Business Listings Management:
The Complete Guide to Local SEO

Claiming your local business listings

You might be wondering how websites got your business’s information if you didn’t post it yourself. Google creates profiles for existing businesses. If you see that Google has made a profile for your business, all you’ll have to do is claim it!

If you see a listing on another site, chances are it was collected by a data aggregator or added by a user. Right now, there are four data aggregators that compile and distribute this information to listing sites: Infogroup, Acxiom, Neustar/Localeze, and Factual. These data aggregators get information by looking at offline and online resources.

Because of this, there is a possibility that your business is already featured on various listing sites. Do an online scan of your business, see what is and isn’t currently listed, and where. Be sure to claim the new business listings you discover. Once you have ownership of your business listings you can control your NAP data and make sure that your operating information is up to date across all of your listings.

The local search ecosystem

Why is it important for you to claim your business listings? If you have inaccurate information on the web, it can very easily spread like a virus across multiple sites through data aggregators. Incorrect listings confuse customers, hurt your SEO, and can ultimately cost you business.

When it comes to NAP, it’s crucial that your data be

• Current
• Complete
• Consistent

If your NAP is out of date, then customers are getting the wrong information when they search for your business online. This could lead to a customer going to the wrong location or calling the wrong business number.

If your NAP is inconsistent, this will confuse your customers, as they will be unsure of which information they should trust. The chances that the customer would do research to identify the correct information is slim when the option of going to a competitor is so much easier.

In both circumstances, you will be starting your interaction with your customer on the wrong foot. To build a better customer experience, it is crucial that your NAP is current, complete and consistent.

Furthermore, incorrect listings negatively impact your SEO because it confuses Google about which source to trust. When there is conflicting data about your NAP, Google has no way of deciphering which data is correct. Your NAP must be consistent across all of your business listings for Google to know what information to promote.

Don’t let inconsistent or out of date data negatively impact your business. Learn how to manage your local listings to take control of your online presence.

How do I manage my business listings?

Managing your business listings is as easy as following these three steps:

Audit your business information online

The first step to managing your local business listings is to do a listings audit. An audit helps you see how consistent your business listings are across the web. It also helps you see if there are duplicate Google My Business listings, or duplicate listings on other sites.

But, how can you possibly find all of your local business listings? Here are a few free business listing management tools you can use to audit your listings.

• Citation builder pro has a free business listing audit (remember, a business citation and a local business listing are the same thing).
• Brightlocal offers a free trial for their business listing scanning.
• But Birdeye’s free Scan Your Business tool takes it one step further. Birdeye’s Scan Your Business tool finds your listings and shows you exactly what they look like from the customer’s perspective. This helps you identify issues and see what changes you should make to help customers get the information they need.

Correct any inaccurate NAP data

After you conduct your audit, make sure to update any inconsistencies with your listings. Google makes it fairly easy to update your Google business listing. How easy this job is for the rest of your listings depends on the number of listings you have.

If you are a new business that doesn’t have a strong online presence, this is a job that should be quick and painless. However, there are hundreds of websites that your NAP data could be on, so if your data is in many places, correcting it has the potential to take up a lot of your time.

Track your listings

Just because you’ve corrected your listings once does not mean you are finished. New business listings are added every day, and if your business ever changes addresses, phone numbers, its website or operating hours, it’s imperative that this information be updated quickly across all listings. Consistently track your listings so that you know your NAP data is correct across the web.

Can I manage my own local business listings?

While you technically can manage your own business listings, there are a few things to consider before you do so. The pros? Managing your own business listings is free, and it gives you complete control over them. The cons? Managing your own listings takes time. Lots and lots of time. Perhaps you don’t have an overwhelming amount of listings now, but as your business grows, so will your listings. If you want to keep up with this growth, it’s important to have a long term solution for your online business listing management. This is why it’s important to have a business listing management service .

The key elements your business listing management software needs

The right business listing management software should have the following qualities:

• An automatic listings finder. You should not have to hunt for your listings, the right software will collect them all for you.
• The ability to identify NAP inconsistencies.
• Update all listings with the click of a button.
• Scan your listings and identify inconsistencies on an ongoing basis.

While these are the basic qualities your software should have, many business listing management platforms offer more features to provide you with local SEO solutions including:

• Review management. Be notified with each new review, respond within the dashboard, and even automate the review request process.
• Analytics. These insights help you understand your own customer feedback and keep an eye on the competition so that your business can get ahead.

SEO and online reputation management are two tools that work together to help your business be found and be chosen by customers.

Top business listings sites you cannot ignore

Though there are many business listing sites, some websites’ listings are more important than others. Here is where you should focus when you start managing your business listings.

1.Google My Business.

Because you want your business to be discoverable across Google platforms, it’s important to create a Google My Business profile. This profile also gives you a Google Maps business listing, which is beneficial when people are searching for places to go within Google Maps. A Google My Business profile also boosts your search engine ranking to help you rank higher in local searches. This free resource is one of your business’s most valuable assets.

2.Facebook.

You can create a free business page on Facebook and have access to over 2.6 billion active users. Facebook has access to their users’ location and demographics, so your business will pop up for relevant searches. In your Facebook business page you can also include a description of your business, pictures, and a link to your website.

3.Apple Maps.

There are millions of iOS users who all have Apple Maps as their default navigation system. When a potential customer searches relevant keywords in Apple Maps, you want to be sure that your business is found. List your business with Apple Maps to make use of this opportunity.

Manage your local business listings with Birdeye

With Birdeye, you scan your business listings with the click of a button. If your NAP data changes at any point (for example your office moved to a new location or your business description has changed), all you need to do is update it in your Birdeye dashboard, and we will make sure those changes are reflected across the web. Get in control of your online reputation by fixing and managing your business listings today.