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If your home services business isn't already on Bing Places, you may be at a disadvantage. Bing Places is an easy way to get more exposure for your company, connect with your local community, and drive customers to your website and social media pages. By creating a Bing business listing and using it to promote your business, you can boost your local SEO and generate more traffic to your website with advertising. Bing Places is a powerful way to generate leads and build relationships with your local customer base.
The Importance of Local Searches
As more people adopt mobile devices, they're conducting searches in their local area to find the services they want. This trend means that the volume of local search queries has increased in recent years, making it more important than ever for businesses to have local listings that attract a local customer base. 46% of all searches done on Google are local queries, which has important implications for Bing as its search engine market share increases.
Having a Bing business listing within Bing Places helps you reach local customers and build relationships with them. Plus, if they have questions about your services, they can type your name into a search engine to get the answers they need. That can undoubtedly lead to more traffic to your website and more sales for your company. Assuming, of course, that your business listing on Bing is up to par.
But how exactly do you create a business listing on Bing? In this article, we'll share step-by-step instructions to get you started.
6 Steps to Creating a Successful Bing Business Listing
Your Bing business listening is the central headquarters of your home services company while using that platform. It’s a way to boost your SEO and online visibility, letting potential customers find your company more easily. The service primarily targets local customers who are curious about products and services in their area. A strong business listing on Bing will give those potential customers a taste of what to expect before they hire you.
1. Creating a Bing Account
Bing uses Microsoft, your Google My Business listing, or Facebook accounts to authenticate users who want to use Bing. All of your activity on Bing takes place through your licensed account. If you don't have either of these, you can create a new account directly through Bing Places to get started with your listing.
2. Avoid Creating a Duplicate Listing
You need to check to ensure your business isn't already listed on Bing. Run a search in Bing for your company to see whether you're already there. Search engine results would penalize a duplicate listing, so make sure someone else hasn’t listed your company without your knowledge.
If you find your business, you can claim it after a short verification process. You can also import details from Google My Business if you already have a business profile there. Whether creating a new listing or verifying an existing one, be prepared to provide your name, address, and phone number.
3. Fill Out Your Bing Business Profile
The more information you provide about your home services company, the better. How well customers can find your business online largely depends on the relevance of your profile, so make it count. You'll always be able to edit this information later if you need to.
At a minimum, you’ll need to provide the following business information:
- Business Name. The name is a requirement for your listing. The best practice for listing a business on Bing is to enter its full legal business name, though you can provide another if you want.
- Business Description. You can provide a summary or description of your services, whether you’re an electrician or HVAC installer. Give a detailed description of the products and services you offer and why people should care.
- Commercial Address. If you have a physical location, you can list it here. Add your business hours while you’re at it.
- Office Phone Number. If you have a business phone number for your company, add it here.
4. Tag Your Company Appropriately
When potential leads search online, they rarely begin with your company already in mind. You need to use select keywords that match their search queries and help lead them your way.
Bing refers to business categories as segments - as in the “segment” of the overall market that you occupy. Select the appropriate business type in your Bing dashboard and categorize your business accordingly.
5. Take and Upload Good Photos
Remember the example we started with? When someone searches online for your company, a large part of their decision will be made on sight alone. The photos you use on Bing have an enormous impact on how potential customers view your business online, so don't use boring stock photos.
The photos you upload will be displayed at full size, so ensure that their quality is as good as you can make it. They should be the best representation of your company’s work, allowing leads a complete view of the work you’ve done.
6. Integrate Your New Bing Business Listing With Your Other Social Channels
Your Bing business listing will form one (very important) part of your overall online presence. When leads find you on Bing, they should simultaneously find out how to reach you on other social channels where you maintain a presence.
What channels are those? If you’re listening to us at Scorpion, wherever your target audience likes to search online, that’s where you’ll be. That could mean Facebook. It could mean Twitter, Google My Business, or somewhere else entirely. It will surely include a link to your website.
A polished Bing business listing is an excellent resource for home services professionals to take advantage of. That said, it can be challenging to find the time to create and maintain a business listing when you’re also trying to run a small business. We specialize in home services marketing at Scorpion, so call us today to learn more about our services.
Why Scorpion?
At Scorpion we have been helping small businesses for over 20 years to get more customers, show up online, manage their reputation, and run their best business. Our team will set you up with a great website and marketing you can be proud of and then provide you with live dashboards and cutting edge technology so you can manage everything, even on the go with our mobile app.
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