As shoppers gear up to take advantage of Black Friday sales, an expert in local business marketing is sending out a sharp reminder to local business owners.
This is a good time to check your listing on local business directories," the owner of a Los Angeles marketing company said. Google data shows that 78 percent of all holiday shoppers searched for items online before they went shopping last year, and that number will increase this year. In fact, Search Engine Watch has just released its search tracking data for October, which shows that 'Black Friday' was the most searched phrase last month, with paid searches totaling well over $1 million for just that single phrase."
Google's local algorithm has improved considerably over the past two to three years, he added. A search for 'Black Friday sales' will nearly always return local results especially if it's made on a mobile device. Furthermore, Google has also determined that people who get local results for their searches are far more likely to buy than those who search for goods online. About 18 percent of local searches resulted in a sale within the next hour, according to the report from Google.
[Local business directory listings](http://www.finduslocal.com/) are among the most important signals Google uses to determine if a business is in the same geographic area as the person searching," the search engine marketing veteran explained. And the search engine snippet the little blurb that people see under business names in the search results is often taken directly from listings on a website like FindUsLocal.com. It often lists business hours, address and phone number of the business. If those aren't accurate or aren't listed businesses could be driving business directly to competitors."
At the very least, he said, business owners should check their [local directory listings](http://www.finduslocal.com/) for basic errors, adding that misspelled names or the wrong phone number are the most common issues. Check the address, and make sure that that accurate business hours are listed, since Google and Bing now both display an Open" tag on businesses that are open for business when the search engine results are delivered.
Finally, he said, local business owners should take advantage of any extra features offered by local business directories. FindUsLocal.com, for example, offers premium local directory listings that include a full landing page for the business and a live link to the business' own website.
