How do customers find your business? For 91% of consumers, the answer is simple: online. While the customer journey used to start with in-person interactions, consumers’ first impressions of your brand are most likely your business profile. From your Yellow Pages to your website and social media pages, your digital footprint is what can make or break a potential sale. Ensuring that your local presence is on point with great citations and reviews enables customers to find and love your business. After all, you can’t foster great customer relationships without customers first finding your business. That’s why using a local citation management platform like Synup is essential for any business.

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Building local citations starts with accurate information. And it’s easy to neglect updates when they’re time-consuming and seemingly unimportant. But picture this: you might update your holiday hours on your Google Business Profile, assuming nobody checks your Facebook page for information, anyways. Unbeknownst to you, customers may use Facebook to get information about your brand. If customers don’t see your holiday hours on Facebook, they’ll go to your business’ physical location, expecting it to be open. When they arrive to find it closed, they’ll be upset - you’ve damaged that customer relationship by providing inaccurate information. That’s why synchronizing your updates across platforms is so important.

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After all, getting discovered is the main motivation for setting up and maintaining your local citations. 1 in 4 shoppers are unlikely to visit a business they can’t find online. Whether customers are looking on Yellow Pages, Google, Facebook, or a vertical-specific listings platform, they should be able to find your brand and a list of accurate business information.

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Here’s how to build and manage your local citations with Synup:

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On the Synup platform, head over to the “Listings” section. From here, you’ll be able to see an overview of your listings, connect to new platforms, post updates and announcements to your profiles, and more.

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Let’s check out some of Synup’s features. Clicking on “Premium Listings” will bring you to a list of all of your business listings. From there, you can fix any connection issues and update your profiles.

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Here, you can see which profiles need to be synced, and also edit information on specific profiles

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For bulk actions, head over to the Automations tab.

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This is where you can complete bulk updates! Let’s setup an automated update to change our store hours.

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We can set up a time-based automation to change our store hours starting next month.

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You can specify the publishers you want to reflect the change

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And then complete the automation!

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Updating your profiles with one click is an invaluable tool. For multi-location businesses and local chains alike, updating your profiles is a cumbersome process. Because your business should be listed on multiple platforms, even one location takes up to an hour to update. Synup helps you get listed and verified, too. With Synup’s extensive network of publishing partners, you can connect with and find customers on 70+ listings sites and directories. You can list your business directly from Synup - and resolve any issues that might arise along the way. Synup is a full service platform, so we’ll support you wherever you need to get listed, regardless of how many locations you have.

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For planned, temporary updates, Synup also has an incredible library of automations to help maintain your local listings. From temporary closures to changing your business description, Synup makes updating your business listings stress-free. 

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For example, if you want to change your business hours over a holiday weekend, you can use Synup automations to configure that.

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Here, we’re marking that all of the stores in the Bay Area will be closed for Presidents’ Day. You could use this for any holiday or temporary event!

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Now let’s add a new listing.

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To add a new location, simply click “Add Location” on the top bar.

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Then, Synup’s location wizard will walk you through the process, where you can input your store’s information!

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If you’re adding multiple locations, you can also use a CSV file to bulk import.

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From there, you can edit, list, and monitor citations for your new listing like any other store location!

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Your online listings should include your business address, phone number, website, photos, and even reviews. By setting up and maintaining listings, you enable customers to find, visit, and review your business. Synup enables you to manage reviews, too - so you can manage your entire online presence from one place.

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By using a local citation management platform, you ensure that customers will only find trusted information online. Customers will know what your holiday hours are, and whether you’re undergoing renovations. Synup empowers you to build trust with your customers by providing them with accurate information. You can even see how customers are interacting with your brand on directories and listings sites. Customer data is invaluable, and you can use it to track profile conversions, clicks on calls to action, and phone calls. Once you start effectively managing your online presence, you’ll see your engagement and revenue soar.

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After all, your local profiles are a customer’s first impression of your brand. Ensuring that every interaction buyers have with you is seamless and informative is key to fostering great customer relationships and building brand champions. You can even monitor how these customers are interacting with your profile. From clicks to calls to conversions, Synup ensures that you can follow your customers through the customer journey - and see your ROI from managing your online presence.

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Loyal customers are invaluable. And helping customers find and interact with your business will ensure they start off on the right foot! Supporting customers and showing them that you care is the first step to creating champions for your brand who will support you for years to come.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why are local citations important?

Local citations help customers find your business. Whether they’re searching on Google, Yellow Pages, or any of Synup’s 70+ publishing partners, it’s essential for your buyers to find accurate information about your brand.

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Local citations improve your rankings, too. Business profiles with accurate information rank higher on Google and other directories. When your information is accurate across the web, directories and search engines can rest assured that customers will find what they need when they search for your business.

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Why should I use local citation software?

Local citation management software makes managing your local presence much less of a headache. Depending on the vertical your business is in, you might be listed in dozens of directories and listings sites. Even if you only have a few business locations, updating your information across platforms is a huge headache.

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Software like Synup enables you to change your store hours, update holiday closures, monitor issues, and change any business details for all of your business listings. 

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