The following article is reprinted from the September 2009 Plugged In column of Society of American Florists' (SAF) Floral Management Magazine. SAF's Floral Management is distributed to more than 11,000 SAF members and is the floral industry's premier floral business practices publication.
You may have already received an offer from an Internet marketing company, promising to get your business listed in search-engine local directories provided by Google, Yahoo and Bing, formerly known as MSN. These are the listings that pop up at the top of the page when some- one searches for a business or service in a specific city or state. It's a great place to be, and these companies offer attention- getting low fees ($100) to get you there.
Don't waste your money.
It takes at most 45 minutes to do this yourself and 15 minutes a month of main- tenance. And you don't have to pay a dime.
While it's tempting to pay someone to maintain your listings, the shop ben- efits from your hands-on involvement. Your Web business is likely your fastest- growing revenue source. Understanding how search-engine local listings interplay with search-engine optimization will boost your bottom line.
Seventy percent of all Americans use the Internet, and when they do they use search 90 percent of the time. Google, Yahoo and Bing own 90 percent of the search-engine market, with Google at 70 percent, according to Netcraft's 2009 Web Survey.
If you search for a florist in Dallas (see image above), the top three organic listings (McShan Florist, Dr. Delphinium and Dallas House of Flowers) also have a listing in the "local business results"
list, next to the map. Those shops' own- ers have already registered in Google's local directory. Appearing in both places reinforces your search-engine optimiza- tion efforts to land on page one of the search results. In essence, you confirm to the search engines that you are that local business you claim to be.
Think Before You Link
Convinced? Consider some strategies be- fore you sign up. The services ask that you choose from predetermined categories or input keywords to describe your shop. Keep it simple. Go for: "florist same-day delivery," rather than "expert florist, fast- est same-day delivery." Don't do multiple listings; all three search engines will sniff this out and just may ban your listing.
Before you submit, gather compelling videos and photos that show your work. You'll be able to load these onto your listing page. Commit to checking and updating your listing monthly.
Click "Add new business" and fill out all data on the next screen. The next screen asks you to claim or add listing. If you're already on there, claim it! You can then edit your listing to add more informa- tion, such as services, hours, photos and videos. Google will confirm by telephone with the number you provide and send a PIN to the address submitted.
yahoo listings.local.yahoo.com
Click "Sign up." If you don't have a Yahoo account you'll have to create one before creating a directory listing. Fill out the listing details as you did with Google. Finish by selecting categories and sub categories for your products and ser- vices. It'll take at least a week for Yahoo to review and confirm your listing.
bing ssl.bing.com/listings
Click "Add new listing." You'll be prompted to either enter or create a Windows ID. The process for entering your details is similar to Google and Yahoo. Bing's veri- fication process is the same as Google's, with the added option of a Bing call with a PIN number on the spot.
Verification is critical and helps thwart the unscrupulous practice of claiming a competing business and placing alter- native contact information on the site. Check your listing as soon as possible to make sure no one has absconded your online identity. Strategies to reclaim your listing can be found at this post by Avante Gardens owner Cathy Hillen- Rulloda: www.flowerchat.com/real- florists-blog/2008/09.
The Little Engines that Can Help
Beyond the big-three search engines, other sites warrant your attention and time. We recommend the following - all of which are free.
Now that you're listed, ask satisfied cus- tomers to leave testimonials or reviews on the search engine-specific listings. Although customers may have already written reviews on your shop's Web site, these won't automatically transfer to the reviews on Google, Yahoo, Bing and others. And don't be surprised by some candid reviews, as customers may feel less inhibited than they would if posting something directly to your shop's site.
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