20 Places You and Your Business Should Be Listed On The Web In 2011

Earlier this year I wrote a blog about sprouting legs so Google can find you and if you haven’t read it, please do so here.  The point of that blog and this blog for that matter is to help you get noticed by Google.  SEO practices, pictures and videos, and good content help Google, or new customers, to find you but you also need to be everywhere you possibly can be.  While most businesses may have a website and hopefully have a Facebook page, that is only a couple of places for Google to reach out and find you.  However, if you are listed in 20 different places, guess who begins to rank higher on Google? You, hence the term web crawling!  It’s no secret what these sites are, you just have to look for them, but they can be a bit time consuming.  That’s where I step in.  One of the services I offer to business owners is a set up package which sets them up on about 15+ different online platforms. But today the list will be given to you FREE OF CHARGE, you just have to invest your time. Have fun! Now go sprout some legs and start running…you never know who is chasing you!

1. Facebook Business Page – Make sure you set this up correctly and NOT as a personal profile page for your business
2. Twitter Account - Yes, it’s a must.
3. Yelp.com – A user review site
4. LinkedIn – A social place for business, upload your resume, make business contacts, and post your bio
5. Blog – WordPress is the best.  You don’t need to be a writer to blog, but use it for informational purposes, write articles, etc.
6. Four Square – A geolocation service that uses the GPS system in your phone to tell where you are located (store, restaurant, movies, etc) and you “check in” at these locations.  Foursquare will post this info on your Facebook and Twitter accounts.  This is FREE advertising for these businesses if used properly.
7. Website – Everyone in business needs a website
8. YouTube – Never thought your small business could afford a commercial? Create your own commercials with a video camera, upload it to your own YouTube channel and ‘Broadcast Yourself’. You can also start your own vlog!
9. Flickr – A social site to share pictures and videos
10. Yellow Book Pages – Directory
11. Google Places – Directory
12. DMOZ – Directory
13. Yahoo City Local – Directory
14. Manta – Directory
15. Bing - Directory
16. About.Me
17. Empire Avenue - Buy stock in yourself and others, all for fun!
18. Google +  - Google’s answer to Facebook
19. Letslunch.com – Great face-to-face networking tool still in the infant stages
20. Pinterest – A virtual pin board that is the 3rd largest social media site to date!