How to claim your company’s online “turf”



Contributing Writer
Illustration: Businessman Credit: Ambrozjo


Chances are you already have a website for your company. While this is a great start at managing what people see when they search for your business, if you haven’t added your information to the major search engines and social media sites you’re missing a big piece of what the internet can do for you business.

The price is right

You might be thinking that it is impossible to claim your company’s online turf without emptying your wallet, or it will simply take too much time. But there are some great shortcuts that make it pretty easy to do, and it’s even free!

Let’s get started

Start by reviewing what the major search engines know about your company.  Now you could do this by going to each site separately and locating your profile. I’m pretty sure that would take forever and you have better things to do, like running your business!

Getlisted.org

The easiest way I have found is using the search tool at www.getlisted.org. Simply type in your company name and zip code and it will give you an analysis about your company’s online search presence.

Getlisted

In no time at all you will see a snapshot of your company’s information on the most popular search sites: Google, Bing, Yelp, Foursquare, Yahoo!, Superpages.com, yp.com, and more. For each site you can choose to either view additional details, or add your listing.

Clicking on view additional details will direct you to the page that search engine has for your business, here you can update any details or add pictures and additional contact information. (Please note that you do not update your information directly on the GetListed.org site)

On the sites that don’t have your information you will want to click on add your listing and go through the search site’s process of adding your business.

There are no rules saying you have to add your information to all of the sites, but at the very least be sure the major sites have your website, address, contact info, hours, logo, and a few pictures.

NameChk.com

Next up, claim your name on the major social sites as well. There are varying opinions on this, some say only claim what you will use. I suggest claiming your name on any site your users may be looking for you. But at the very least claim your name on the more popular online sites.

Namechk

Google/YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram (Not listed on NameChk, but you will need this profile name to be the same as your twitter name for mentions to follow you to twitter when auto posted by you or other users.), etc.

Again, you could go to each site individually, but there’s all that work you should be doing to keep your business running smoothly. So, use this shortcut, www.NameChk.com.

Type in the username you want and it will check about 100 different sites to see if that name is taken. Once you find a name that is available on all the sites you want to sign up for, get to it! You can click directly on the site name and you will be directed to that site to finish the steps of signing up.

Now back to work

Now that your company is represented in all the right places, it’s time to get back to work and create a plan for what you’re going to do with all the new “turf” you have!

Did I miss anything?  Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Tessa Miller

Tessa Miller

Social Media & Digital Manager at Business Examiner

Tessa joined the Business Examiner’s advertising sales team in June 2008. She has a diverse background in customer service, ad design, technology and marketing. In June of 2011 she was promoted to Social Media & Digital Manager. If she isn’t tinkering with the Business Examiner website or moderating #BEchat on Twitter, you’ll likely find her consulting with clients who want to have a newsletter or social media presence and don’t have the time or aren’t sure where to start.

Tessa Miller

@nowtherearetwo

Tweeting: Mom stuff. Tech. Marketing. etc — Digital Manager: @BizExam | Co-Owner: @blueapplellc | Chief Muse: @assetmuse | Twitmo: @tessadesiree

Ha! http://t.co/1dynNXwDFu – 13 hours ago

Tessa Miller

Tessa Miller

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  • jimdougherty

    Tessa – great post! Love these tools so much – they would have saved me a lot of work if I knew about them earlier. You always have a great insight and advice – I’m so grateful for this contribution!

  • http://twitter.com/nowtherearetwo Tessa Kravitz

    Aww. Thanks!! Using technology to help small businesses is a bit of a soft spot for me ;)

  • http://twitter.com/annelizhannan Anneliz Hannan

    Thanks Tessa, this a very handy tutorial to have with all the listings for search engines. Even if your audience is not there presently, it is wise to go ahead and claim. It is like the wild west out there, you have to set in your stake before someone else rustles it away. This is going directly to my bookmarks.

  • http://twitter.com/nowtherearetwo Tessa Kravitz

    Thanks! I feel the same way. Get it now before your “name” is gone!! Glad you found it helpful. Thanks for taking the time to comment :D

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