According to one recent study, Google has approximately 4.3 billion users all over the world. When you consider the fact that there are only 4.72 billion users on the Internet at all, that’s a pretty impressive number. It equates to a market share of 92.24% – meaning that they own the lion’s share of traffic happening on a daily basis.
Another study indicated that about 5.6 billion searches happen on Google every single day. That equates to about 3.8 million searches per minute and 2 trillion searches per year. Again, these are impressive numbers, but you would expect nothing less from the world’s largest search engine.
However, it’s important to remember that Google is not the only game in town. Far from it.
These days, people locate businesses in a wide range of different ways. If someone talks to their HomePod and says “Hey Siri, how far is it to get to X business?” they’re not going to be getting a result from Google. They’re going to be getting a result directly from Apple Maps. Bing is the default search engine on most computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system – the dominant OS on the planet. Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms that has ever existed. The list goes on and on.
Therefore, it is in your best interest to not exclusively focus on Google, but to make sure that you’re covering your bases in all of these other areas as well. It’ll give you the most well-rounded online presence, especially when it comes to the most important business-related topics of the modern era: local search.
Going Beyond Google: Other Platforms to Optimize Your Presence On
One of the most important reasons why you should expand your online presence beyond Google involves it increasing the chances that you’ll be able to dominate using local SEO strategies for small businesses.
According to one recent study, a massive 93% of all consumers used the Internet to find local businesses. Not only that but local (coupled with organic) searches make up an incredible 69% of all digital traffic.
Now consider the fact that about 72% of consumers who conduct a search for local businesses end up visiting those organizations if they’re within just two miles of their house. At the same time, roughly 78% of people who conduct searches on mobile devices will make a purchase – even if it’s an offline one.
Statistics like these underline the importance of expanding your online presence with a local focus and moving beyond Google is how you do it. When it comes to actually accomplishing this, there are a few key outlets to keep in mind. These include ones like the following.
Bing
Bing Places is essentially Microsoft’s answer to Google Business Profiles. It’s a great way to increase your business’s visibility on the Bing search engine, all while making sure that searchers are getting the most accurate information possible about your organization. Bing is also known for sharing information with some of the biggest data aggregators on the Internet, so keeping everything clean and updated is always a good idea.
First, you’ll want to claim your Bing Places listing, similar to the way you would with Google Business Profiles. There is a possibility that Bing already has a listing for your business – it is a search engine, after all. Go to Bing, search for your business, and if such a listing exists, click “Claim.” You’ll be asked to verify that you are in fact the owner of said organization and once you do, control over the listing will be yours.
Then, you’ll want to go through and complete your listing profile to make sure that all information is accurate and up-to-date. That includes not only your address but also other contact information, business hours, and more. Upload as many full-color, high-quality photographs of your business as you can to attract attention. If you have already claimed your Google Business Profile, Microsoft makes it really easy on you by allowing you to import all information from your Google Business Profile to your Bing Places listing.
Once you have submitted your Bing Places listing, you’ll then want to view it the same way any regular search user would to make sure that everything is clean and accurate. If changes need to be made, you can do so by going into the “Edit” feature in your account. Note that you should always make an effort to keep your Bing Places page up-to-date, especially in the wake of sudden changes. This is something that most organizations learned at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when closures were sudden and business hours were changing on a regular basis. You need to keep your customers in-the-loop.
Apple
When people think about popular GPS and directions apps, the first that they usually think of is Google Maps. That is entirely fair, but one must not count out Apple Maps – the default maps service installed on the hundreds of millions of iPhone devices sold all over the world. It has been estimated that Apple Maps has between 200 million and 900 million global users, although the tech giant has never released official numbers.
In terms of Apple, you’ll be optimizing your Apple Maps Connect listing. You’ll want to begin by visiting the Apple Maps Connect website and logging in with your Apple ID. Look up your business and claim your listing.
As was true above, you’ll want to go through your listing and make sure that absolutely everything is accurate. Remember that with Apple in particular, people are more likely to use their voice to ask Siri to get information about your business, so you want to double-check to make sure that all contact information is accurate. You can also include links to profiles on social media and to your website.
Once you finish making your adjustments, review and confirm everything before your listing goes live. Then, you can view it and make sure one last time that everything appears as it should. Keep in mind that once again information needs to be adjusted as-needed. If something changes with your business, Apple needs to know about it. This isn’t going to happen automatically.
Optimizing your Facebook Business page is a bit different from the processes outlined above as this is a page that you yourself have already created. However, there are still a few things that you can do to make sure that you’re attracting the right type of attention.
First, make sure you’re choosing the right name to begin with. Don’t try to stuff your page’s name with the name of your business and a bunch of generic keywords. Try to come up with something like a tagline to include – something that shows personality.
You should also make sure that you customize your vanity URL, too. This will make it easier to share on Facebook and even on other sites like Twitter. Try to get something as close to the name of your business as possible.
Once again, fill out your profile and make sure that all information is accurate, you should put particular emphasis on the “About Us” section. People aren’t necessarily going to wade through every post to find out what you’re about – they’re likely to land on your page and click on “About Us.” Use this to your advantage.
Include not only basic information about your business like contact information but also brand or product information, company updates, and more.
Yelp
Finally, we arrive at your Yelp Business page – one that is far more important than people realize. When people go looking for reviews, they go to Yelp – so you should take control of your page whenever possible.
Fill out all of your information and be sure to add photos of your business. But when it comes to Yelp, one of the most important optimization tips involves actually responding to reviews. This is especially true of the bad ones. If someone has a legitimate issue with your company, respond publicly and rectify the situation. Do whatever you need to do in order to make it right. Other people who go looking for your page will be able to see the lengths you were willing to go to in order to satisfy the customer and that will absolutely make a difference in some people’s minds.
In terms of positive reviews, you can respond to those as well, as it will show visitors that you really do care about the experience that you’re offering, and you want to make sure that everyone walks away satisfied.
It’s important to know that Apple Maps will show the reviews and photos associated with your Yelp Business page.
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If you’d like to find out more information about how to expand your online presence beyond Google to dominate locally, or if you’d just like to get more answers to your important questions, consider taking a product tour of our business intelligence marketing software. It can help take your local SEO to the next level by giving you one place to manage all of your online marketing activities.