Listing Your Business on a Budget

This is my first post and if you are seeing it on my site, you might be confused as to why a web design site is posting about listing a business. I am writing this because getting your business listed is one of the most important parts to getting your business and/or website found online. I've done every bit of work on any business I've started whether it was web design, social media marketing or public business listings. It is a lot of work, but hopefully this will speed up the process for you.

I will be as straight forward as possible from here on out so that you can quickly find what you need.

If you have already read this post and just want the links, I have provided them for you at the bottom of this page.

GETTING STARTED

MAKE A DEFAULT DOCUMENT

I use Evernote because that’s where I keep everything organized but you can use word, notepad, etc. Just make sure that you can access it whenever you want.
If you have Evernote, you can just download this doc.

Copy and paste the following…

Business Name:
Street Address:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Phone:
Website:
Description:

WHERE TO ADD YOUR BUSINESS

THE GIANT AND THE MIME

I’m sure you know that you can list your business on Google, but far less people know that you can also list it with Bing. Though Bing does not have as long of a reach as Google, it still has millions of users. Both of them will require that you verify your listings with a pin that they will send to you by mail. Recently Google has begun to to allow some businesses to verify their listing by their business phone number. Keep in mind that any updates you make to the listing (after you've submitted it) will need to be re-verified.

Follow this link to add your business to Google.
Follow this link to add your business to Bing.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND REVIEW NETWORKS

If you haven’t heard of a Facebook business page, then you probably haven’t heard of the internet so I don’t feel I need to explain anything about that. When you think of Foursquare and Yelp, you probably think of restaurant reviews. While that is their primary function, these types of companies are actually how many smaller listing companies find your business. For example, Yahoo, uses Yelp’s listings to publish your listing (unless you sign up for Yext which is a terrible idea).

Follow this link to add your business to Facebook.
Follow this link to add your business to Foursquare.
Follow this link to add your business to Yelp.
Follow this link to add your business to Angie’s List.

THE USUAL LISTING COMPANIES

Follow this link to add your business to Express Update
Follow this link to add your business to Neustar
Follow this link to add your business to Hotfrog
Follow this link to add your business to Yellow Pages
Follow this link to add your business to Super Pages
Follow this link to add your business to Acxiom

A LITTLE TRICK

Some businesses don’t give you the option to add your business or claim your listing. These sites will usually ask you to may a fee to get your business listed. Well, often times, you don’t have to. With these businesses, just send them an email asking them to add your business to their database and you will usually receive a confirmation email within 24-48 hours telling you that your listing has been added. I have a short list of emails that you can access right here. The way that you find the emails is simply find the companies contact page, copy the email, and send your info.

If you come across any other business emails that work, please let me know and I’ll add it to the list!

CHECK YOUR LISTING SCORE

Lastly, to see how consistent your listings are, enter your business info here. Many of these listings take time to show up in the database, so be patient. My listing score is still only 75%. Just be patient and remember to always use the exact same info.

Another helpful way to check your listing score is through Yext. They will have a much wider search but keep in mind that once you enter your information into their search, you will receive a call, voicemail and email from a sales rep asking that you give them a call back so they can tell you the packages they offer. If you don’t like telemarketers, then you will hate Yext. They are like telemarketers on steroids. If you are okay with ignoring their calls (or answering and telling them to not call) then as I said, it is very helpful when checking your listings. They are a sketchy and greedy company so I am not going to provide their link so if you use their listing score calculator, you’ll have to find it on your own.

AD CREDIT

Google, Bing and Facebook are the best platforms to place your ads and the best part is that they all offer you free ad credit. Facebook offers a free $50 coupon. You can use the coupon to get your business page more likes or you can use it to get more traffic to your website. If you don’t want to spend more than the $50, just set your ad to have a maximum lifetime budget of $50. Google offers usually offers $75 but only after you spend $25. Bing has a similar offer but you only receive $50 instead of the $75 that Google offers. With that said, the links below will give you access to $100 of credit after you spend $25 ☺

As of 07/26/2014, all of the links are valid. With Google and Facebook, you should get the coupon as soon as you sign up. Bing requires that you spend $25 first and then they will send you the coupon code. I signed up for a new accounts on all three just to confirm that they work.

Follow this link to get your Google Ad Credit.
Follow this link to get your free Bing Ad Credit.
Follow this link to get your free Facebook Ad Credit.

Here’s one more link to get $100 of free Twitter ad credit. Twitter doesn't exactly fit into the same category as the businesses referenced above, but Twitter is extremely helpful to use to get your business more recognition. The way this credit works is once you open the link, you have to answer 5 questions about how you would like to use Twitter. It will then go to a page that says “Thank You” blah blah blah and then you click “done.” You’ll then be taken to a page that says “Click Here” to get your $100 ad credit.

You’ll have to set up your first twitter campaign to receive the credit. Once you do this, you will receive an email within 24-48 hours with a link to activate the credit. The credit will automatically apply once you've exhausted the $100. Until this point, twitter will show that you have an outstanding credit of $(whatever). This does not mean that the credit wasn't applied. I don’t know why they do it like this because it confused me for a while at first.

Follow this link to get your free Twitter Ad Credit.

QUICK LINKS

Make a Default Document
If you have Evernote, you can just download this doc.
The Giant and The Mime
Follow this link to add your business to Google.
Follow this link to add your business to Bing.
Social Media and Review Networks
Follow this link to add your business to Facebook.
Follow this link to add your business to Foursquare.
Follow this link to add your business to Yelp.
Follow this link to add your business to Angie’s List.
The Usual Listing Companies
Follow this link to add your business to Express Update
Follow this link to add your business to Neustar
Follow this link to add your business to Hotfrog
Follow this link to add your business to Yellow Pages
Follow this link to add your business to Super Pages
Follow this link to add your business to Acxiom
Follow this link to add your business to Express Update
A Little Trick
I have a short list of emails that you can access right here.
Check Your Listing Score
Lastly, to see how consistent your listings are, enter your business info here.
Ad Credit
Follow this link to get your Google Ad Credit.
Follow this link to get your free Bing Ad Credit.
Follow this link to get your free Facebook Ad Credit.
Follow this link to get your free Twitter Ad Credit.

Thank you for reading! Please let me know if any of the links are no longer valid.

-John