Factors to consider before picking the right listing management tool

The online listing ecosystem explained

Imagine a business card. It has every piece of important business information including NAP or name, address, and phone number. A business may have created those cards, so the information will be correct unless something has been changed recently.

Because a business card will give accurate information, chances are that an enterprise’s consumers and prospects will most likely contact it with zero hassle. Life is good!

Now, imagine what will happen if the business cards are not created by the business but by someone else. Most likely, a local Chamber of Commerce is creating business cards for all the local enterprises. That is exactly when small but significant errors are likely to slip in. For example, an error in the address of a business may crop up. Likewise, the contact number on the card may get misprinted and a digit may get changed. All these errors can cost a business a lot of valuable leads.

What is described here is the way an online listing ecosystem generally works. The thing is that there is a large number of directory sites out there. Websites such as Google My Business and Yelp search the internet to find a local business’s NAP.

Unless those businesses are properly managing their NAP details, the listing can likely be inaccurate. And, as always, inaccurate listing data can cost you leads worth hundreds of dollars.

Listing data always matters the most

Local SEO’s foundational ranking factor is an enterprise’s NAP. If the NAP details are correct and accurate across different data aggregators and directories, then the business will streamline the way leads and customers contact it online.

The NAP data can be managed manually. Since there are so many online directories, it is impractical to manually maintain and update listings data across different directories. Why? See, manual management of listing data can raise the chances of introducing errors.

As a business owner, you must make sure that the data is correct. For managing the listing data’s accuracy across the board, you must embrace automation. That way, you will save precious man-hours and bring down the scope of error that manual data maintenance usually brings.

The online world is jam-packed with hundreds of listing management tools. So, finding the right one to suit your business is easier said than done.

Because of that, we have written this explainer post that will help you find the best of the best listing management tool.

Finding a listing management tool that expands the reach

A listing management tool can help you update your online listings with no hassles. With a dependable listing management application by your side, you will update your enterprise’s online profiles with the push of a button.

But letting you update all your listing data across the internet is just part of the job that such a tool is supposed to do. Up next, we will cover a wide array of applications that a listing management tool should perform.

Managing all your listing info at one place

First and foremost, this DIY listing management tool will give you a bird’s-eye perspective on all the listing information from a single dashboard. Because of this, you’ll find it faster and simpler to organize your enterprise’s NAP details.

Delivering gaming-changing insights

Beyond offering these update-your-business-listing capabilities, the best-of-the-breed listing software will deliver actionable insights into how prospects are interacting with your listing data on a directory. A good listing management tool will deliver insightful data related to:

·         How prospects are viewing your business on leading search engines such as Google

·         The actions the leads are taking on business listings

·         How many prospects are calling your enterprise through the NAP details published on directories

And much more.

In short, with a good listing management application, you can get the right analytics to go granular with developing your overall digital marketing strategies.

Deleting duplicate listing

A good listing management tool will help you automate the entire process of finding and deleting duplicate listings once and for all. That way, you will help eliminate any chance of confusing your prospects when they need to find you online.

Over to you, now

Now, you know why it makes sense to leverage a local listing management tool.  With a robust listing management tool in your digital marketing arsenal, you will help boost the discoverability of your brand online. Both small- and medium-size enterprises must unlock the power of a DIY listing management application to manage all their listings efficiently in one place.