Get Found Locally - Part 2: Claim Your Business Local Listings

Read Part 1 - Get Found Locally - Part 1: How Local Listings Work

Finding and claiming your business listings online verifies that you are the owner of a valid business and that you are authorized to make updates to the listing. Each online local business listing directory has its own process for claiming your listing. In general the claiming process involves the following steps:

Search the directory to see if your business already exists in the directory.

Don't be surprised if it does, chances are there is some record of your business on the web. In general, you'll be prompted to enter your business name or phone number to discover any existent listings.

Review the existing information for your business.

You’ll need to correct any incorrect information, and provide any new or missing information about your business name, address, phone number, website address, business categories, and other details. Accuracy and consistency is extremely important. Your goal is to ensure that your business contact details (name, address, phone, web site) are identical on every listing.

Verify the listing for your business.

Once you've completed your business's information, you'll need to go complete the verification process. This typically happens in one of several ways:

• an immediate phone call during which you'll verify via a pin number
• a postal mail postcard and pin number verification
• an email in which you'll be clicking on a verification link
• a text message which you’ll verify using a pin number

Until you’ve completed the verification process, resist the urge to make any further changes to your submitted listings; this will only cause problems and delays. Just be patient and check from time to time to see whether your business has gained full inclusion.

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