Let’s say you’re on your dream vacation in New York. Before you leave, a good friend recommended eating at a small pizzeria in the heart of the city. Unfortunately, he couldn’t remember the exact address. After arriving in NY, you decide to ask a local where this famed pizzeria is. Their directions are a bit hazy. You ask a few more people, and finally get an array of answers. All in all, you hear three different addresses, two different phone numbers, a few mediocre directions, and even a few people who don’t even know what you’re talking about! After asking 10 people, you end up with a list of responses looking like this:
The Nature of Online Directories
In reality, 10 people may never give you 10 different directions to a restaurant, but the internet might. Business information is published to many different websites, upwards of 75! For example, Google Maps, Apple Maps, Yelp, and Facebook, as well as hundreds of others, publish your data on their platform. Each one of those directories has their own way of storing, updating, and publishing information. Listings are hardly secure. Over time, business information may become outdated. With some directories, unless the business information is constantly updated, the listing will be marked as dormant or could even be removed.
Take the New York pizzeria for example. What happens if they change locations or rebrand? Or what if they change their phone number or operating hours for a holiday? Even a change that small could create discrepancies across multiple directories. Who wants to manually update 75 directories every time business information changes? Not me.
So What?
Just 10 years ago, businesses only had a handful of business listings. They were in a phonebook, in an advertisement, and maybe on a billboard. In today’s online world, consumers interact with business information in a variety of places. The consequences of accurate and consistent data can make or break a local business’s success. Consider this research:
Searches
Now, more than ever, customers are searching for local businesses on their mobile devices. Since 2011, searches for businesses “Near Me” have increased by 34x. Google alone processes over 5.4 billion searches a day. While a Google is one of the best ways to reach customers, it’s only one online format. What about Bing? Yahoo? Apple Maps? Directory publishing reaches a variety of online and mobile users. Consistency also increases SEO by maintaining accurate data across multiple platforms.
Action
As quick as customers are to research, they are almost as quick to buy. 55% of purchases occur within 1 hour of initial mobile searches. If your business is easily accessible on every online directory, you’ll reach more customers. “Near Me” searches conducted on a mobile device are most likely to result in sales.
Trust
If a customer doesn’t see accurate and consistent information about a business, chances are they won’t make a purchase. And who can blame them? If you couldn’t find accurate information about a pizzeria, you wouldn’t eat there. You’re not alone either: 73% of consumers lose trust in a local business when they find incorrect information about that business online! That might look like an incomplete listing on one directory or conflicting data on two or more directories.
Directory Publishing is one of the best tools for small business success. Not only does it build trust but it improves SEO and the control you have over your online presence. As a small business works towards developing an online presence, directory publishing will paint a consistent picture of the business on every platform.
Jump Directory Publishing
Trying to publish consistent information across every online directory would be a mess. That’s why Jump lets you update your information in one place, and then sends that information to every directory. Essentially, making a small update in Jump automatically updates those 75+ directories in real time. Your information is always consistent and up to date! Jump locks those listings so that they can’t be overridden or changed, except by the business owner. We eliminate inconsistencies and paint an accurate, proactive picture of your business online. Jump empowers local businesses by giving them the tools to succeed online.
Find out how your business currently shows up across the web with this business scan tool.
