Four Steps Every Business Should Take

August 31, 2006
By Patricia Hursh

Missing in Action
We’ve all gotten... THE CALL.

Whether you work in an agency or are an in-house marketer, you’ve likely received the dreaded “I can’t find my web site” phone call.

Let’s say the caller is a small business owner who has just conducted a search directly related to their local business. Maybe they own a dog and cat bakery in Berkley... or an auto glass store in Peoria... or they are a divorce lawyer in Atlanta.

They are frustrated and confused -- to say the least – because their business is no where to be found in the search results. Maybe the caller is a personal friend of yours asking for advice because they know you know something about “search.”

Expert Advice
Have you made the same mistake I’ve made, and launched into an explanation of organic search versus pay-per-click; summarized the basic premise of search algorithms; or covered how keyword ad auctions work?

You can almost hear their eyes glazing over!

Plenty has been written recently on the challenges of bringing the inherent complexities of search marketing to local businesses. No doubt, the local search market opportunitywill be huge. Search engines and Internet Yellow Pages are developing local solutions to grab their share of this burgeoning marketplace. Intermediaries have entered the picture to bridge the gap between businesses and ad networks with simplified solutions. And the chicken and the egg dilemma is starting to improve, meaning that more people are conducting searches that are local in nature, and more local business data are showing up in search results.

But the truth is the person on the other end of the phone really doesn’t care about any of this, do they? After several similar conversions, I decided to step back and take a look at the fundamental issues.

Getting Back to Basics
At the most basic level, what is it that most local business marketers really want when it comes to search?
- First, they want to make sure they are INCLUDED in search results.
- Second, they want to be LISTED ACCURATELY – with their business name, description, location and phone number correctly displayed.

It is only after these two goals have been met that they can be really interested in improving their visibility and results. Unfortunately, these very basic needs aren’t being realized for many businesses today, meaning that prospective customers can’t easily find them, contact them, or walk in their door.

Here’s why. Search engines and internet yellow pages (IYPs) receive local business information from many places. The primary source of data is business directories, also called data providers, such as Amacai, infoUSA, Acxiom and GeoSign. These firms have been around for years, providing information to the Yellow Page industry and others. It’s amazing that although these directories are the fountainhead of critically important data, many marketers have never even heard of them.

For local maps, search engines receive information from several sources including AOL’s MapQuest and Microsoft’s MapPoint. And of course, the engines also crawl the Web to find and index local business information.

For starters I suggest you check out Bruce Clay’s Local Search Engine Relationship Chart as it does a nice job of summarizing the in’s and out’s of local search in an easy to understand, graphical format.

Follow These Four Simple Steps
Based on these factors, here is my list of four basic (and free) steps that every local business marketer should take to ensure their business is fully and accurately represented in local search engine results and the Internet Yellow Pages (IYPs).

1. Update Your Business Directory Listings
Visit the Amacai, infoUSA and Acxiom web sites. Here you can find your business listing and verify or update it as needed.

2. Submit Your Site to Local Search Engines
Submit your Web site to local search engines such as: Google Local, MSN Local, Yahoo Local, Ask Local and TrueLocal. All of these sites have an “add/submit business” link.

3. Update Your Internet Yellow Page (IYP) Listings
Likewise, find and update your listings at YellowPages.com, Verizon SuperPages and SwitchBoard.com.

4. Feature Your Address on Your Website
Make sure your physical address is prominently displayed on your web site. This tells search engines what “local” means to you. Obviously list your address on the Contact Us page, but make sure it’s also included on the Home Page, or even include it in the footer of every page. In addition, make sure you use words on your site that describe the geography you actually serve such as “Boulder-Denver area,” or “Denver Metro Area,” or “state of Colorado.”

But Wait... There’s an Easier Way
There are now viable options to handle all of these submission processes in one fell swoop. A few services enable businesses to enter all of this information just ONCE – into a Business Profile Page. The service will then automatically distribute your data to directories, search engines and IYPs. This Profile Page becomes a central place to enter, store, change and distribute information such as company name, description, location, contact information and hours of operation. Profile Pages can be used as a basic Web site or in addition to your current site. Relevant Yellow and RegisterLocal provide this type of service for a fixed annual fee

First Things First
In my view, too many marketers jump immediately to an advertising or optimization program even before considering some of the most basic elements of a local online marketing program. Business owners need to first and foremost know that their data is accurately and thoroughly included in search engine and yellow page results before they can embrace an improvement plan. Bottom line: lay the foundation before you build the house!

Your thoughts and comments are appreciated.

About the author:
Patricia Hursh is president and founder of SmartSearch Marketing, a Boulder, Colorado-based search engine marketing agency specializing in interactive solutions designed to generate leads, acquire customers and build brands online. You can reach Patricia at patricia@smartsearchmarketing.com

Posted on August 31, 2006 10:16 AM

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