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If you’re like most business owners, the chances are good that you have worked hard to build a reputation for your company and now that you have it, you’ll do anything to protect it. One of the best ways to do this is by creating and managing your business listings in online directories. Many people don’t talk about a brand’s reputation when they are referring to online directories, but the two are closely linked and having one, can help you build the other.
Local Exposure
Firstly, if you don’t have a business listing in at least the top three directories, customers will look poorly upon your business for it. More customers are reaching out to online directories to find information about businesses, even if they don’t know it. They simply type in a keyword such as your business name or your product, and they are delivered the top three results in Google. If the customer knows you’re in the community but don’t see your listing, it will frustrate them and they will see you as unprofessional.
If the customer doesn’t know about your business and don’t see your listing, they will never know your business exists. That can be worse than simply not having a listing.
Secondly, business listings help build your reputation because in many online directories, customers can leave reviews for your business. The more reviews you have, good and bad, the more you can build your reputation. Positive reviews will automatically do this, but you should still respond and thank the customer for their business. When negative reviews are posted, you can respond to these too, and ask how you can help make the situation better. Both new and existing customers will see that you’re a business owner that truly cares about your customers, and that will help boost your reputation.
Rethink Local
When people think of local online directories for businesses, they often focus on that first word - local. Many people get hung up on this term and think that the term ‘local’ means only small businesses should create listings in these online directories. That isn’t true. The truth is that local online directories are for anyone within a local community, even major corporations.
How Local Listings Help Small Businesses
It’s true that small business owners have a lot to gain from listing within local online directories. These business owners don’t have the money of big corporations to run television ads, radio campaigns, and use other expensive marketing tactics. Today, they don’t have to. They simply have to incorporate local online listings into the marketing efforts, and it’s not long before owners will see more customers flooding through their door.
How Local Listings Help Big Businesses
Again, many people hear the term ‘local listing’ and automatically imagine these directories as being good for mainly small businesses. That isn’t true, though. Major corporations that have a business location within certain communities can also create a local listing for that location. Local after all, only means individuals and companies that are part of a local community.
Local Business Listing Are Essential For Every Business
The only real difference between a listing for a small business and a listing for a major corporation is how many listings are included with that name. For example, Costco likely has hundreds of listings within their directories. They may even have hundreds of different websites, one each for each separate location. Small business owners on the other hand, will likely only have one or two listings to reflect that they have one or two locations.
This only goes to show that local online directories really are for everyone, and that anyone that owns a business should have business listings within them.
Many business owners create listings in online directories to simply improve their brand awareness. However, by doing so, those same owners can also continue building on their company’s reputation.
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