Should Global Company List in Local Directories?

[Ben_Alvord]

Hi All,

I am the Web Marketing Manager for a small, yet global, company.  I've just started working at this company and I am focusing a lot of attention right now on link building, as the company is not great there in comparison to competitors.

So right now I'm submitting us to directories.  My question is whether submitting to things like Yelp and the Google Local Business Directory make sense for a global company.  I want the inbound links available from those sources, but I just want to make sure I'm not missing something in regards to this.  i.e. a pissed off customer could leave a negative review about the company on Yelp.  That doesn't worry me, because if a customer is pissed off and wants to vent online, they'll find somewhere to do it.

Is there anything else related that I might be missing?

Thanks,

Ben Alvord

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Ben,

So glad to help!

[Ben_Alvord]

Hi Miriam,

Thanks very much for the comprehensive response!  Very helpful.

Ben

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Ben,

Thanks for coming to Q&A with your good question. So, first step is to be sure your company actually qualifies for local inclusion before you take a step in this direction. Can you say yes to each of the following points?

• The company has a physical address that is not shared with any other business. This cannot be a P.O. Box or virtual office, but must be a real, physical address at which mail can be received.

• The company has a local area code phone number. Not a toll free number. Not a call tracking number.

• The company has face-to-face transactions with its clients, either at the place of business (restaurant, dental office, travel agency) or transacts business at the client's location (carpet cleaning company, landscaper, chimney sweep). Business is not conducted virtually only.

If you can say yes to those factors, then your business qualifies for local inclusion. As far as pitfalls to this, you need to be aware of these:

• As you've stated, people can review the business, but you are correct - they can talk about your company whether you participate in Local or not.

• Google's Local entity is not for the faint of heart. Between constant changes in presentation of data, to numerous ongoing bugs, to competitive sabotage, there is a lot going on in Local that is a pain in the neck to deal with. You've got to stay on top of your listings once you begin. Things change frequently and you need to follow Local SEO news and monitor your listings.

• Before you start creating listings anywhere, but especially in the Google arena, be certain they don't already exist. If they already exist, claim the existent listings rather than creating new ones in order to avoid duplication.

On the positive side, the potentials for increased visibility are awesome and Local is one of the most exciting and lively areas in SEO. If you are just getting into this, I recommend that you read David Mihm's Local Search Ranking Factors 2012 at http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml. This is the industry's premiere annual report. I also recommend that you become a weekly reader of Mike Blumenthal's blog which most of us consider to be the industry's best: http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml. Finally, I recommend that you study Google's own guidelines thoroughly before creating anything in their sphere: http://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=107528. These guidelines are still labeled as applying to Google Places, but they also apply to Google+ Local, so definitely, study them.

Hope these tips help!

Miriam