Businesses that build, update and manage their online footprint tend to remain at the top of search.
Have you ever Googled your business name? Unless you’ve put a lot of effort and attention into building your online footprint, you’ll likely find a somewhat disjointed and misleading representation of your business in the search results. No, Google isn’t lying to you, but the results are likely not as good as you think. In it’s quest to organize “all of the world’s information”, Google continuously solicits and collects information from its users. It doesn’t always get it right. For example, if someone submits wrong information to Google about your business, Google may consider this information in its algorithm. Over time, information about your business can become disjointed in various places online. This can hurt your search ranking.
The good news is that most businesses, including your competitors, don’t understand how to properly build and manage their online footprint. Managing your online footprint is not a one-time effort. Once upon a time, just putting up a good-looking website was enough to win online. Search engines have become much “smarter” in recent years. Businesses that build a large online footprint and actively update and maintain accuracy of this information tend to remain at the top of search. Put in place a consistent program to do this and you will reap the benefits over time.