What Stage Are You At in Building Your Online Presence?

Answer the 9 questions below. Add up your points for each answer to get your final score.  Find the service package you need to do to expand your online visibility.

1.  Right now, first do a Google search using your business name + your neighborhood or borough ("Top notch Dry Cleaners Brooklyn", "Acme plumbers in bronx").  Second, do a search with your business category + neighborhood ("barbers in soho") (Clear here for Google.  Does your business show up in the search results?

• Yes for both searches (10 points)
  
• Yes (business name + neighborhood only) (5 points)
• Does not appear at all (0 points)
  

2.  I have claimed my business on Google + Places, Bing, Yahoo, Yelp and at least 3 business directories like YP.com or citysearch.com (refer to local search results page example for clarification) ?

•  Yes (10 points)
  
•  Only Yelp (5 points)
  
•  No  (0 points, go to question 4)
  

3.  I have enhanced all of my claimed listings with photos, hours, services, videos and engaging copy on what makes my business different:

• Yes (10 points)
  
• No  (0 points)
  

4.  My business has its own website?

• Yes (10 points)
  
• No  (0 points, skip to question 6)
  

5. My business has purchased search engine optimization (SEO) services to rank higher on specific keywords:

• Yes (10 points)
  
• No (0 points)

6.  My business has its own Facebook page:

• Yes (10 points)
  
• No (0 points,skip to question 8)
  

7.  My business communicates promotion to its fans on Facebook and responds to customer posts:

• Yes on regular basis (10 points)
  
• Yes, but infrequently (5 points)
  
• No (0 points)
  

8.  My business runs (or used to run) ad campaigns on any one or all of the following:  search engines (Google Adwords, Bing, Yahoo), Facebook and Yelp:

• Yes, have tried all of them (10 points)
  
• Yelp only (5 points)
  
• Facebook only (5 points)
  
• No (0 points)
  

9.  My business uses email to communicate to customers and prospects:

• Yes (10 points)
  
• Collect email addresses but never use them (5 points)
  
• No (0 points)
  

Score Interpretation:  Actionable Advice for Taking Your Business' Online Presence to the Next Level

0 points--What are you waiting for?  Start by claiming and enhancing your free business listings on Google + and Bing Local Business.  Our $99 Get Started  Package will do the work, providing you with an enhanced listing to make your business stand out in local searches.  We'll even take photos of your business to upload to your listings!

1-40 points--There's a lot more you can do to expand your online presence. If you don't already have a website, it's time to start developing one to boost your local ranking score and to create a unique online identity.  If your budget is tight, Google's Get Your Business Online New York program offers free domain registration and web hosting for one year.  LocalBizNYC offers  a range of web design services for SMBs. At this level,  SEO , whether basic content optimization or advanced link-building strategies should be seriously considered to boost rankings.  We'll provide a free site audit as part of your free 30-minute consultation to identify areas in which SEO could provide immediate results.

41+ points-- Perhaps you regularly use email marketing or paid advertising programs on Google Adwords, Facebook and Yelp, but don't have time to manage them, or need expert advice on how to improve performance.  Our online advertising packages offer a range of options for achieving your marketing goals with a particular focus on delivering results with a high ROI.  

Check to see how your business appears in local directories.  Get a report on the top 50 business directories.  Fill out the form below to get report.