Local search has become dominant in all of the major search engines, so becoming part of the "local search pack" is important for any business whose market is local. Many times though businesses do not take their local listing seriously, so it either doesn't show up in the search results at all or it is greatly lacking in information when it does show up.
If you are a locally-based business, now is the time to get serious about "local search."
Below are four key elements to a local search pack you should keep in mind to make sure your local listing includes the following:
- Contact information – not just a business name and address but also a telephone number, email address, URL and links to social media profiles. Instructions for finding the business premises and notes on whether there is parking nearby are also helpful.
- Pictures and videos – unless someone working at your company has the gift of photography, it is best to get pictures taken professionally. Hiring a professional for a one time photo session does not have to be a big expense and it does a lot to help to build a professional image. If you've got video footage of your business, consider using that as well because embedded video content is now especially useful in boosting search engine rankings.
- Basic business info – it's easy to forget but it's highly important to make sure your listing includes pertinent information for customers such as hours of operation and types of payment accepted. Policies on things such as whether children or pets are welcome should also go here.
- Include notes on categorization – either choose from the categories that are available through the search engine's local listing application or add notes into your listing that help categorize your business.
For more information on how to improve your local search results more generally, check out our other blog posts on the subject.