Are You Easy to Find Online?

The easier you make finding your business or Web site, the more traffic you will have. Potential visitors come from an unlimited number of sites and use different search phrases. The more places you list your business – and the more complete your listings – the more likely each person is to find you.

The good news: most of the best places to list your business are FREE for the asking.

The “bad” news is you have to be willing to invest time locating and submitting to them (or pay someone to do it for you). That really is NOT bad news though – a one time investment that keeps rewarding you indefinitely is well worth the time and/or money required.

While search engines are one way to be found they are certainly not the only way or even the most probable way. If your business serves a local area you will get far better results ensuring that you have good local listings.

Each local search site provides unique information and was originally created from a different data source. If you run ads in printed yellow pages you may find you are already listed on some sites; however, the listings are often incorrect and can always be improved.

No matter how exceptional your service or terrific your Web site, if your new (or even existing!) customers are unable to find you easily you are definitely losing business. The more frequently your information pops up the more business you will get.

If you want more business – whether that is visitors, sales, leads, or subscribers – decide now to invest some time or money in being found by adding yourself with complete listings that include all the keywords your potential customers are likely to use.

Even if you have all the business you want right now, the current economy may change that. More importantly, if your existing customers have difficulty finding you they may just decide to try someone else who IS easy to locate.

Future posts will provide step-by-step instructions to guide you in locating and listing yourself and tips on copywriting and keyword selection. (QUICK TIP: Include all words and phrases that describe your business in your listings. Search engines index words and phrases. More on this in a future post.)

STEP-BY-STEP Local Search Listing Process:

• Growing Businesses with Local Search (Understanding Local Search and checking for existing listings)
• Links to Add Your Business or Web Site to FREE Local Search Engines (Direct links for adding your listings)
• How to Promote Your Business Online (Explains what information you need to use when adding or editing your Local Search listings and provides more background on why you need to use Local Search)
• Business Information Form: printable form to gather all of the  information needed by the local search directory sites for each business or Web site you wish to list
• Compiling (researching or brainstorming) your keyword lists to ensure your listing gets maximum exposure
• Track your listings
• Confirm your listings are live and check them for accuracy

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Gail Gardner

Small Business Marketing Strategist at GrowMap

Gail Gardner is the founder of GrowMap.com. She is a Small Business Marketing Strategist who mentors small businesses, bloggers, and freelancers. After 23 years in the field with IBM and 5.5 years managing AdWords accounts, her focus shifted to small business marketing strategy. GrowMap.com is listed by Cision as a Top 100 Site for Marketers and has received three Small Business Influencer Awards from Small Business Trends. Named by D&B a Top 50 SMB Influencer on Twitter, you can follow Gail @GrowMap and on LinkedIn.

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