Ever wonder how self storage directories help position your facility in front of more potential tenants? When you list on a directory (like Storage.com and others), you enhance your digital marketing in a multitude of ways. This is important because more and more tenants are using online searches to find their storage units.
Legitimizing Your Business
No matter what search engine your potential tenants prefer (Google has the highest usage of any today; Bing and Yahoo! place a distant second and third, respectively), search engines want to provide their users with the most relevant information.
When someone searches online, the search engine returns results about businesses already in their database. These businesses are shown because they’re deemed relevant to the terms the particular user entered. Other factors, such as searcher location, can also come into play.
When you list your facility with a self storage directory, the directory sends signals to search engines that your facility could be a viable option for users who are searching for location-specific self storage. It’s a way for search engines to legitimize your business in the online world.
Appearing Where Search Engines Expect You to Be
When search engines find your self storage directory listings, it helps them understand that your business is relevant to the self storage industry. This can have a trickle-down effect that helps other aspects of your digital marketing.
Self storage directories send search engines many of the same signals that individual facility websites try to send, so the congruent information can help search engines make sense of what your business does. In order to keep sending consistent signals to search engines, there are other directories where self storage facilities should create listings.
Some search engines have their own local listings. Google, for example, has Google My Business, where you can add and verify your business information. Since Google is the most commonly used search engine, the importance of claiming a Google local listing can’t be overstated.
Another type is an independent local directory, such as YellowPages.com and Yelp. These directories also allow current and former customers the opportunity to review each business they use or visit.
Your website, however, should tie all of the information found in self storage directories and other local directories together. You can be found online through directory listings without having a website, but a website for your facility is another way to send legitimate signals to search engines and get your facility in front of self storage searchers.
Consistent NAP Info
When creating listings—whether in an industry-specific directory, search engine directory, or other local directory—consistent use of your name, address, and phone number—is critical.
This data, commonly referred to as NAP (Name/Address/Phone) or NAP+W (Name/Address/Phone + Website), should appear the same everywhere you create a listing in order to send a clear signal to search engines. This is true of the NAP data you include on your website as well.
The more frequently search engines pick up consistent NAP data, the better chance you have at gaining relevancy in their indexing. In most cases, higher relevancy can help you get found more often by potential tenants.
Using a self storage directory is but one step in the entire digital marketing process, but it’s an important one that can yield many benefits. Directory listings can legitimize your business and help search engines show your facility in locally-relevant search results for self storage terms.
