Here’s a good exercise to help you get motivated to update your site: Google your business name.
I am in the process of updating a map for a site I developed and it involves googling almost every local retail business in order to link to their websites. Surprisingly, quite a few don’t. Instead, when I google their business name, what tends to come up are: 1) Newspaper articles that mention the business, 2) blog posts that mention the business and 3) Review sites such as Yelp and Merchant Circle.
The last category is where a lot of businesses lose out on a great free tool for getting their name out there. Some sites are membership-based, requiring people to join before they can post their reviews of local businesses. Others are more focused on the business owner and helping them to develop a business to business network. Here’s a list of the sites that I visited and a little about the ins and outs of listing your business with them:
- Superpages/Switchboard: When you land on this site, go to the bottom of the page where it says: “Add or Edit Listing”. Click on that and you’ll go to a page where you will be prompted to enter your business phone number in order to find out if you are already listed. If you are not, then you will need to go through the process of filling in your business info and then signing up for a free account. Of course, they will offer you options such as having your logo with your listing for “only” $25 per month, but there are free options out there, so try it, see how you like the services and then decide if it’s worth the money.
- Yellowpages: Just like SuperPages and Switchboard, Yellowpages is part of the Idearc Empire and, like any empire, they want to control the world. If you own a business, you’ve probably received a few sales calls from them, but, it is possible to sign up for a free business listing. The only catch is that they inform you after you’ve gone through the listing process that it may take 30 days to display your listing and “you will be contacted by a sales representative”. Oh boy. To get started, just go to the home page and click on the black button at the bottom of the page that says “Get your free listing”.
- Boston City Search: At the bottom of the home page, there’s a link entitled “List your business on City Search”. It does cost, and they don’t tell you how much it will cost until you start signing up for a plan. The “$30 off” offer tells me that it’s kind of costly.
- Manta: Manta pulls its listings from Dun & Bradstreet. Therefore, you should get a listing with them first before attempting to get into their listings. I wish they had told me this before I went through the fairly involved process of setting up an account on their site. The site seems to be focused on business to business interactions, so if you are constantly scouring the web for suitable vendors, then this may be worth your time to set up.
- Citysquares: Basically the way this works is that you search for your business, sign up for a free listing, and then they want you to pay upwards from $50 a month to upgrade your listing including being able to link to your site from the listing.
- Merchant Circle: On the home page, you will be prompted to enter your business number, then it shoots you onto a page where you can sign up for a membership. They email you, you confirm the email and then you go to another page where there’s a list of the plans offered. They range from $30-$250 a month. Never fear, there’s a light gray link next to the plans that says “But I thought it was free!” Click on that. Now, on the next page, in the top right corner, click on “No Thanks, set up my profile”. You get a pretty meaty listing, with a link to your own site and the ability to generate coupons. I signed up and within 48 hours, my listing showed up near the top of a search for “Web Design” in “Salem MA”
- Yelp: At the top right of the page, click on Yelp for Business Owners. From there, you simply follow the prompts to set up your business listing.
Then what?
Recruit your network of friends, relatives and loyal customers to support your business by asking them to post some reviews on the various sites. Trade reviews with other business owners, offer discounts/deals to customers who post reviews, cook dinner for people, whatever. Every little bit helps to enhance your presence online and drive traffic to your business!