Keep Your Online Brand Safe - Part 2
Just as you might protect your home and vehicle with an alarm system or other security measures, protect against identity theft by not revealing personal information, and require passwords or other security questions for access to computers or other mobile devices, so too must you take steps to make sure your online brand is secure.
In this two-part series of articles, I am going to share with you a few ways in which you can keep your online brand safe: protect your website and claim your organization’s online directory listings. Today we’ll be looking at the importance of owning your online directory listings.
Online Directory Listings
Online directory listings are created from a variety of sources. They usually appear on a search engine results page if someone has searched for your organization or for keywords related to your website. Did you know, though, that you have the ability to claim, or take ownership over, some of those listings?
Why Take Ownership of Online Listings
Simply put, if you don’t then someone else will. Believe it or not, your competitors may not be above claiming your listings to make online marketing a little bit harder for you. In fact, while a large number of directories require that users go through a verification process to ensure they have the rights to manage that listings, many more directories don’t require verification, making it extremely easy for anyone to claim a listing.
How to Take Ownership of Your Online Listings
unclaimed-google-business-listing-example
Disclaimer: this process is not for the faint of heart. It requires a lot of computer investigation, time on the phone, account creation, and successful verification processes. You will need to contact each online directory provider individually to get access to your listing. Most of the time this process can be completed online via the directory’s website, but some instances require verification telephone calls; the directory’s website will give you more detailed instructions for how to contact them. Here's a good online directory list to get you started.
One of the first listings you should claim is your Google Business page. Simply put, Google is a major player on the Internet, and you want to have ownership over all of your Google accounts -- period. [Tip: doing this will also help boost your website's SEO!] Here are instructions on how to claim a business on Google (click on the link, then click on the “Get on Google” button). One way to quickly tell if your listing has been claimed on Google is do a simple Google search for your clinic’s name. You should see a Google Business listing similar to the image below on the right-hand side of the search engine results page.What you are looking for is a statement underneath this listing on the right side of the page that reads “Are you the business owner?” That simple statement tells you that your Google Business listing has NOT been claimed, and you need to get working on that as soon as possible.
Manage Your Online Risk and Your Time
Embellish Marketing provides an Online Directory Listing Update package, and it’s one of our most popular services among our pregnancy clinic clients. Your time is too valuable to waste it on navigating the murky world of online listings and dealing with dozens of companies; let us take on this task for you! We have a strategy we’ve developed specifically for pregnancy clinic listings. We have the experience to navigate the seemingly endless sea of online listings, and we’ll produce results by claiming ownership of listings on your behalf, updating incorrect listings, monitoring your listings to ensure changes have been made, and delivering your online directory account information so you maintain access to and ownership over those listings. Interested in learning more? Contact Embellish Marketing today!
If you missed the first article in this series about how to keep your digital brand safe, you can access it here: Keep Your Online Brand Safe - Part 1
Was this article informative? Please share it with others who would enjoy it too!