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As more and more local business owners are turning to USA business listings to help get the word out about their business, one local directory expert is sounding the alarm that many of them are going about it the wrong way.
“While it’s important for local businesses to be on USA business directories, it’s even more important to do it right,” says a spokesman from FindUsLocal.com, a local business directory that uses GEO location technology to match the results its visitors see with their location. “Because if a shop owner goes about it the wrong way, it could actually hurts their SEO rankings rather than help them.”
He’s talking about the use the NAPs, or name, address, and phone number in the business listings. He says that if they aren’t handled properly, it will confuse the search engine spiders and that will cause more harm than good.
“For instance,” he says, “If your business address is even a little off in some of your listings, it will be counted as a false business location. The same is true for your business name. If you list your business as ABC Pest Control in some listings and ABC Pest Control, Inc. in others, it will hurt you.”
Moz, the internet marketing firm, agrees with him. In fact, it conducted a study that shows that inconsistent NAP listings are the number one thing that will negatively affect SEO local listings.
“In addition to your name, address, and phone number, you also need to pay attention to your website URL,” he says. “Most people are now adding a W to the acronym NAP and recommending that you also ensure your website URL is the same across all of your USA business listings.”
“Another important factor when listing your business is choosing USA business directories that get sufficient traffic and have updated features such as GEO location technology,” he says.
About FindUsLocal: FindUsLocal uses geolocation technology in visitor’s browsers to construct a home page focused on their city, town or community. Right there on the front page, they’ll find local weather, sports results for their favorite teams, and annoucements of the top musical acts and events coming to their city. Smart business owners list their businesses on the site to be seen by those who are specifically looking for businesses in their local area.
Release ID: 196920