Are local listings really that important?

The most popular trends in digital marketing today are social media and content marketing. This is quite understandable. After all, content marketing is the „white hat“ SEO strategy that Google loves, while social media marketing capitalises on the masses' enduring fascination with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. But these trends don't necessarily mean you should simply forget about rudimentary marketing techniques like using local listings. We're not talking about the old printed yellow pages here. We're talking about their online equivalent – Yelp, YP.com, Yahoo Local, etc.

Local Directories and SEO

For most people, SEO inevitably means a good ranking on Google, as this is the search engine most people use. In the US, Google has a market share of 67.55%, and its dominance is even more pronounced in mobile search, where it holds 87.1%of search queries. Google is also very popular with consumers of all kinds, as almost 6 out of 10 use it to search for a specific local business.

It therefore only makes sense that you want to rank well on Google searches for your keywords. What most people don't realise, however, is that including citations in online directories can support your local SEO efforts. You are always allowed to place a link to your website in local directories. This is good for your rankings.

Local directories ensure that your customers receive more information about your goods and services than is listed on your website. And if you are listed in numerous directories, you can expect the number of visitors to your website to increase as well. These directories are extremely popular, as Yelp alone has around 80 million monthly visitors in the USA.

This means more people will come into contact with your brand and be exposed to your advertising, and this can potentially mean more revenue for your business. But now it gets interesting: since a large part of Google's ranking depends on how many websites link to your own website, having dozens or even hundreds of citations in local directories is very helpful for your search engine optimisation. After all, numerous high-quality websites linking to your website are good for search engine optimisation.

Increase visibility through local listings

The reason companies spend outrageous amounts of money on TV advertising, newspaper and magazine ads, and billboards is because they want to reach as many people as possible. That's as close to a certainty as you can get. It's also the reason you have a website at all. To be seen by potential customers. This isn't a trivial marketing strategy because 70% aller Internet-Suchanfragen sind für lokale Unternehmen bestimmt.

If you now consider that Google receives almost 12 billion searches per month according to the last count, this means that 8.4 billion searches were mainly for local businesses. If you have your own website, it's like having just one number on a roulette wheel for the ball to land on. But if you are listed in a local directory, it's like having an additional number on the roulette wheel.

You will get more opportunities to be seen by your target audience. It's like placing an additional advert in a magazine or on a billboard that can be seen by an ever-increasing number of potential customers. The more local directories you are listed in, the greater the chance of being seen. Therefore, if your business is listed in a hundred different local directories, you have a hundred different ways a potential customer can find you.

Local listings make your business visible.

Just like the old Yellow Pages phone directories, local directories offer you the opportunity to publish your business address and phone number in a profile, allowing it to be displayed on the website. This alone gives you an advantage over your competitors if your business is listed on these websites and theirs is not. Local directories offer much more information and more opportunities to interact with customers than the large, cumbersome phone books of the past.

Local Directories, Reviews, and You

It's no secret that customer reviews can have a dramatic impact on your business. Word of mouth has always been a big influence on purchasing decisions, and customer reviews can help to facilitate that decision. Nearly 9 out of 10 people consider online reviews to be more trustworthy than friend recommendations. That's a huge influence! But you should also know how important your own replies to reviews are.

You can thank people for positive reviews and re Bond strengthen the relationship between your company and the respective customer. This creates brand loyalty and super-fans for your company. You should respond to negative reviews by apologising, offering an explanation, or highlighting your strengths. By responding to negative reviews, you can minimise the damage they can cause.

There's also the possibility that the critic will reconsider their negative review simply because you've responded and shown them you care. Nearly a third of all negative reviews are converted into positive reviews just because someone has acknowledged the issue.

Quotes are a good thing – get them.

If you haven't already, it's time to prioritise your local listings. Most local directories are free, but they can make a difference in many ways. It won't cost you a lot of time or effort to get your business listed, and as a small business owner, it just makes sense to use cost-effective resources to grow your business.