Scheduling Software Blog

6 easy (and free!) ways to enhance your SEO

If you are a small business owner, you may have noticed that very often your listings on sites like Google, Yelp, and Citysearch contain incorrect or outdated information. This can be due to a recent move, a change in your phone number, or you altered your business name at some point.

What you probably don’t realize is that even minor discrepancies in your business Name, Address and Phone number (NAP) can undermine your SEO and your overall Web presence. It is now widely recognized that inconsistences in your NAP can negatively impact your listings on local sites and your search engine results. Not to mention the lost revenue from customers who cannot contact you or may even show up at the wrong address!

The first step to improving your visibility online is to ensure the information about your business is correct and up-to-date. Here are the 6 easy and free ways to correct your listings and enhance your Web presence:

1. Claim your business’ listing via Express Update from InfoGroup. By claiming a free business listing on Express Update, you will ensure the accuracy of your NAP information on all of the major search engines and local directories. Plus you can add more than 150 details about your business.
2. Claim your listing on Citysearch.com. Citysearch and its sister company CityGrid comprise one of the largest local search and advertising networks on the Web. You will not only improve your search results, but Citysearch will also share the corrected listing with hundreds of local search sites and mobile apps. (If you are a Genbooker, they’ll also add your customer reviews and a scheduling button to your page).
3. Claim your Google+Local page. With the recent transformation of Google Places into Google+Local, the Big G has gotten very serious (and very social) about the Local market. Since Google handles the vast majority of local search queries, it’s absolutely critical that you own your Google+Local page.
4. Check the status of all of your web listings via GetListed.org. It’s a free service that shows a snapshot of how your business is listed on Google, Bing, Yelp, Superpages, and other major local sites and search engines. GetListed even displays links to the sites where your business listing needs to be claimed.
5. Create a Facebook Page for your business. Facebook Pages are a simple, free product for businesses to create a Facebook presence and connect with new and loyal customers. (If you are a Genbooker, you can add your customer reviews and a scheduling button to your page. Amazing, right?!). Leverage your social network by advertising specials and promoting your services in your status updates. Facebook Pages generally rank high in search engine results, adding to your visibility.
6. Sign up for online scheduling software from Genbook. With a BookNow button on your website and Facebook page, customers can read your reviews and schedule appointments in real-time 24x7 with instant confirmation. Genbook automatically collects reviews from your verified customers and publishes them to your SEO-optimized scheduling page, your Facebook Page, Google Search and Google+Local, Citysearch and many other prominent sites. (Ok, ok, so Genbook isn’t free, but it’s great value for money, and you can get started on a 30 Day Free Trial.)

Claiming your listings gives you control over how your business information is displayed by local sites and search engines. And because many sites share listing data, it is imperative that your NAP be absolutely consistent throughout the local search and directory ecosystem. Otherwise, the errors will spread and your listing could be discarded or your search results divided between duplicate or incorrect listings.

The time you spend cleaning up your listings and correcting any inconsistencies will be well worth the effort, resulting in improved search engine rankings and more traffic to your site and to your business!