SMBs Should Leverage 'Big Three' for Online Geolocation

For SMBs, attracting buyers is imperative. Whether the buyer is on your Web page in cyberspace or physically at your location makes no difference. Making the sale must be the result of a client interaction; otherwise, your business dies on the vine.

One way to increase your interaction with your client base is to refresh, or setup for the first time, your business exposure in the land of geolocation. We all know about the new tablet wars going on in the marketplace. The media blitz surrounding Window 8 is just warming up in earnest; meanwhile, Apple has been running regular updates to its iPad platform for years. Despite robust tablet sales, mobile handsets outsold tablets 22:1 in 2011. Tablets sold: 68 million; mobile handsets sold: 1.5 billion, according to mobiThinking. These numbers add up to one thing: Your business must be visible on the Web.

Traditionally a company's Web presence has boiled down to a static Web page. Static Web pages (www.myfakecompany.com) are still important, but the real question is, if a client cannot find your page, does it still exist? One of the first steps in ensuring that your clients can find your Web presence, and therefore your business, is correctly registering your SMB with the "big three" search engines: Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

When registering with the "big three" for geolocation, consistency is key, ensuring both your prospects and existing clients can find your business physically and digitally. Each of the links above will take you to a good starting point for geolocated business registration. The services, in their basic format, are free of charge. Free is always my favorite price, not only because the cost is right, but because free competing services that the marketplace adopts usually bring value, competing on merit alone.

Before getting started you will need some basic information, including access to the phone number listed in the previously published business listing, like your Yellow Pages business listing. If all goes well, the new digital listing will confirm the validity of digital claim with an outbound PIN in real time. The PIN will be delivered via voice-announcing computer to the existing business line associated with your business name. The alternate verification path relies on a postcard that’s sent to the associated business address, a process that can take up to three weeks.

You’ll also need a reliable email address. I suggest using an address that is solely a business address, not an address you often use for personal and business mail. This email address should be associated with all your services, a common rally point for information relating to your posts. Make sure it is one you, as the business owner, will continue to have access to.

The "Big Three"
Each of the three major search engines -- Google, Microsoft Bing, and Yahoo -- provides listing services. Though similar, they differ slightly. Each will ask for a description of your business; type of business; location (verify the pointer on the map is correct); and contact information. I recommend starting with Google Places for Business, a very straightforward setup and easy-to-use set of screens. Creativity is important, as is creating a concise description of your businesses’ services and products. If you are a dog groomer, make sure you are correctly classifying yourself as a dog groomer not a styling salon.

Using the same information for each service helps ensure continuity in your public business image, which clients see from their tablets and smartphones. A link to your current and working Web page is also important. Good working phone numbers and map references trump a Web presence when your client or prospect is trying to get to your front door and make a purchase.

Each service should take about half an hour to set up, provided you have the relevant information in hand. And as you're a small business owner, the majority of the needed information should be stuck firmly between your ears. Good luck.