What’s a Bing Local listing?
If you are looking to improve your local search engine optimization Bing Local lets users find businesses near them, or near where they want to go. Because listings are returned in search results, businesses don’t have to search for new customers—the customers have already found them.
Why list your business on Bing Local?
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It’s free
It’s like free advertising! The more information you provide, the easier it is for customers to find you.
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It’s fast
Improve or update your listing anytime to suit your needs. There’s no schedule or hassle.
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Reach your customers
Customers are already searching for what you provide. What better time to reach them?
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List all of your locations
Expanding your business? Congratulations! Bing listings can accommodate all of your locations.
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You control your data
Bing’s verification process helps protect your listing against unauthorized changes.When you finish adding your information, they tell you that they will send you a letter to your address and in that letter they will give you a PIN number so that you confirm your listing. I like this feature because they are trying to make sure that only legitimate businesses get listed with their service.
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Full business information
It is possible to list just about anything you would like to about your business. There is a place to add supplemental phone numbers such as 800 numbers, or customer service lines or lines for any other purpose. You can list supplemental web pages or email addresses, add a link to a catalog, menu or other information your customers want most.
There are provisions for a detailed list of business hours, payment methods, and the ability to add photos, full business descriptions and brands carried. To add legitimacy you can include professional affiliations. If you offer services in foreign languages those also can be listed.
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Select categories
When people are searching for your business, what are they looking for? Search for the categories you want, or select them from the browsable list. After you make your selections, you can prioritize them from top to bottom, placing your favorite category at the top. You can select up to 6 categories.
Bing is very similar to the services offered in Google Places, more than the free listing in Yahoo. I have to admit that I was annoyed by Bing because it would not support use of Safari, the web browser in Apple computers. It was a nuisance to have to download Firefox to sign up for their service or even access my account.
I would still recommend listing your business with Bing. It is a popular search engine and it will help people who use it to find your business.
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