07/14/2022
Local business listings have always been essential for local businesses.
Back in the days of the phone books and local newspapers, before Google and mobile devices ruled the world, local businesses simply needed to sit back and let customers do the walking through the yellow pages, reading through the local newspapers or by walking in front of their brick-and-mortar locations, customers easily found their way to local businesses, and conversions boomed.
Unfortunately, things haven’t been that simple for more than 20 years. Now, the pressure is on the local businesses to make themselves available to the public using other available resources like social media.
Today, when a customer looks for a business or local service, the first thing they do is pull out their device (cell phone, desktop, tablet, etc.). A quick search engine query or mobile application brings them the nearby results they’re looking for with location and directional maps, phone numbers or even recommendations from other customers. If a local business isn’t visible online, it won’t show up in search results, but you can bet competitors will be posting their businesses.
That’s where an online directory listing comes in. Simply put, a local listing is an online promotion of a business that details the essential information about that business. If a local business doesn’t have any local listings, they are missing out on an important resource for growing their business and getting a leg up over their competition.
Today it seems most businesses are convinced that they need to run ads on social media or Google to get their message out. They must resort to offering deep discounts or pay outrageous prices for mentoring or training to be able to use all these new high-tech resources and approaches.
Folks it really doesn’t have to be so complicated or expensive. A directory listing tied to solid business marketing processes can save you money, time and a whole lot of headaches. Bottom line you want to get your message out to potential customers or clients as easily as possible and allow you the time to do what you do and that is to offer the best customer experience you can. You don’t want your advertising and marketing to become a money drain and like the old days, before tech took over, you simply want a good ad for a decent price and not so complicated it takes a PHD in computer science to figure out how to do it all.
The Benefits of a Webigo Local Listing
There are multiple benefits of a Webigo local listing for local businesses. Not only do we increase the business’ online visibility – and the business’ chances of getting found online by potential customers – but we also provide multiple marketing resources for the business to reach a broader audience with their offers and incentives. Below we give a brief description of some of the many benefits of a Webigo local listing.
A Significant Online Presence Boost
A local business should have one primary goal: to reach as many potential customers as possible. Search engine optimization strategies, like listings in online directories, play a significant role in achieving it. An increased online visibility leads to higher website traffic, as well as more in-person connections and visits to a storefront.
Another factor to consider is that when a customer asks Google for a local business via voice search, Google won’t respond with businesses that lack online listings. Considering that 46 percent of all mobile voice searches have local intent, it’s vital that local business owners have their information available online, including the business’ location, phone number, store hours, and services.
One bonus that comes with a local listing is an automatic boost in search results. Instead of just pulling information about the business from multiple places (ie. Facebook, website, blogs, etc.), search engines will rely on the information presented in the listing. This provides the business with consistency across the web, which can result in a higher position in SERPs while validating trust with the search engines.
Improved Reputation with Consumers
When it comes to researching local businesses, 65 percent of consumers trust online search engines more than anything else, according to Reputation X. Therefore, if a business doesn’t appear in a respected directory via search engine results, why should consumers trust it? Unless they already know and like the business, consumers are much more likely to try a well-reviewed local business listing.
Nothing instills more trust in a consumer than an accurate online listing. They want to know exactly where the business is located and why they should visit it. Billboards, magazine ads, and word-of-mouth methods are no longer enough to draw in customers. Local businesses absolutely need to be listed online if they’re to be trusted, with complete profiles that address the real business hours and services and offers.
Useful Customer Feedback and Sharing
According to research, consumers read an average of 10 online reviews before they feel that they can trust a local business. If a local business isn’t located on any online directories or review sites, where will these reliable customer reviews come from?
By providing online users with the chance to leave honest feedback, local businesses can significantly increase their customer interaction. Additionally, the business can then respond to both positive and negative reviews, thereby improving its reputation on various review sites. In fact, similar research also revealed that 89 percent of consumers read local businesses’ responses to reviews, so it’s not just the customer feedback that matters.
Furthermore, consumers are likely to discuss local businesses on their social networks, including platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Having an online listing makes it easier for businesses to be shared across social media, which increases their access to potential customers and their back link profile.
Better Chances of Ranking Above Competitors
As a small local business, establishing a reputation that competes against the closest competitor can be challenging. This is especially true if the other company is listed online with a plethora of positive reviews and accurate information.
Local listing services help local businesses compete with other small companies, as well as large organizations and chain stores. Mom-and-Pop stores hardly stand a chance against big corporations alone, but when it comes to local listings, the size of the business doesn’t matter – search engines determine placement in search results based on other factors such as trust.
Free Online Advertising to Local Shoppers
Many small businesses struggle to come up with a marketing budget. Fortunately, Webigo online directories allow local businesses to submit their information for free. It’s an affordable way to boost brand awareness and increase online visibility without turning to expensive paid advertising strategies. If a business doesn’t have a directory listing, it’s practically throwing away free marketing opportunities.
How Webigo Can Help Your Local Business
If you take anything away from this article, it should be that local listings are 100 percent essential to local businesses that want to attract customers and maintain a positive standing with the community. Not only does a business’ need correct information to be available, but the business must also update its online listings as necessary, and we make that easily available. People want to see the information they can always trust, not outdated profiles.
OK, at this point you have two options available if you want to get your business listed the easy and affordable way. First option is to list your business for free and we will provide 7 great marketing features to help your find more customers or clients or you can choose to list your business on one of our paid plans which provides up to 33 marketing features that will get you more customers or clients, get them coming back more often and get them spending more on each visit.
Check us out at https://www.webigodirectory.com/join to see all your options and get started today. There is no need to set up any strategy phone calls that end up in long drawn-out sales pitches. You don’t need to join any high dollar training programs. It’s really simple folks, you want more customers or clients, and we can help you get them starting today. It’s affordable for any business and easy to set up.
