4 Major Consequences of NOT Updating Your Business Information Across the Web

Keeping your business information up-to-date across the web is an important part of creating an online presence for your business and staying competitive in today’s marketplace. If you neglect this duty, there can be major consequences to the bottom line of your business that you need to be aware of. Here are four major consequences of not updating your business information across the web.

1. Most local searches are made with a purchase intent, i.e., people search for services and products on their mobile devices with the intention of purchasing. Based on an article by Think With Google, 18% of local smartphone searches lead to a purchase within a day.

2. Reviews are the digital equivalent of “word-of-mouth recommendations”. Businesses with more reviews rank higher on search engines. According to an article by Kissmetrics:

   – 70% of Americans search for product reviews before making a purchase.

   – 63% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a site that has product ratings and reviews.

   Without an online presence, your business will be disregarded by most, and you will miss out on the perks of having online reviews.

3. You might have the best products or services in town, but the average customer will most likely find alternatives to your business if you’re not listed online. If your competitors have online listings created, your business identity will suffer.

4. Another real-time problem your business might face without an online presence is losing customers to duplicate listings. There might be certain auto-generated duplicate pages existing online, providing incorrect details about your business to your customers, who in turn might contact the wrong phone number, visit the wrong website or physical address. This is clearly a disaster waiting to happen if you aren’t listed accurately on the web.

Now that you know why keeping your online listings up-to-date is essential, here are our top ways to keep all of your information current.

1. Keep a list of business listings handy. Having a spreadsheet with all of your social media listings, business listings, and other places your logo or company information appears. This will help you remember where you need to update information in case you move locations, open a new location, or rebrand.

2. Be sure to claim and keep your Google My Business Updated and current. You can learn more about the benefits of Google My Business here.

3. Update other web references like blogs, news sites, government indexes, corporate partners, professional association sites and others by contacting them to inform them of your new information. 

4. Use an automated data management service to distribute your new information to existing listings on some of the most visited platforms.  Moz Local or Yext.