download a printable Business Visibility Checklist (PDF)
• Download a printable Official Business Profile Worksheet (PDF)

A special thanks to:

Mike Blumenthal who continually provides great information about Understanding Google Places & Local Search – Developing Knowledge about Local Search.

David Mihn for the fantastic information he provides in his Local Search Ranking Factors report.

Nyagoslav Zhekov,OptiLocal for the a great presentation on Solving Problems & Seeing Success in Google Places:The Basics at SMX West 2012.