Tag Archives: local citations

How to tell the internet when your business changes

The internet has a long memory, so when you change something important to your business, such as your phone number, or the business name or when you move, it sometimes takes a long time for your business info to be updated everywhere. You can take control to speed up the process and make sure your business is information is correct everywhere.

In SEO, (Search Engine Optimization), terms, what you are doing is updating your “local citations,” which should all use the same Name, Address, and Phone Number, (NAP). Using consistent NAP data allows search engines can identify your business across multiple platforms and understand that you are a real business that they should show to real customers.

Update your own Website

If you have a website for your business, make sure it gets updated with the new information.

Update your Trucking Industry Listings

Contact 4RoadService and any other trucking industry directories that you are listed in to update your information. This is the fastest way to make sure the trucking industry gets updated.

Update your Business Profile with Search Engines

Search engines like Google have the concept of a Business Profile, which lets you manage your business’s contact information. Make sure to update these so they are correct.

If you have never created a business profile there is a good change that the search engines know about you anyway, and taking control of your profile lets you make sure it is correct.

The three main search engines to update are Google, Bing, and Apple, (for Apple Maps on all the iPhones in the world);

Update Review Platforms and Social Media

Facebook/Instagram

Facebook appears to be larger than many other review & social media platforms, so it’s critical to update your business’s Facebook page.

The Rest

There are a lot of other review and social media platforms, and which ones are most important to you depends on exactly what part of the industry you serve. Some of these review platforms also serve as data providers, (see the next section).

Some review & social sites are:

  • Twitter – if you have contact data there, make sure it’s correct.
  • YP/YellowPages
  • Superpages
  • Waze
  • TomTom
  • Here

Update Data Providers

There are a few large data providers that provide local business data to large parts of the internet. Updating your information with these large providers makes sure your business information is correct at the source.

It can take a while for data to flow from these providers to other websites, but it happens eventually.

Major North American Data Providers

  • FourSquare – they’re no longer the social media company from 15 years ago, they’re now a local data powerhouse!
  • Data Axle

The Bare Minimum

All of the above is a lot, and maybe you don’t have time to do it all. At a bare minimum update your 4RoadService listing, website, Facebook Page, and Google, Bing, and Apple profiles, and at least one of the data providers. If you do that the rest of the internet should pick up the changes… eventually.