That a local business would want to expend time and effort on developing an online presence, it may seem counterintuitive. Still, if you care to think about it, this is the place where the buying decisions are taken.
According to https://www.lyfemarketing.com, a Forbes study has revealed that as many as 95% of smartphone users have performed local searches on their devices, out of which 61% called up the business, and an astonishing 59% visited. Listing tools like an automated listings finder allow users to discover directory-listing opportunities beyond the obvious and also to ensure consistency of information across all the listings because you can update all of them with just one click.
There are also beneficial review management tools that can send notifications of new reviews to businesses, and some of them even have a user interface for replying to customer reviews. While some tools focus on only one function, many others offer multiple solutions in one package. However, your selection depends on your needs. Some of the most effective ones:
Whitespark
Whitespark started as a web design agency but now offers SEO tools for local search marketing. Its most popular product is the Citation Finder, which helps businesses to find opportunities for citations that might have been missed so that local search rankings can be boosted. The company also offers a local rank tracker that performs a competitor analysis and gives you an idea as to how you rank against them on various search engines across multiple result types.
The tool also allows the tracking of social media activity, which is a big plus for local businesses. The company also offers a reputation builder that makes it very easy to communicate with customers via SMS and email to share reviews available on over 45 review websites. You also get to know your Net Promoter Score (NPS), which is an indicator of the experiences that customers have had with your business. The review monitoring feature alerts you whenever there is a bad review so that you can take suitable action.
Yext
Yext also offers a bundle of products that local businesses can use to boost their SEO. It makes keeping your business data up-to-date very easy because it integrates with hundreds of business directories. Yext provides a Knowledge Manager, which makes available at one place all the answers customers are liable to ask about your business, including business hours, location, staff, and promotions.
Yext Pages is a secure system for updating business listings so that the information is accurate at all times. With the Yext Listing feature, business owners can take charge of the information shared with digital services like Yelp, social media, and search engines, according to a leading Adelaide SEO company.
This feature can be used to give real-time and scheduled updates, discovering suggestions for improving listings, and setting up integrations with other SEO tools. By using Text Reviews, you can generate reviews from your customers so that they can be added to your website. The feature also makes it simple to monitor and respond to PowerListings Network reviews.
ReviewTrackers
ReviewTrackers is a software tool that can alert you to customer reviews posted on various review websites. The information culled from multiple sources is available on a single dashboard. Business owners can review customer reviews, track the performance of stores by location, and also ask for feedback. It will be heartening for owners of local businesses to know that ReviewTrackers is so good that even several global brands use it. Three different plans exist starting from one that suits local business to one meant for large enterprises.
Moz Local
With a track record of over ten years, Moz Local is one of the most popular local SEO tools. Moz Local ensures that online listings are accurate as well as consistent across multiple sources, which helps to improve the visibility of websites. The automated process of the tool takes over once you input a listing.
The tool sends the listing information to all the major search engines, directories, apps, and business directories. Whenever you need to update your listing, all you need to do it to make the change on Moz Local, which will ensure that all the listings on various channels are immediately updated.
There is no need to update each directory individually. Moz Local sends alerts whenever there are new customer reviews on many significant platforms that it’s tracking so that you can respond to them quickly. The tool also syncs with Google My Business enabling you to respond directly to Google reviews.
Conclusion
For a local business, it is vital to stay on top of SEO to take advantage of the need of people in the proximity who are looking for products and services that you are offering yet are unaware of your existence. By ensuring you are there in all major directories, you increase the chance of being discovered and boost your sales.
You can also hire a Digital Marketing Consultant or even take digital marketing agency services to help you get started with the points as mentioned earlier. Additionally, most of the tools allow you to monitor reviews of your business so that you can respond to concerns quickly and build your reputation.
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