Your website functions as the central hub of your business’ online presence. It’s where your prospects go to learn more about your company, and where you can showcase your expertise and past successes. But, what if there was a way to mirror the reach of your website to further corners of the internet?
By leveraging online listings, your business can host your information within other websites to extend the reach of your brand and garner more leads. Today, we’re discussing how online listings function as a “microsite” for your business.
Listings: The Microsites That Extend Your Reach
Online listings can get as much, if not more traffic than your website itself. Since users can gather much of the information they may need from within your business listings (hours, services, and more) without visiting your website, we can consider these listings “microsites”. While no listing can be quite as informative as your website, they can have many of the essentials that your prospects are looking for.
Taking advantage of your online listings also puts you at the forefront of search discoverability. By practicing listing management, you can essentially extend the reach of your website via smaller sites that host your business data.
But What Exactly Are Online Listings?
Your “listings” are profiles across the ecosystem of search engines, online directories, nav apps and social platforms. These include hundreds of platforms such as Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, and Apple Maps. Sites like these offer a platform for businesses to host information which traditionally has included name, address, phone number, hours, and website. These online listing sites are constantly evolving and adding more fields, allowing businesses to include even more detail to their listings.
Example of an online listing.( DSG’s GMB listing)
By optimizing your listings, you can add more details beyond basic NAP (name, address, phone number) information. Sites like GMB and Yelp allow you to add a multitude of information including but not limited to:
- Photos
- Business description
- Amenities
- Business categories
- Languages spoken
- Q/A
- Social Media links
Plus, there are additional fields available for specific business verticals – for instance, restaurants can link out to menus, and notate whether delivery and curbside pickup are available.
Why Are Online Listings Important?
Because your online listings contain your vital business information, your listings will appear in search results when users initiate a search relevant to your offerings. When you keep your business information consistent across all locations on the internet, Google ranks your business higher. This is because approximately 11% of Google’s ranking for your business is determined based on how many listings you have, and the consistency of the information on those listings.
Online listings exist to help consumers find your business easier. Oftentimes, users could be searching for your business (either by name or by category) from within a website like Yelp. When your business appears in the results complete with robust information, users are getting everything they need to know right from your Yelp listing, without ever needing to visit your website. When we apply this mindset across all of our clients’ online listings, we ensure their businesses are accessible to users across all spaces of the internet.
With all this said, it can be difficult to know where to start. Especially for multi-location businesses, listing management can look like a daunting task. There are many self-serve platforms available that can help businesses manage these tasks. However, our many years of experience has shown that the best performing campaigns require a combination of specialized technology and hands-on management.
When you partner with an agency like DSG, we can provide the perfect balance of hands-on management that your campaigns need. We formulate a customized plan for claiming and optimizing listings for your single or multi-location business. If you’re interested in learning what DSG can do for your business, reach out to us.
