Incorrect social media account information causing long-term damage to Strathmore Business
Jennifer Wiebe
ChoiceEnvironment.com
Trying to manage your own marketing is hectic, confusing and one false move can waste hours of your time. Before setting up your account, and even now while your account exists, can you say for sure that each detail is filled out properly? Can you say that you completely reviewed and understood your policy and user agreement? One keystroke error can cause major problems and not just for your business but for all the surrounding business near your location.
Recently I discovered why.
While trying to set up a social media account I noticed I could not enter the address as Strathmore, Alberta. The only option available was Strathmore, Alabama. Frustrated I bypassed it by simply picking Alabama and was hoping to correct the issue once the account was confirmed.
After a painstaking four-hour journey through the net trying to fix the problem and talking with the social media network for help, I found one of the problems, and it was much worse than I anticipated.
Because the majority of social media users located in Strathmore I believe have encountered the same problem and also bypassed it by entering Alabama. Strathmore Alberta now looks like Strathmore, Alabama in certain search queries and the eyes of software running the accounts plus the maps that assist in feeding them.
These engines do not understand why some residents and vendors are listed as Strathmore, Alberta and others are listed as Strathmore, Alabama. The engine reads and tries to offer the most obvious choices to those setting up an account and those searching for vendors and users. Strathmore itself also becomes less recognizable and visible in search results, directories, social media and many other data management engines.
Many people use social media accounts to increase their audience through paid advertisements. If a vendor asks for the ad to be displayed outside their friend’s list and existing followers and network but the contact information is incorrect it would display to the wrong network, region and even country.
Who does it affect?
Vendors and consumers are both affected. The search engine results may not display what the consumer is looking for and the vender cannot be found when location information is inaccurate.
How to fix it?
Anyone with a social media, directory listing account could recheck their settings. Even vendors that list in free directories should be sure it says Strathmore, AB not AL. If you are unable to change the location to Alberta leave the location empty and notify your account provider.
Keep in mind that engines and crawlers record an image of your website, page, social media face and more. Then use that information to draw new visitors to their website, directory or engine. Like a directory that finds vendors to list such as Yellow pages. They may index your information once continuously like Google or once a year, it may take a while for these engines to re-record the correct information.
Directories have a large audience and if they store old information of the business, it also does not show up in the appropriate search query. There is more to this than I can continually list so I can only stress the facts.
Seek advice from a professional website developer! Not necessarily a Webmaster or marketer, I mean a true developer that understands the programming and the integrated marketing behind a website. A website designer is a graphic artist, a website programmer creates your sites functionality and navigation, a website or online marketer understand the many different ways to get a great rank for your website or business listing and all the rules behind that. A website developer, however, has the experience and the greater knowledge of all the above. Speaking with a developer is always your best option.
Also please do not think this is an issue your social media provider can fix. It breaches the privacy policy and it is up to the person signing up for the account to fill it out correctly. By rights if you provide false information your account provider can discontinue service which is very difficult to reinstate. These media accounts can provide amazing free marketing for our businesses but it is up to us to read our policy agreements and fill our information out correctly. It takes a lot of work to maintain these type of media engines, offering live tech support might not allow these services to be offered for free?
I really hope we can come together on this and make a difference for all Strathmore business long term. I myself cannot optimize many of my client’s accounts until this begins to resolve. It damages business productivity, but most importantly it can be damaging for all the vendors in Strathmore to not be visible to the consumers around them. Strathmore is a great place to live and work, I hope we can all work together to make this happen for the greater good of Strathmore.