If you sell products or have a service through your homestead or farm, you absolutely must take advantage of listing your business in the local search platforms-- Google My Business, Bing Places for Business, Yelp and Yahoo/Yext.
Even if you don't sell items or services at your physical location you can designate a service area in GMB that you want to cover. Then when people within that area search for, say, carpenters, your business may come up. So let's jump right in.
Google My Business
Google controls over 90% of Web search. So concentrate on GMB to start. Why?
- It's all free.
- A GMB listing is one of the quickest, cheapest and most effective ways to get traffic to your website and get sales inquiries.
- Google often combines GMB search results with it's "organic" or normal search results. GMB local listings appear at the top of the page, before the organic search results. In other words, your website could search #1 for "red widgets in Burnsville NC" but if you don't have a GMB listing, or your GMB listing isn't well-developed for high placement, your business listing might not appear at the top of the page. And many people will click on the GMB listing instead of scrolling down to the organic search results.
- If you don't already have a Website, you can create a basic business website on Google Sites (it's free too), and link to it from the "Website" button in your GMB listing. Use the new Google Sites, not the Classic version, which is going to be obsoleted. You can even add a custom domain name for just a few bucks. These basic sites may suit the needs of many of us. However, if you need additional website functionality, check out Google Workspace. Here's a good comparison of the two from Lifewire.
- You can add "Posts" that will appear on your GMB listing to advertise sales, special deals and events etc. They have a shelf life of a week and are an excellent advertising tool.
You may already have a GMB listing, and you may or may not know you have it. Google may get information from various websites and databases and create GMB and Google Maps listings from it. Another way is that somebody with a Google Account (gmail, whatever) suggested a listing for you-- and added the info themselves. And in that case, the information about your business may be wrong-- and certainly incomplete.
So in that case you must "claim" your listing to get it under your own Google Account, and then you'll be allowed to develop and optimize it with your business details and photos. Be prepared for Google to verify you're the real owner before they hand you the keys. This can be a major pain, and can also cause delays, so be prepared to handle it cleanly when you're claiming or setting up the listing. You can get your verification code via text, a phone call, or have a post card sent to the business address.
You may not want your address to be public in your GMB listing. In that case, use the service area option and your address will be automatically hidden. Know that Google won't allow a business to be listed with a residential address. They will even suspend your listing for that "crime." Now, what if your business address is your home, and you meet customers there? Then you're going to have to satisfy Google that's the case. Here's some good info from Kite Media on that issue.
Very Important! Choose the Right GMB Category
A word about choosing your business category: your category will determine when your listing is displayed for certain keyword searches. That may be obvious for most businesses, but Google doesn't always have the EXACT category to describe many businesses. For example, they don't yet have a "homestead" category. In that situation you must grit your teeth and choose the category that comes the CLOSEST to describing what your business does. You will however get to set up a second category. More on that in a minute.
When setting up your business category the Google tool for that task will suggest associated categories. For example, type in farm and you will get some related categories to choose from. If you get frustrated with this somewhat clumsy process, and many do, you can quickly find out just what categories are available by going to PixelCutLabs.com and searching. There are over 3,000 categories listed and they do a good job of keeping it current. An effective way is to hit CTRL+F for "Find" and type in your targeted category into the resulting little box. Note there is no category for "homestead" yet! So you may need to go with farm or related categories, or whatever your business may be.
After you set up your GMB listing and Google accepts it you'll be able to choose a secondary category. That may help in fine tuning your business-- especially if you have multiple income streams or services. For example, your farm or homestead may have a roadside farm stand and you may also host farm to table dinners.
Professional Tip
You must also make sure your business's "NAP," or Name, Address and Phone number are consistent throughout the Web! This is a primary factor in how well your GMB and other business local search platforms rank your listing. Please, do not neglect this task. Each appearance of your business details, or "citation" on other Websites, directories and search engines must have the exact, same NAP as what you entered in your GMB listing. If you have a Website, put your NAP in the footer of every, yes, every page. If your business appears in directories, blogs you may have to email or personally contact the owners and request the update. If your business is listed in Yelp, Bing Places for Business, Yahoo/Yext or perhaps TripAdvisor, claim the listings and make sure your NAP in those platforms is exactly the same as what's in your GMB listing. This will make Google feel warm and fuzzy, help your listing rank higher and will also differentiate your business from others that are closely related.
Let's Roll:
Claim an existing listing or create a new one.
Here are instructions from Google on how to do it in either case.
Yelp
Yelp has the next largest amount of searches behind Google. Here's the info on how to claim or create your Yelp listing.
Bing Places for Business
Bing Places for Business uses Yelp listings for their business local search. Here is the how-to info for setting up your BPfB listing.
Yahoo Local
Yext powers Yahoo Local search. You have to go through Yext to get your listing, and they will try and upsell you almost every step of the way. They don't make it obvious just how to get a free listing. Here's how to get your free Yahoo Local listing.
It may take a while for your free listing to appear-- they're in no hurry with the non-paying listings. Nevertheless some people still use Yahoo and Yahoo Local search, so it may be worth the effort.
The Wrap
Again, don't miss out on the huge advantages you can get from business local search listings. They're free and they appear at the top of search results whenever the user enters a location, or is searching with a smartphone. Google integrates local search listings with its normal search for more frequently searched-for keywords. So, even if your website or Facebook page don't show, your GMB listing may be there for potential customers to see.
Also, you may have noticed that when searching for a lot of highly-searched keywords from your desktop or laptop, Google will serve up local results that are in the area of where your Internet Service Provider's servers are located. For example, my ISP here in western North Carolina uses servers for me that alternate between Burnsville and Boone, NC and even Johnson City, TN. If I search just "used cars" with no location attached I may get used car dealers from any of those cities-- not close to where I actually live. And the location changes as my ISP switches servers to meet their needs. So this Google idiosyncrasy can work for you or against you.
Good luck with your business local search listings! If you have any questions, just email us and we'll be glad to help.
Header photo by iyus sugiharto on Unsplash
