I can remember when I was a kid and the phone book was thick enough to use as a stepping stool. These days the phone book that gets dropped off here at our offices is barely wider than a National Geographic. While the phone book is still a viable means of getting your company information out there, it’s something that’s almost never used.
Adding your company on search engine business listings is easy and it’s free, and it’s the best way to get customers in your front door. But one of the largest difficulties, epecially in large metropolitan areas is getting your company ranked higher so that it shows up in the top ten lists of search engines. Here are some simple ways to make your company more visible:
Multiple Postings: Take charge of the busniess listings on multiple search engines, Google/Yahoo/Bing great places to start, but consider adding your company to additional sites like – CitySearch, Yelp, Local.com, Ask.com, Yellowbook, Merchant Circle, Superpages.
Additional Information: The best way to make you listing more visible is to add your company information to your listing. The more information the better. Include additional contact information, hours, services, descriptions of services and website address if you have one.  Be sure to include a picture of your shop. If you have an an 800 number be sure to add your local number as well. And most importantly make sure that you business is listed in the correct category!
Reviews: Invite your customers to share their experiences working with you. One or two favorable customer reviews can have a huge effect on whether or not potential customers decide to use your service. That being said, negative reviews can have just as much if not more pull. You should make it a habit of searching for your company every now and then and responding to negative comments. There have been cases where competing companies have written unfavorable reviews in order to pull business their way.
These steps are just the start, and apply to just about every type of local business.  This article is intended as a general guide, if you have ideas you’d like to add feel free to comment below. All comments will post pending review.