Why Our Maps SEO is Your Important Local Search Tool
Date: June 17, 2014Category: Author: Lori Shepherd
If you have heard about our Maps SEO service here at Infinity Dental Web then you have no doubt wondered exactly what it is and what the monthly fees are for. Clarification:
Let’s get clear and establish exactly what Maps SEO is. By now you are probably aware of the acronym SEO and that it stands for Search Engine Optimization. This is something that improves your website’s rankings, so that you show up in search engines.
Online businesses are national or even international in scope. All you have to do is find them on the Internet and you can do business with them. A dentist, however, works out of a specific location. A client cannot order veneers online and get a do-it-yourself kit to put them on. They need to find the physical location of the practice; if you are not listed then they are unable to find your practice. This is where Maps SEO comes in. When you sign up with our Maps SEO service, you are entered into about 35 directories and are optimized for the keywords that matter to your practice. And a local search is any search for a local business, in a certain geographic location, for example, Pasadena Dentist.
Getting Listed:
The process of getting you listed can take time. While some listings publish the information we give them in a matter of days, some take several months. Once the listing is correct, the information is then reviewed by other sites, if the information has been set up correctly then the legitimacy of that company is strengthened and considered more relevant in searches relating to that company. To help understand why the task of local search setup is so involved I have included a link to Business Insider that describes the complexity of local search: https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/why-local-search-is-important-for-retail-2013-7. This report states that approx 40% of searches are local, only 14% of companies pay for services like Maps SEO, and 63% of searches result in incorrect information. This means that even if you are getting listed, you may be getting incorrect information to potential clients which results in them going somewhere else.
Ongoing Education:
Understanding local search can be overwhelming, there are hundreds of sites and even national conventions dedicated to keeping professionals informed of changes in local search. Every time one of these changes occurs, your individual account must be updated in each listing too accommodate the change. Once updates have been made it could take a while before the new information is visible. Here at Infinity Dental Web we strive to stay on top of these changes so your accounts are up to date and showing correct information. The process is well worth the time, with an estimated $10.3 Billion loss for missing listings, you cannot ignore the importance of this unique service. Once you start showing up on local searches, people are able to find you and bring their business to you.