Local Search

Getting “found” online by potential customers is crucial to your business these days. The new generation of “Need it Now” consumers are researching online, then going straight to a retailer that has their coveted item in stock to buy it. They also take this practice on the road—80% of smartphone users now rely on their smartphones to help with shopping. They do this through web browsers, retail websites, social networking sites and much more. Another great resource for consumers to search for specific gear is the Store Locator on Snowlink.com; it can be found here.

Of course you want these consumers to:

• Find your shop first
• See correct info: address, phone number, store hours
• Choose your shop over your competitors

Here are a few steps to make sure your local search presence is optimized:

1. Do a phone number search on the Internet. Just type in your business’ phone number and the results yielded will show you what locations on the web list your business. You should systematically go to each location and validate or update the listing with shop hours, address, photos and other information. You should also make sure you’re categorized correctly as a snowsports retailer.
    
2. Get listed in the top web directories. Available for an annual fee are listings in web directories like Business.com and Yahoo.com. Listing your business in these top-searched directories increase both your discoverability on search-based services and web reputation for your website. It can also help improve your organic ranking – the appearance of your site in non-paid search results on search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. Check Getlisted.org to see if you already are in any directories and update them as suggested with the phone number and the services you offer.
    
3. Claim your locations for social networks and apps. Did you know you likely already have a Facebook page, even if you didn’t create one? Many social network sites use directories to set up default pages for your business. And customers don’t want to see a blank social page. You can go into these networks, search for your page, “claim it” as your own, and either delete or populate the page with correct information and content. Local social apps like foursquare, Facebook Places and scvngr allow users to create locations to “check in” to if they don’t see an official one for the business. Log onto these sites and as the owner of your business, you’ll be able to delete the non-official pages and create one single location for everyone to visit. This is also a great place to offer special deals and incentives to both reward the socially-savvy and to incentivize them to share with their friends.
    
4. Claim your location for review sites and encourage customers to visit them. “Word-of-mouth” is still the most powerful recommendation tool, even if it has taken the form of online reviews. Like with social networks and apps, websites like Yelp, Citysearch, TripAdvisor and Epinions allow users to create a business page in order to review your shop. You’ll want to sign up for these sites not only to claim an official page but to take advantage of the opportunity to publically respond to reviews (both good and bad). Encourage your customers to drop a line or two to endorse the business – they’ll be glad to spread the word!