Maximize Your Profits By Claiming Your Online Business
Like most business owners, you understand that today’s business world runs primarily online. Unfortunately, you may not have as much control over your online business’s reputation and profitability as you think. If you haven’t claimed your online business profile by posting and owning your official pages on major listing sites, you need to learn why this step matters, what it involves, and which listing sites can do the most to boost your success.
Why You Should Claim Your Online Business
In the pre-Internet era, you’d buy listings in your local Yellow Pages and other professional directories. The public could then look up your phone number and address as needed. Business reviews took the form of newspaper columns, magazine articles, the occasional TV review, and old-fashioned word of mouth. Today, businesses rely on online business listings and reviews instead.
Failure to claim your online business can diminish your competitive edge. Without an owner-created listing, others can freely list your business and post whatever they want about it, for better or worse. Neglecting your online business’s core information and reputation opens the door to a flood of inaccurate information and unfair commentary.
Instant visibility to the entire online community makes online listings an incredibly potent tool. The more comprehensively you apply it, the better it works. Research indicates business owners who claim free listings on at least three review sites bring in 36 percent more earnings than those who don’t. Add a fourth review site, and that number jumps to 58 percent.
Where To Claim Your Online Business: The Major Sites
If you plan on claiming your online business, you might as well focus on the web’s largest, most visible used business sites. The central directory sites let you create detailed listings that include everything from descriptive blurbs and contact information to website links, reviews, and more. You may want to give the most serious consideration to the following online giants.
Google My Business Profile
If you want potential customers to discover everything they need to know about your business at a glance, claim your free online listing at Google Business Profile. This resource offers numerous resources for retail, restaurant, and service companies. Your business will also feature more prominently in Google searches, while your address information will make your business appear on Google Maps.
Facebook has a reputation as a personal social media hub, but people own and operate businesses, making it a fine place to post a business listing. You can even claim a Facebook page about your company that someone else created without your authorization. Once you verify your status as the valid owner of your business, you can claim the unauthorized page and then merge it with your official page, removing the confusion of duplicate pages and taking firmer control of your online reputation.
Yelp
When you consider that four out of five American shoppers consult reviews before they shop and that half of those consult Yelp, you can see the value of listing your business here. This review site has helped shape buying decisions since 2004. You should know, however, that anyone can create a Yelp page for a company, even a customer. If you see a page already created for your company, you can claim it for yourself by going through a simple identity verification process.
Other Places To Claim Your Online Business
While the mega-sites mentioned above will probably get the most attention from the most significant number of prospective buyers, you can also claim and maintain business profile pages on other valuable sites. You might benefit from the following examples.
- Google Maps – Google Business Profile and Google Maps work hand in hand. This interlinking means you can go into the Google Maps app and add or claim your business listing as part of your Google Business Profile.
- Apple Maps – Google isn’t the only online map resource in town. Members of the Apple ecosystem might just as quickly turn to Apple Maps to find information about your business. You can register your business’s profile page through the Apple website.
- Bing Places – Many Microsoft users rely on Bing for their business searches. The search engine makes claiming, creating, and verifying a business page quick and easy.
Get Started With Your Online Business Claims Today
As you can see, claiming your business online is imperative if you want to maximize your profits and allow your customer to find you easily. Fortunately, you don’t have to take this essential step alone. If you need help learning to select the right target pages for your business, turn to Trademark Productions. Our services can help your company move forward in the right direction. Contact us today.
