Local business directory listings, or local citations, are online mentions of a business’s name, address, and phone number (N.A.P.). Local citations are important for car dealerships because they are a main channel through which customers find information about your business, therefore driving more traffic to your website and dealership. They also increase your SEO rankings on Google, help strengthen your reputation, and expand your reach. For more information and tips on local citations, click here
The process of submitting local business directory listings takes time, patience, setting up accounts, and many verification emails. The hard work, however, will pay off when more and more new customers are able to discover your dealership.
At AutoJini, our goal is to make it easier by giving you a complete guide on how to submit local business directory listings. Our step by step guide will help you get started on local citations and drive more traffic to your dealership!
1. Before beginning your journey of submitting local business directory listings, it’s a good idea to have these things ready:
- Your dealership name, address, and phone number (N.A.P.) exactly how you will enter it every time
- Recently taken, high-quality photos of your dealership
- Content for an “About Us” section
- Your hours of operation
- A separate business email address that you will use specifically for creating accounts on business directory websites
- A username and password for your directory accounts
Having these things ready to go before you start submitting requests for local business listings will help save a lot of time, while keeping everything consistent.
You will want to compile all of this information into a document or excel sheet. This way, you can keep track of your information and keep everything organized.
2. Create a list of online directories that you will submit your dealership to. Here are some of the most popular business directories to help you get started:
- Google My Business
- Yelp
- Dealerrater.com
- Yellow Pages
- Apple Maps
- Manta
- Bing Local
- Four Square
- 2findlocal
- SuperPages
- MapQuest
- Merchant Circle
- Kuzdu
- Angie’s List
- Local.com
- Hot Frog
- Brownbook
- Tupalo
In general, the more local citations you have listed, the better your SEO rankings will be. We recommend submitting to at least 50 business directories or more.
3. Start submitting your dealership to online directories! While some directories have a more complicated system than others, the process of listing is generally the same. You will have to create an account with the website, enter your information, and wait for verification.
For Google My Business and Yelp, which are the two most important business directories you need to submit to, the process of getting your dealership successfully listed is more complex and takes longer, and therefore we have created a detailed guide for them.
Google My Business
Possibly one of the most important business directory listings you will need to create, if you haven’t already, is Google. If you don’t already have a Google account, make sure to create one.
Click on this link to get started, and follow each step. The unique thing about listing your dealership on Google is that it requires a more complicated verification process. Google will call you, and following that, they will send a postcard to your dealership address with a pin number. After you receive your postcard, you will need to enter that pin number to verify your business. From there, you can add photos and more detailed information to add to your listing.
If the property of your dealership used to belong to a different business, the previous owners may have already submitted a listing. In that case, you need to re-claim it. You will have to request access to own or manage the listing from the previous listing owner, which you can do through Google. It will have you fill out a form, which the previous owner will need to respond to. If the previous owner doesn’t respond to your request after a week, you will be able to take over the listing.
Yelp
The other most important listing you will need to make is on Yelp. Yelp, aside from Google, is the most popular local business directory. Their monthly traffic adds up to 70 million unique mobile visitors, and 74 million unique desktop visitors. Additionally, Google ranks Yelp highly on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
Yelp also requires a more complicated verification process than most business directories. Following your submission, Yelp will call your dealership, and you will need to answer it to receive a verification code. If your dealership’s phone has an automated system, you can have Yelp call an extension.
Other Directories
Most other directory listings will work similarly. As long as you have your necessary information ready, you can create an account and enter in your information. Keep in mind that some websites will require you to wait about 7 days to verify your listing, so you should check your email regularly to see if your submission was accepted.
4. Check your email for verification emails or emails notifying you that your listing has gone live successfully. Be sure to view your listing and make sure that all the information is correct. If everything looks good, then congratulations! Your dealership is now listed on a new directory!
It is important to be patient and realize that occasionally, a listing will not be accepted. It is also crucial to keep all your account information on hand in the case that any information about your dealership changes, such as a new phone number or a new location.
Don’t have enough time to submit local business directory listings? Let AutoJini take care of it! We also offer other marketing services tailored for car dealerships , including but not limited to: Pay Per Click (PPC) management, Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Facebook advertising, Google AdWords campaigns, and much more! Our expertise will put your dealership on the competitive edge.