Today, 89% of people search for a local business on their phone at least once a week. 76% of those people will visit that business within 24 hours. Because so much offline traffic is coming from people conducting online searches, your listing accuracy and presence are vital to the success of your business. Here is everything a brand needs to include in their online business listings.

Last week, we put on a webinar giving you insight into how brands can build consumer engagement through Google My Business (GMB). We had so much interest during the webinar we thought we would go further in-depth as to what businesses can do to protect their brand consistency all while building engagement through Google My Business.

The number of features being added to GMB profiles is turning into a CMO’s nightmare. Why? Many of these features are threatening brand consistency by encouraging user-generated content. The last thing any marketer wants is the spread of inaccurate information about their brand, unfortunately, some of these GMB features are posing a threat that many brand’s don’t know how to protect against. Here’s a look at why brand’s need to have a strategy in place for safeguarding the integrity of their GMB listings.

Brick and mortar stores are not dead. In fact, we’re hearing from a few of our partners their in-store foot traffic is doing so well that they’re looking to expand. If you’re one of the many brands looking to add additional locations this year, there are a few ways you can build up your local SEO presence before your storefronts even open.

Healthcare providers have a duty to provide patients with immediate information about their hospitals, doctors, pharmacies, and any other services under their corporation. 21% of people use online search to find a hospital or doctor while 80% of Americans use search to research a wide variety of healthcare information according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. In an online-first world, it’s more important than ever for healthcare providers to maintain and optimize their local business listings.

Here at Chatmeter, we’ve helped to create millions of local business listings which is why we’ve put together a checklist to help any brand looking to claim and optimize their GMB listing. Whether you have one business location or hundreds, it’s important to know how GMB listings are created.

How accessible is your financial institution to your customers? In the past two years, Google has seen a 900% increase in “near me tonight/today” searches. This rise in “near me” searches shows just how important it is for financial institutions to have accurate and high ranking business listings.

There are quite a few different mapping applications available for users from Google Maps, to Apple Maps, and Waze. Unfortunately, as a business, you don’t have a choice over which mapping application your customers use. That means you need to keep your listings updated on every mapping application in order to keep your brand optimized for local search.

When it comes to keeping online listings up-to-date most local SEO experts refer to the acronym NAP which stands for Name, Address, and Phone Number. However, it’s becoming more and more apparent that a complete and accurate listing needs more than just NAP presence. We’d like to introduce you to the acronym NAPWCHD.

Is your business ready for one of the biggest days in retail? You may have spent weeks preparing employees to work overnight, but don’t forget to inform your customers that you’ll be open during these Black Friday hours. Here’s why you need to set special hours for the holidays.