Overview of  things to consider when posting a new profile for a community organization or business

Profile Help for Business Listings

Who is eligible for FoundLocally?

Our site is designed to help local businesses, community groups & charities, government departments/agencies and politicians better connect with their local audiences.

Company/Organization Name

The two names allow you to enable users to search by an prior name for a business, or search either by name or by acronym (ie, “IBM”). Use the first field for your legal or common name (which is displayd), and use the Alternate Name field (which does NOT display) for acronyms, common misspellings, or a former name if there was a recent name change. DO NOT use competitors names as this is not only misleading, but illegal. If you are a hotel with food & beverage establishments, create individual listings for your restaurants, and include the hotel name in the second Name field.

If your business name starts with “The” use that version in the Name2 field, and use the Name1 field for the version ending with “, The”, to be earlier in alphabetical listings. For example, use Name1: “Pub, The” and Name2: “The Pub” to ensure users searching for your The-first name can find you with a search.

more Business Names help

YOU MUST enter a valid local address & phone number

Web addresses are not allowed in this field-in order for us to validate that you are a local business. If you are a home-based business, you can CHOOSE TO NOT DISPLAY your home address. Just check the box under the address. If you are an online business, you must still provide a “snail mail” address for our records.

Address & Mapping Flexibility

You can enter up to two addresses: one should be your street/delivery address, and the other can be a mailing address (if different) or driving directions (particularly for rural areas). You can use the second line for building name (hotel or shopping mall name, too). If you have a suite or unit number, place it at the END of the address, separated by a comma (so the mapping feature works best). Use the LINKS tab to enter your online contact information and select the “Logo & Link” options. These link each of the listing pages back to YOUR WEBSITE, and the more features (news, coupons, jobs, events…) you use on FoundLocally, the more links back to your site, and the better your ranking will get on other search engines, like Google!

More Entering Addresses help

Contact Phone Numbers

Enter your local phone number choosing the area code from the pop-down list and entering the format 555-1212 (with a dash, no spaces, or periods–we’re not trying to be cute, or stylish–just consistent). You must have a LOCAL phone number to qualify for a FoundLocally listing. Toll-free numbers can only be entered in the toll-free field.

Choose Appropriate Areas

You may choose the two areas that BEST describe your location. If you are in a business that “serves the entire city” you should still choose the areas that are closest to you, in case people are searching for a close-by supplier.

More Selecting the Areas Pop-Down Fields help

How to reach and sell to consumers

Consumers are too busy to look up and dial using the phone directoy listings, which provide no additional information to them. Our Description & Products/Brands field give you an opportunity for a short & succinct “pick me” sales pitch. (Hints: Why do people like you? Why do customers come back? What makes you special?) Don’t waste this space on generic “motherhood” statements. Don’t use this field for job postings, events details, etcetera for which we have specific tabs (across the top of the form).

The Description field should be a marketing statement “why choose you”. It is recommended that you write it in a Word processor, and spellcheck it. Use Word’s Tools- Word Count features to ensure its under 250 characters (its tight because visitors don’t want to read an essay, they want to quickly decide if they like you!). If you choose to have a “Logo & Link”, the Description displays on the Search Results listings page with your logo. If you need more space, use the Products/Brands field for an extra 250 characters.

The Products/Brands field is used to help with search results. This is where its okay to post a “laundry list” of search terms to help people find you. When people user our FIND search box, the search looks at the Name, Name2, Description and Products/Brands field contents for a match.

More Entering Descriptive Fields help

Final Details on your Profile

You can complete your profile by entering your business hours, what forms of payment you take, and where clients/visitors can park.

Enter your Hours of Operation. “24/7” is okay. If hours change seasonally, you can either specify summer/winter hours (for example) or update the info as you move between seasons.

You can choose the method(s) of payment accepted. If in doubt, choose Cash/Unspecified. Some businesses accept Interac while others provide an ATM for cash withdrawals; if you do both, check both.

The Referrer Code is for internet consultants, web designers and ad agencies to help us help them to track their various client’s listings.

FoundLocally’s Searches are Powerful!

Users enter a keyword (search term) in the Searches box and our powerful search goes through the Business’s Name, Name2, Description and the Products/Brands fields to determine those busineses that mention the word or phrase. This way a search for “sushi” lists many more establishments than those with the word in their name. Businesses and organizations are listed alphabetically, with Logo & Link advertisers preceding the others, with a Tabbed option to view web site content with the keyword. There is no extra value for frequency of a given word.

Add Web Links & Logo

Add your corporate logo (or a photo) along with a web link to your web site, with an optional LOGO & LINK UPGRADE. This feature also moves your listing ahead of those with a Free Listing, what we like to call “pop to the top”. You can do this on either the Links or the Finish tab. There is a small annual cost, but it applies to all categories, events or jobs postings for your listing. FoundLocally now gets 300,000 visitors a year, so isn’t it time to consider this?

If you do not select the Logo & Link upgrade you may not mention your web address or email address in the content of your profile, your events or your jobs. Wince this is the ONE THING we charge for, to support his diverse and otherwise free web site, we ask that you respect this limitation.

More Entering Web Links for Website, Logo and Contact Email help