What Makes a Business Listing Stand Out From the Competition
Take a look at any directory’s search results and you’ll find most business listing entries are interchangeable. Same layout, same vague, generic description, same one blurry photo from three years ago lifted off of a smartphone and pasted onto the listing like a screenshot from a screenshot. It’s easy to blend in without meaning to and not realize until later that potential customers have already moved on.
There are certain choices businesses can make, however, that distinguish their listing from the rest.
Better specificity trumps generic writing.
“Quality service at affordable rates” tells a customer nothing specific that differentiates you from the next business listing. It’s the same thought repeated over and over again. Instead, say exactly what kind of roofing jobs your company specializes in; give an example of a particular commercial building type you’re especially experienced with. Specificity isn’t always easy, but it’s always noticeable when it’s absent five minutes or five years later when the customer has to make a choice.
Pick the category that’s most specific, not the broadest.
Some businesses default to the largest, most comprehensive category they can find to maximize visibility, but it actually has the opposite effect. Your listing gets thrown into the same pool as every other business in that category that’s also trying to appeal to a broad audience, rather than the more targeted pool of customers searching for the specific service. Pick the most specific category available to you, plus any secondary categories if the directory allows. That way, you’re more likely to appear to customers already looking for the niche service you offer.
Use real photos of work, not stock photos.
Anyone familiar with directory listings knows a fake stock photo when they see one. Three or four different pictures of work, the shop itself, or the team working on a job will always beat out one overly-professional looking image lifted off of an online resource. I’ve personally seen a landscaping service boost their click-through rate by nearly 300% simply by replacing the logo image in their listing with six different photos of completed work from their portfolio and their team on the job.
Answer negative reviews, not just positive ones.
It’s understandable for a business to want to focus on positive reviews and avoid responding to negative ones, but it’s an easy way to lose credibility. A well-worded, composed response to a negative review can often do more to build customer confidence than ten positive reviews with no response at all.
Customers are reassured by the fact that a real business is willing to communicate honestly and openly about its products and services rather than hide behind its reputation.
Fill out every field of the listing, including optional ones.
Most directories ask for a business owner to fill out every detail about their company in the listing, including location, hours of operation, and even payment methods or certifications if they have any. Even if you’re not required to provide answers for these, completing them makes your business appear more honest and trustworthy compared to a similar business that doesn’t. Leaving a listing blank, even if it’s optional, can be just as damaging as filling out the wrong information by accident.
Write a description of the business as if it were a real person
Most companies will use generic-sounding language that makes their listing sound like any other, which makes sense since they often are like any other. A well-written business listing description uses language one might expect a real person to use to describe themselves, their business, and their services. This doesn’t mean being unprofessional; it means being particular and specific, not rehashing the same stock phrases used by competitors nearby.
Make sure contact info and other listing details are always up to date.
Updating phone number or hours of operation might seem like an annoyance, but it’s a much better alternative to losing a customer who called your office only to be directed to voicemail. Make a habit of checking your own listing every few months to ensure that all the information matches up with what the customer would expect to find when they visit. It’s an easy task that only takes about ten minutes, and it’s worth preventing negative feedback that could have easily been avoided.
Mention something that makes the business uniquely different from the rest.
Every business in the area, no matter how small, has something that makes them stand out from the crowd. Most rarely mention it anywhere in their listing. A certain industry certification. A family-owned legacy. Years and years of experience. Something unique about their process or products the other companies can’t offer. Finding out what makes a business unique and stating it outright in the listing is much more impactful than almost anything else mentioned in this article. It reassures customers that the business they’re about to choose is different from the other, similar-looking option at the bottom of the directory search results.
Putting it all together
None of this requires a major investment of time or money. Mostly filling out a listing honestly, completely, and specifically to match the real-world business it represents is all it takes. A business listing that does all these things will often perform much better than one with a larger marketing budget devoted to it, simply because it offers something different that the customer can actually take note of and engage with.