nap: the one most important thing that will set your local business apart from your competitors
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NAP: The One Most Important Thing that Will Set Your Local Business Apart From Your Competitors. How to Increase Your Local Business' Online Presence via GeoReferencing and GeoTagging, (Name, Address and Phone Number) using Local Directories, including Google +, Yahoo and Bing local business pages, Hot Frog, City Search, etc.TRANSCRIPT
Let's Talk Business - How to Get Found Online via Local Directories and GeoReferencing
Laurie Owen, MA, LMPReach Them Online Local
http://www.reachthemonlinelocal.com
https://www.facebook.com/LaurieOwenAppasionataMarketing
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http://www.twitter.com/laosinger
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google.com/+ReachThemOnlineOlympia
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+LaurieOwenMarketing/posts
Skype: laurieo4
Local Search – A New Opportunity
71% of all American adults use the Internet. 91% of all Internet users use a search engine to find information. Over 50% of all purchases are preceded by an Internet search 30 percent of all search queries contain a city,
state or zip code. (NAP) Geo-referencing Geo-tagging
There are 2.6 billion local searches a month What does this have to do with you? You don’t need a website as long as you have
established a presence on local directories! (Although having one helps)
Being Found Online for Local Businesses
Geo-Referencing refers to putting something (in this case, your business Address) on a map (in this case, Google Maps)—Google automatically translates your address to x/y coordinates.
Geo-Tagging refers to using a database to add characteristics to the georeferenced item—in the case of a business, in relation to the search engines, the most important characteristics are Name and Phone Number. Hence, NAP
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Geo-Targeted Search Engines
Sponsored Links
Organic Results
Geo-targeted campaign placement on major search engines
Establish NAP format N: NameA: AddressP: Phone Number
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Google & Yahoo Maps
GPS Accessible
Smart Phone Accessible
Provide access to potential customers through Google and
Yahoo maps
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/google-in-the-enterprise/put-your-business-on-the-map-the-google-map/
Provide access to potential customers through Review Sites (otherwise known as Local Directories or Citations)
Being Found Online for Local Businesses
Step One: Create a Document, including the following information:
Name of Company:Address:City:STZip. Phone Web Address Email Business Owner’s First nameLast name:
Primary keywords for the business. i.e. Italian restaurant, veterinarian, flower shop in Boston, etc.
About a 25 to 50 word description of the business using as many of the keywords as possible.
Create a new gmail account. Go to http://ww w.gmail.com to do this. You’ll see a link on the lower right side of the page that says “New To GMAIL? Create an account.” Click on that.
Under First and Last name put your name. You may need to provide a back up email address for this new
email address. Use your main business email. LOGIN NAME will be business name [email protected].
You will use the same gmail account to create a YouTube channel, Panoramio Account, Google + Page, and Google Maps. The order in which to do this should be 1) Google Maps 2) YouTube 3) Google+ and 4) Panoramio.
Create a Yahoo account, using the same name and password, so it’s easy to remember.
Step Two:
http://www.google.com/business/ A) Complete the various screens, entering the requested information, selecting the various categories
that business might be found under, uploading photos, etc. On the last screen Google will either have two ways to verify the business listing or just one. B) log in to Panoramio and add images E) log in to YouTube and fill in the basic information..you will also be creating a Google+ Account at the
same time. Use email matching domain to register account-if you can do this it is good—otherwise a gmail account is
OK DO’s:
Use images and video, walk-through, testimonials— DON’T FORGET TO GEO TAG IMAGES. Real Address, No UPS or PO Boxes
DON’T’s
Violating Google’s Suggestions Using 800 Numbers Using Phone Number Tracking—Unless it is consistent on all sites. P.O. / UPS Boxes Multiple Place Pages / location Duplicate Phone on Multiple Place Pages
Step Three Establishing Google Accounts:
Yahoo Local - http://listings.local.yahoo.com/basic.php You will essentially be repeating the same steps you did for Google, but may have to create a new email address @ yahoo.com. Do the same address – [email protected] and this time use the Google address as your main contact email. Complete all steps and note the passwords, etc. you created for this listing. Try using the Gmail account, but sometimes you are forced to do the yahoo address.
Now do the same for Bing - https://ssl.bing.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx
You will probably need to create a Microsoft id.
Step Four:
Superpages infoUSA Theme Sites Shop City Yelp Citysearch InsiderPages Google Yahoo Local Angie’s List Judy’s Book Hot Frog Mapquest
Step Five—Other Local Directories:
Yellow Bot Dex Knows Magic Yellow ZidsterLocalEze Yellow PagesYellow Book KudzuLocal.comMerchant CircleCity VoterCity SquaresFoursquare
Options for adding citations
www.moz.com/local $49.00/yr. www.Whitespark.ca/citation-building-
submission-service common $4 ea. Niche-specific $5 ea.
www.Yext.com about $300-$400/yr. www.UBL.org $79.00/yr. www.Localeze.com $25.00/month www.getlisted.org (now moz.com)