Local Business Visibility Program
Helping Small Businesses Be Found Online
Helping Small Businesses Be Found Online
The purpose of this program is to help small businesses improve their search marketing so they can get found online and attract more customers. It provides practical guidance on improving visibility, managing business information, and using simple tools to support growth. If you’d like to apply for registration, sign up here.
Timeline
Your first training session will take place during the week of April 13 at a location in Ruston to be announced. It will include a 2-hour in-person session, with the first half focused on a presentation and the second half dedicated to hands-on training to help you create your sholoc.com listing, followed by a 75-day program organized into three progressive phases.
Phase 1: Training (Start Here)
You’ll attend a hands-on workshop where you’ll learn how to make your business easier to find online and why that matters. During the session, you’ll also claim and improve your listing on sholoc.com so it looks professional and easy to find.
After the workshop, you’ll get your own custom page on sholoc.com, along with tools and guidance to keep improving your online presence—helping more people find, trust, and choose your business.
Phase 2: Optimization & Automation
Your business will be cleaned up and improved online so your information is accurate everywhere. Through AI-driven automations, your business information is synced across major listing platforms, saving you hours of time each month and keeping everything updated without extra work.
Phase 3: AI Tools & Growth
You’ll start using an AI helper for your business that answers customer questions 24/7, while giving you simple reports on your online performance and easy tips to help you improve.
Most customers discover local businesses through Google Search and Maps, with word of mouth and online reviews close behind. Social platforms and community connections also play a strong role in how people choose where to go. Traditional channels like print and radio still contribute, but they fall behind digital visibility. If your business isn’t showing up online, you’re missing where the majority of customers are already looking.
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Your visibility online is heavily influenced by your reviews, how you respond to them, and how complete your business profile is. Key details like services, descriptions, photos, and regular updates all play a major role in helping customers find and trust your business. The more active and complete your profile, the higher your chances of ranking and converting customers. Small improvements across these areas can make a big difference in your overall performance.
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Optimizing your business across key platforms drives real visibility, with Google Business Profile leading the way. Apple Business Connect, Yelp, and Bing Places also play a major role in helping customers find and choose your business. Each platform contributes to your overall online presence, and missing even one can limit your reach. A complete, optimized profile across all platforms ensures you capture the full share of local search traffic.
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Now that you know the benefits, let's talk about how we give that time back. These five tasks — review requests, replies, posts, photos, and FAQs — add up to over 6 hours of manual work every single week. That's time you could spend on customers, not computers. Our automation handles the repetitive stuff so your business keeps showing up in local search, without you having to think about it.
GIVE ME MY TIME BACK
AI platforms are rapidly transforming how customers find local businesses by integrating directly with trusted data sources and everyday technology. Partnerships between companies like Yelp and OpenAI, along with AI being embedded into devices and operating systems by Apple and Google, are shifting search from traditional listings to AI-driven recommendations. As a result, platforms like Google Business Profile, Apple Maps, and Yelp are becoming the core data sources that AI relies on to recommend businesses. This shift is accelerating as AI search gains market share—especially among younger users—making accurate, optimized listings more important than ever.
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