Your say / Business
Why local companies are missing out
If a company’s online information is wrong, it’s arguably worse than not being online at all. Not only is the company effectively invisible to customers, it can also seem careless or even untrustworthy.
Understanding this, we looked at more than 870 small businesses in Bristol, to see how they appear online. We found a worrying 87 per cent have wrong or inconsistent information online, including basic contact details such as a phone number or email.
This often happens because:
· Businesses don’t know all the listings and social media sites they appear on;
· or when they move, they forget to update their information.
With more than half of all customers stating a website is the most important factor when choosing a new local business or service, it’s something business owners need to be very aware of, as incorrect information can be damaging, or a blocker, to business.
Further feedback from our market research, shows 89 per cent of customers say they’ll try another company if the details listed online for a particular business are incorrect, suggesting many small businesses in Bristol are missing out on a lot of potential custom.
This issue of out-of-date and incorrect information online is recognised across our industry. Business directories and social media sites are huge sources of information and there are hundreds of sites where business details can appear. With the rapid growth in internet and online media, it’s more important than ever for small businesses to have the right information available for customers – the key question has been, what can we do to fix this problem?
To support small businesses, Yell recently launched Connect, a service designed to help business owners identify where their details are listed online and easily correct and manage them all from a central dashboard. Meaning more small business owners are able to get in front of the people looking for their local products and services.
A business can easily test their online presence by completing a free scan. Entering a business name and address allows Connect to identify how visible a business is online and, most importantly, report on how accurate the information is.
We want to help address the issue of poor online presence and work with small business owners to make sure they have the best possible chance of new business in their local area.
Mark Clisby is Marketing Director at Yell.
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