USE THE INTERNETTO MAXIMIZE YOUR

LOCAL BUSINESSAN INTRODUCTION TO YEXT AND LOCAL SEARCH

OPTIMIZATION

LOCALBUSINESSES NEED

TO BE FOUNDONLINE

GONE ARE THE DAYS IN WHICH A SMALL OR MEDIUM BUSINESS THATCATERS TO LOCALS CAN DO WITHOUT A WEB PRESENCE . IF POTENTIALCUSTOMERS CAN ’T FIND THE HOURS YOU ’RE OPEN NOR THE PRODUCTSYOU OFFER DURING THEIR SEARCH FOR YOUR PRODUCTS , THEY ’LL GOELSEWHERE . THEIR TIME IS TOO VALUABLE TO WASTE ON DRIVING

AROUND .

HOW TO GET FOUND ONLINEThere are many local search sites, such as Yelp, that specialize in helping local businesses

have a presence on the Web. Google and other worldwide search engines use Yelp and

other local search sites to rank the way local businesses appear on Google searches in their

surrounding areas. A business who is listed on many local search sites will likely be nearly

at the top of search results for their goods or services in their local area. Those businesses

who are listed near the top will be the first place potential customers look for those goods

or services.

HOW DOES THESYSTEM WORK?

Search engines, such as Google and Yahoo! look through the words on your website to see

what your business offers. If your business is a restaurant, for instance, you probably have

words such as “the best Italian food” or “the sweetest baklava this side of the

Mediterranean.” These words, called keywords, along with your business’s location, is how

search engines classify businesses. The restaurant in our example, therefore, will show up

in a search for restaurants in its city and surrounds. To show up in the top search results,

though, this restaurant should also list itself in local search sites.

HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS

HOW CAN I GET MYBUSINESS TO THETOP WITH LITTLE

EFFORT?

YEXT MAKES THINGS EASIERThere are more than 50 different local search sites nationwide. Locally, there are many more. To list your

business on every one of those sites would take a lot of time away from your real business, though.

That’s where a service called Yext comes in.

Once you’ve filled out a simple form and paid a fee, Yext will list your business on each of these 50 local

search sites. If you make a mistake or if you change addresses, all you have to do is to correct your Yext

form. Yext will make the corrections for you—in all of your 50-plus listings.

HOW TO MAKE THEMOST OF YOUR

YEXT MEMBERSHIP

TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOURYEXT MEMBERSHIP, DO THIS• Keep your business name, phone number, and address exactly as it is on your website.

• Delete any old or duplicate listings.

• Check off the option for notifications so that Yext can notify you when someone posts a review of your

business.

• Respond promptly and positively to reviews.

• Watch your Yext analytic information, which you should begin to receive after about three weeks after

you sign up. This information will help you tweak your listings to appeal to your target customers.

Choose an Internet marketing agency such asDiscoverTec to help you make the most of your

Yext listings. They provide a free assessmentof your marketing challenges, as well as a

custom plan that can help your business getoff the ground in your local area.

Contact DiscoverTec at 904.680.3000 today to get started.