Choose the Correct Local Listing Categories

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*The following is the guest post by Emily Thompson*

The Google Local Listing has grown in importance more and more in recent time. In many instances, the local 7-pack, consisting on local listings, is appearing at the top of a search results page, above even organic listings. This placement creates huge opportunities for small businesses to gain visibility and traffic on the web.

There are many components that work together to create an optimized, high-ranking listing. One of the key elements of an optimized local listing is the category section Google provides. These categories classify your business according to industry and they can have a profound impact on which searches your listing appears in.

One of the challenges is that it can sometimes be tricky to know how your industry is categorized in the Google Local Business Center.  For example, say you are a lawyer, so you search for lawyer, but you aren’t sure what other synonyms Google might assign to your trade. In order to assist you with discovering the most targeted categories, local search expert Mike Blumenthal has a great tool in beta right now that aggregates all the category options and allows you to see the ones that apply directly to you. Check it out. Google LBC Categories Preview Beta

Simply enter your query in the search box, and a list of all the current Google category options will be on your left, and synonyms to your search term will be displayed on the right.

This tool is very useful to get a quick view of all of the different category choices and to give you new ideas and synonyms you might not have considered before. Utilizing resources like this helps create an optimized listing and achieve that goal of reaching the 7-pack!

Emily Thompson is the Online Marketing Coordinator for Kutenda. Kutenda provides the tools and resources small businesses need to be successful online and grow their business.