Fill out a form with particular fields to build a structured local business listing. As the leader in local search, Google has set the standard for how this data should be formatted. When making your citation, follow these general rules. Prepare yourself to fill out these fields in a one-time form for accurate information.
Choosing the Information for Small Business Directory
1. Name/Title of the Business
Use your actual business name in this section at all times. Make sure your name is formatted the same way on the sign outside your business, in your printed marketing, on your website’s logo, and when you answer the phone. Do not add extra keywords, place names, or other words to your business name that can change it. Don’t add city names or other words to the name of a business that has more than one location, like a chain or franchise.
If your business is in a container store, like a McDonald’s inside a Walmart, list your name and don’t mention the container store. In other words, stop being McDonald’s in Walmart and be McDonald’s. Don’t mix the names of two businesses in the same place, like a Taco Bell and a KFC restaurant. Make a separate listing for each brand at that location, with only its name in the “business name” field. In other words, make two listings: one for Taco Bell and one for KFC.
2. Address
It’s always best to list your address with no changes or additions. PO boxes and unstaffed virtual offices aren’t real addresses, so you shouldn’t use them for local business listing services. In the address section of the form, put your street address on line one and any suite or mailbox numbers on line two. If you do this, you won’t have any strange formatting.
If your business is a SAB (a service-area business, like a plumber or electrician that goes to customers), you will let us know when you add your business. To be listed, you must have a physical address, even if it’s your home address. Don’t make a separate list for each city your SAB serves. Only add your business for your physical location, even if this is your home address.
3. Phone number
While we prefer local area code phone numbers, this small business directory permits toll-free numbers for several years. It is best for local businesses like hotels, where most customers come from out of town and would find a toll-free number very helpful. If you list a toll-free number instead of a local one, make sure that this number is the same on both your website and your citation. List the phone number that is as close as possible to what the local business listing is about (rather than to a call center).
4. Website URL
Your listed website’s URL should lead directly to a page that your business owns, not to a third party, a social profile, or anywhere else. For businesses with multiple branches, departments, or practitioners, it’s common to point the listing for the business to the website’s homepage and the listings for the branches, departments, or practitioners to their respective landing pages on the site. It keeps the two things apart.
You can try different things in this area. Maybe your rankings will go up if you point all your listings to your homepage, which has more authority than any other page on your site. Keep in mind, though, that rankings aren’t everything. Do not acquire ranks at the expense of user usability. You don’t want a user to click on a listing and then have to look around your site to find the right landing page.
5. Categories
The way things are put into groups can have a huge effect on how they rank. Choose categories that best describe your business and avoid having the same category more than once. Make it easy for business listing services and search engines to figure out which searches you’re best for.
If a niche business cannot find a category that fits it, pick the closest category and then use other things, like the business description, to figure out the company’s goods and services.
6. Description
This field shows off the most convincing and essential parts of your business—the things that make a potential customer most likely to choose you. Most of the time, you’ll have a few hundred characters to make a short pitch for your business. Write a unique description and publish it with your citation. In the description field, you might want to highlight things like awards, guarantees, proximity to major landmarks, or the fact that you carry well-known brands.
Some descriptions let you use rich text, like links, but you should try to avoid being spammy. Make your description sound natural, like an elevator pitch, instead of a list of keywords that don’t go together. Descriptions don’t affect local search rankings but can affect your CTR.
7. Social Profiles
You can link to your Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Facebook, and other profiles. It’s worth it to fill out these fields as much as possible so that customers can find more ways to improve their experience and get help.
8. Images
Images affect how many people click on local business listings. So, you should always upload as many high-quality images as you can. Make sure to follow the rules so that your images do not get taken down. Lastly, check your profiles often to make sure that pranksters or competitors haven’t put up any inappropriate photos.
9. Fax Number
This common field is for businesses that regularly send and receive faxes, like medical centers that ask for new patient forms to be sent by fax. However, it’s not a required field.
10. Certifications
People will trust your business if you have licenses or professional certifications. Make sure you fill out this field when we make it available.
11. Payment Method
FindProExpert lets you choose how people can pay you, such as only cash or digital wallets. If your business supports the most up-to-date payment methods, this is a great way to convince customers to choose you.
Summing up
Your local search engine rankings are directly affected by the quality, consistency, and spread of your local business data, which leads to web traffic, foot traffic, and transactions. It is worth your time to ensure that your listings are correct, complete, and easy to find on the business listing services.