Did you know?…

Every business in the world has an online identity whether they know it or not.  From the smallest start-up to a multi-generational family business to Fortune 500 companies, all businesses have a web identity made up of websites, directory listings, and search engine content.  The Internet contains a wealth of information on local businesses. Unfortunately, not all information is trustworthy and could have been placed there by someone other than the business owner. Large companies employ entire departments of technicians to ensure that the company’s identity, brand, and web appearance are accurate, placed where  consumers can find it and,  most  importantly, not stolen or manipulated by competitors! That’s right, without competent supervision taking corrective measures to ensure your business’s online identity always points back to you, your business information is at risk.

The Statistics are Astonishing!

78% of American households have one or more computers (2007 market report by Jupiter) Over 50% of local searches are performed on mobile devices (Digital Buzz Blog 2011) Mapping Services like Google Places are experiencing major traffic increases as local searches explode 700 Billion minutes a month are spent on facebook .

Claimed  Profiles Service is a critical component of visibility and  information security. It’s necessary creating  (or claiming) your Google, Yahoo,  and  Bing listings,  as well as creating profiles on Facebook, Foursquare, Yelp, Twitter and many others where valuable customers are searching. With your online identity secured , you can  feel confident that  when  people search for your business  information, they will indeed find information on your business, not your competitors – and  not an address in the middle of a corn field. Once  claimed,  you should take the opportunity to enhance, update, and  reach out to consumers. Websites add credibility, but without proper syndication, exposure is limited.

Do you Know Your Score?

Of course most of business done online will not know how to measure their online score. The process is an evaluation of your business’s online identity using a unique algorithm that crawls the Internet in search of information about your business, including major search engines and directories.  The information that is found is then reconciled against a bank level verification of your business listing by accessing the most reliable credit information service providers in the world (like Dun & Bradstreet, infoUSA and Acxiom). An accuracy and effectiveness score is assigned to each identity holder, along with examples of discrepancies and information issues that need to be addressed to improve the score.

Verified Listing Services and The Advantage of Trust 

A Verified Listing service provides your business with the benefit of high-level identity verification, increasing consumer confidence in your legitimacy. After your business passes through a verification process, it will then syndicate your verified listing (Vital Syndication)  through major publication channels and use it as the basis for other services such as Quick Listing and Claimed Profiles.

You will also earn a Verified Seal for use in your business profile, on your website, in email correspondence, on Facebook, and wherever else you are managing your online presence.

What is Vital Syndication and Will you survive without  it?

In a nutshell & quantifiable results

•  Quick List (Directory Integration)

• Search Engine Submission (Google, Yahoo, Bing)

•  Mapping Service Submission

•  Social Network Submission

•  Portal and Guide Submission (Ex. Aol, and City search)

•  Mobile Device Submission (Iphone, Blackberry, Android, etc.)

•  Directory Submission

•  411 Directory Submission

•  GPS Navigation Submission (Garmin, TomTom etc)

•  Telematic Service Submission (Onstar)

•  Web Card Development

Local Identity Reporting offers an in-depth examination of your listing health for a single business location. This reporting can identify where your listing is present or missing across top local search sites. Additionally, it reports on the accuracy of listing information and the presence or absence of important data such as website links.

To monitor your online presence by yourself, you’d have to visit Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask, Yelp, Yellowpages.com, Local.com, Superpages, and hundreds of other sites to review and correct your listings. Time savings, depth of distribution, access to non-public databases such as GPS Devices, Mobile Devices and 411 directories are just a few of the notable advantages of managing your online information. With over 350 digital distribution points, one could imagine the time spent managing this enormous task. Many directories and data providers require re-listing the data annually, so you have to repeat many of these processes on an ongoing basis. In an effort to keep data fresh and information about your business accurate, some directories remove listings if they are not actively updated.

Imagine if you had no idea what your credit score was!

Well, businesses have online scores too. Search Engines, Publishers and Portals want to display those with the best score.   Get your online check-up now!

People often forget, during their browsing of, and posting on, the ‘Internet’ that is – a place where anonymity rules. While the Internet is a lawful place, there are certain parts of it which remain lawless.

The Internet, as we all know, is a very public place where dirty laundry doesn’t just get aired in front of people; it gets inspected, deconstructed, reposted and even spoofed if left unchecked. When the proverbial hits the online fan, the stench can stretch far and wide, and no matter how many windows you open, the smell may never go away.  Wash Rinse Repeat!

This is as accurate of a statement about those corners of the Internet as we have seen. Remember, things that are posted on the Internet never truly go away because even if deleted, they get indexed. Online Reputation Management can do a lot to fix problems like this.

The dominant question, one may ask, could the internet kill my business? The answer is a resounding YES!   Offline businesses can be injured, or even shut down, by online comments about those businesses. Business owners are often astonished at what online commenters say about their business.

When prospective clients look you or your business on Google, details positive or negative will pop up on that all-important first page.  More and more individuals are searching cyberspace and the online reputations of those seeking employment or customers for their business. While the Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Bing search engines have become the de facto public record of modern time, reputation management consultants believe you have a right to control how your name is presented online.