I recently spoke to someone who is very excited about her new job - and part of that job is carefully monitoring the local directory listings of various clients. Some folks would not be excited about sifting through all the places a business is listed on the Internet. It's a painstaking task and not one that I'd be excited about. But she sees the value in what she is doing.
Mistakes in Local Listings Cost Business
Looking for mistakes or inconsistencies across the Web gives her the opportunity to update and correct the variations. Even something like an address that says "Road" in one listing and "Rd" in another can affect rankings because computers are literal thinkers and not every algorithm is set up to recognize that Road = Rd.
Imagine what happens when the information for that business actually is wrong!
If someone is trying to find your service or product by doing a search on their phone, they are not going to go through many options to find you unless they already know your business and are specifically looking for you. Most of us click on the first link that looks like the perfect match.
If they are specifically looking for you and the information that comes up is wrong, what happens next? How many incorrect listings will they go through before they give up and go with a competitor?
This new employee is excited about fixing these problems because she sees that doing so will make local businesses prosper. She understands that controlling your local listings is a valuable thing to do.
Photo Credit: Directory Listings/shutterstock