Business Listings, also called Citations, are an online summary of your essential information for your business. They are a powerful tool to help customers find what they’re looking for and will be especially helpful if you run a local or physical business. Here’s what you need to know:

 

NAP+W
We didn’t fall asleep on the keyboard. NAP+W is the acronym that explains all our in-depth info about what you need to include in your business listings.

Name
Address
Phone number
+
Website

Above are the 4 pieces of information that can be used to provide basic information on your business. Potential customers will need this to contact and locate your establishment.

Here’s a tip regarding your listings: Remember to mention the hours of operation in order to make them more appealing!

 

Will my listings work?
The effectiveness of your business listing depends on its content and accuracy. You can get listings through search engines, online directories, maps, and even social sites. The best way is to use all of them! You’ll benefit from maximizing your online presence by ensuring that your business listings are accurate. Plus, you’ll enjoy the highest level of success if you’re available across as many channels as possible. But just be sure the information on those channels is correct & concise, otherwise it’s a waste of time and promotional potential for you. Seems easy enough, right?

 

Why are listings important?
Good listings on Google with correct validation will undoubtedly be beneficial for your business. Here’s how:

 

No more hide and seek
Just as the brightly lit bat signal guides everyone’s favorite caped crusader (that’s right Superman, we said it!), accurate listings will help guide consumers to your business’ doorstep.

Some shapes are so similar, they might as well be the same thing. We think that’s no co-incidence.

If a business’s listing is incorrect or missing, the majority of consumers will feel less confident about the brand, likely leading them to choose a competitor’s product or service. If your business listings are inaccurate or not up-to-date, consumers may not feel confident to purchase from you. This can lead to a loss of interest in your brand and many customers will choose another supplier. The availability of accurate listings ensures customers are actually able to find brick and mortar locations while they’re open for business. This means money in the business owner’s pocket and, just as importantly, it means the business can be reviewed. Accurate listings can be hard to come by and sometimes availability is limited. Consumers want to know stores are open right now and heaven forbid they turn up to find it’s closed. With accurate listings, customers can see your business is open and they know they won’t miss a beat – from finding your doorbell to reaching out to you by phone.

 

“In my humble opinion…”
An abundant review portfolio is an important aspect of developing a business’ online reputation and growing brand recognition. Reviews are an integral part of how customers share their opinions with the world, but to be a part of this feedback system and contribute their experience, customers have to find the company in question on a search engine. If it doesn’t appear there, they can’t offer an informed opinion. An important aspect of this is that with improved content accuracy, businesses will have an opportunity for increased transparency through reviews–and ultimately more visibility.

 

All aboard the search engine!
Search engine rankings will directly benefit a business’s visibility by boosting its ranking in local search engine results. You may already know that consistent, accurate listings are important for SEO. This means more customers for you. If your business is anything like mine, I’m sure you want as many customers as possible!

 

Now what?
This listing’s low-down provides a basic definition and describes the benefits of business listings. Create listings on sites worth lots of points to improve your listings score. We’ve ranked them by importance using a lot of key factors—how many sites reference them, traffic, demographics and more.