Increasing Local Visibility for Notaries
by Alex Yvonnou, Certified Notary Signing Agent, LCS Certified Loan Closing Agent Specialist
If you’ve used Google Maps, MSN Live, or Yahoo Maps, you’re aware that you can find businesses by entering queries directly in the search bar. Did you know that you can add your signing agent listing for free? Because these listings come up on the top of the page for search results, even before any website listings, I think it’s a critical part of an online marketing strategy.
Although I’ve had a listing with Google Maps for almost a year, I recently realized that my listing wasn’t coming up near the top for several local searches. So I’ve spent some time researching the factors involved in the various Map rankings. Map sites don’t use the same criteria to rank listings as search engines do for websites.
Once you have a listing, one of the main factors that affect your ranking is having a listing in your local Yellow Book directory. Personally, I’ve had a business listing in the past with little results although others have had some success. If you don’t want to pay for a listing, being listed in local online directories can still accomplish the goal of raising your exposure and ranking.
Even if you don’t have a listing with Google Maps or any other map site, you still want to be in your local directories. I was surprised to see that local directories were tremendously underutilized for notaries in my area. You can add your business to YellowPages.com, SuperPages.com, Switchboard.com, and Local.com. They’re all free. It’s important that your listings are all consistent. They should have the same title and the same information. This way, Google Maps and others will recognize that it’s the same business. Fill in as much information as possible. The more complete the better. And choose the right category. All of the directories I’ve mentioned had a specific category for notaries.
Cumbrowski Internet Marketing has an in depth list of local sites and links to articles on increasing local exposure. Small Business SEM and Blizzard Internet Marketing both have excellent articles on how to rank better in Google Maps.
©Copyright 2008, Alex Yvonnou. All rights reserved. Alex Yvonnou is an NNA Certified Notary Signing Agent and LCS certified as a Loan Closing Agent Specialist, and was our July 2007 Featured Notary. He is a member of the Michigan Mobile Loan Closers Network. Alex covers the Detroit, Michigan, area as well as Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and Washtenaw Counties. For more about Alex, visit his GoGetNotary web page or his website.