Kicking off the week with an trio of excellent tips for local search from Marketing Profs:

In the push to optimize your Web presence for local search, it’s important to avoid techniques that tamper with your anchor identity—the name, address, and phone number contained in your business listing.

“Think of your anchor identity as your digital storefront or the glue that holds your online reputation together and ensures that customers can find you online when they want to call or visit your business to make a purchase,” explains Gib Olander in an article at MarketingProfs. “Business owners therefore need to take control of their listings now.”

Keep your anchor identity above the SERP clutter by taking to heart Olander’s tips like these:

Don’t alter your business name. If you have an established business called Joe’s Bar and decide to add a pizza kitchen, for instance, Olander advises against changing your online name to Joe’s Bar and Pizzeria. “That may create multiple identities, which might push your listing down in search results,” he warns.

Maintain a consistent physical address and phone number. You’re probably seeing a theme here—once you’ve created your business listing, it’s best to leave it alone. Your listing becomes trusted when you have a permanent brick-and-mortar location—not a post office box—and the same phone number your customers have always used to reach you.

Closely monitor all local business listings. You might not be the only one handling your company’s anchor identity. “Listings are sometimes created with or without a business owner’s knowledge by sites that pull advertising details from a variety of sources that do not always include correct NAP details,” Olander notes.

The Po!nt: Stay just the way you are. Altering the basic details in your business listings could actually damage—not enhance—your business’s local search results.

Source: MarketingProfs.

Read more: http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/2505/three-tips-for-preserving-your-online-anchor-identity#ixzz1oxGN60HJ