214-310-1356
A local listing provides the first impression that many consumers will get of a brand. With ongoing listing management services in place, this initial encounter can be a positive experience. All too often, however, a failure to stay on top of updates inevitably leads to outdated contact information and incorrect opening hours—and a poor user experience. If your agency is providing local SEO to businesses, here’s why you need to regularly monitor listings.
Why Managing and Updating Business Listings Is a Must
It’s a common misconception (and wishful thinking) that local business listing management is a one-and-done event. Of course, your upfront work to create listings will certainly build a strong foundation for search visibility and customer trust. However, much of your client’s success will come from the ongoing management of these listings.
Business Listings vs. Backlinks
Backlinks are a cornerstone of SEO, signaling authority and credibility to search engines, and are considered votes of confidence for your website. While it might be tempting to view citations from business listings in the same light, there are important differences.
Google uses citations to verify the legitimacy of a business’ information. This is primarily the NAP data – name, address and phone number – along with other details like opening hours and services. Unlike backlinks (which can be effective even if left alone), business listings require ongoing management to ensure your information stays accurate.
Trust Matters to Search Engines
Anyone who has ever conducted a local business search will likely recognize the difference between a quality listing and a substandard one. When faced with no business description, a lack of reviews, missing opening hours and few or no images, both the search engines and the searcher will doubt the veracity of the data that’s presented. In short, these issues can absolutely harm your client’s trust with search engines. Follow our top strategies for building and maintaining local citations to resolve these problems.
Customer Experience Influences Brand Reputation
It’s not just search engines that rely on updated listings—consumers do too. After a person has researched the details of a business in advance, think of the frustration that potential customer experiences when they arrive to find the business closed for the day (or moved to a new location, or even closed permanently). We have all experienced this, and these poor experiences lead to negative reviews and a diminished brand reputation. Thankfully, you can avoid most of these issues through ongoing listings management.
Responding to Reviews Is Crucial
Checking reviews before buying is second nature to most of us today. Naturally, the star rating is a motivating factor in whether a person uses a product or service. However, the actions of the business also play a great role here. When a business actively responds to reviews and demonstrates interest in the customer experience, it stands out.
Business Listings Aren’t Static Pages Anymore
Business listings continue to evolve, introducing new features and often adding interactive elements. Google Business Profile (GBP) is the obvious example here, with options for sharing offers, events and updates. Failing to take advantage of these features with a consistent listings management strategy is absolutely a missed opportunity.
Listings Can Get A.I. Overview Visibility and Voice Search Results
These technologies rely on accurate information to provide users with up-to-date information.
Both AI and voice search results can only be as accurate as the information available to them. This means that business websites, directories (and more) need to be provided with accurate information.
If you’re new to this concept, our Voice Search Readiness Test is a great place to start.
Comprehensive Business Listing Management for Agencies
Advice Local creates top-quality listing management tools and services for digital agencies and local marketers. We help you build and maintain citations across leading search engines, directories and review sites. Call (214) 310-1356 or request a demo today.