When WebProNews headed to SMX West in Santa Clara, they caught up with Mikko Ollila, Senior Product Manager on Bing Local, to discuss a little bit about Bing's experience and intentions in local search.
Ollila said local is the representation of all the information in the world planted on a globe. Bing's approach with local is to help make the decision process when using local search quick and simple. Ollila said their goal is to help individuals find what they are looking for with in 3 clicks. Also making sure the businesses information is accurate.
With some people having misconceptions, Ollila talks about how people and businesses with sites can know they are found and their information is correct. Ollila said although there are several different ways to figure out what businesses are out there, the best thing people and business owners can do is find the local listing center on Bing, and take ownership of their listing.
Bing tries to make the system as simple as possible for businesses. Ollila said that Bing will ask the right questions, you give the right answers, Bing verifies you are you (to eliminate problems), and the information provided goes up pretty fast.
For owners, making sure all the information in the listing is correct can only be beneficial to the business. This allows individuals to find you faster in search, and can also create more traffic for your company. Although most times the listing is already presented and correct, checking won't hurt.
Ollila said Bing also appreicates it when an individual discovers a listing is incorrect and reports it to Bing. This allows Bing to update the new information, helping others that might be searching for that listing and also the business.
Many times, companies will get upset over reviews given on their business, and also mad at Bing. Ollila said Bing crawls the web for reviews, associates the review to the business and then plugs the review into the listing. This assures the company is being seen from reviews given throughout the web. He said "There's no real magic answer for getting bad reviews other than take care of your customer."
The message and the smartest action is to claim your site and take ownership of your listing. Maintaining control will help keep traffic flowing and customers happy.
Tips for Getting Your Business found in Local SearchesDon't Look Past Your Local Internet AudienceLocal Search Growing More Rapidly Than Regular Online SearchDon't Ignore Local Mobile SearchSmall Businesses Should Pay Attention to SMX WestUpcoming Small Business Events for 200912 Steps to Using Google's Local Business Center8 Things Business Owners Should AcknowledgeGoogle Doesn't Have the Only MapsLocal Online Advertising Woes Should Lead to Innovation
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Local Business Listing Management Services
Hi Ali,
I am in complete agreement that local business listings are the way to go for any local business dependent upon the local consumer for their revenue. This is a good point in time in which the Internet is a good local marketing tool to be found on web searches and mobile searches.
While Bing is a good starting point what I am most concerned about are small and local businesses having to contend with multiple websites when it comes to their local listing. What I'm really talking about are "time resources".
Afterall, there are over 60 websites in four different categories specifically geared towards local listings. How can a local or small business have the time resources to cover this space?
Even if you made a conscious decision to not manage all 60, there are well more than Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Ask. The space goes to Local.com (they went public), Yelp, Merchant Circle, and many others.
Consumers will be the ones deciding which of these local listing websites they will go and post their experience through consumer reviews. This adds to the burden that no one single local listing website will do the trick.
Something I recently read at KillerStartUps are companies that are offering a low cost service to update then manage these listings for companies. You can read about this at KillerStartUps here:
http://www.killerstartups.com/Search/smartfindslocallisting-com-be-found-online
It is a changing world and the local business will benefit. There will be some adjustment to this space needed.
Good information from your post and hopefully varying opinions help give perspective.
Bing Local maps
Pay close attention to Bing. They are making considerable leaps in marketshare for their size. Microsoft is out to do things right this time and they started by providing a platform that will give consumers good local results.
Bing Local Listings Do not work with Mac
Bing Local Listings Do not work with Mac available browsers
Local Business Listings
Hmm yes I realise, when searching bing.com you get local listing. If you click on the UK tab, you don't get local listings! Which of course is somewhat back to front!
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