Directory Listings & Data Aggregators
Have you ever been on a call with a marketing company and they showed you a report of your business listings online? If you haven’t, please check this out soon. If you have - you probably saw tons of errors. Old addresses, phone numbers you didn’t recognize, that old agent’s name that retired…
Data as it relates to businesses and digital presence is well, a complete tornado.
Let me try to explain as simple as possible.
There are four primary data aggregators that funnel business information to websites. Have you ever seen a weird, unclaimed Facebook page for your business? Maybe a Yelp listing with pictures of the agent that used to be there a long time ago? Facebook and Yelp are business directories and in today’s world, they kinda have a responsibility to list business information.
What this means for you is that, there are many ways your business information is getting out there, but little ways for you to control the tornado.
You have very few options -
Let it go - like Elsa, you can just throw your cares to the wind. Not advised, but I’m not your mom I can’t tell you what to do.
Try to manage it yourself - if this is what you choose, you’re in my prayers. You will need to first find all of the errors, and contact each site individually to gain access of your business listing. Some will be easy, some you won’t hear back from for months. Some you will need to pay to “lock” in the correct information.
Hire an expert - at Uptown we have a partnership with the data aggregators that lets us correct the information at the source. The data aggregators will send out the correct information. We also have a network of 100’s of online directories that we can manage at a paid level - meaning we can add business categories, photos, sales areas, etc.
Ughhh Martina this is so boring why should I care?
Remember in the last post when we talked about the three primary factors Google looks at when determining how high to rank your business? Relevance, distance, and prominence. Having accurate, content rich listings with backlinks and geotargeting on all of these directories hits all three of these factors. These listings and all they encompass are a BIG factor in your overall online presence. Don’t work so hard on your Google reviews just to screw this part up.
Common B.S. -
THIS IS NOT A ONE-TIME SERVICE, IT IS NOT “SET IT & FORGET IT” as some often think. These directories are businesses, data is one of the most lucrative industries on the planet. (I had to agree to share my data before being allowed on that site I just linked).
Any reputable data aggregator network requires a subscription service as well as ongoing updates and maintenance. Uptown Girls (shout out to Kara and Lexi) update your business directories and data submissions every week.
We wish we could set it and forget it :/