Have You Thought About Claiming Your Listing On Patch?

and claimed their listings on Patch recently. Want to join them?

Here's the scoop:

When Patch launched in Ames in July 2011, contributors ventured to local businesses to collect information for our directory. The result: Patch Places.

Patch Places is the spot to find descriptions, hours, accepted payment methods and more for spots around town. It's where readers can see what their neighbors think of a business before they try it and write their own reviews.

But local businesses get extra bonuses when they claim their free listing.

After owners and managers create an account using the “Sign in” or "join" link on the Ames.Patch.Com website they can sign in and search for their business. Underneath the photos, there is a box with the question: “Do you own or manage this location? Claim it!” Just click Claim it! and a form will pop up asking for contact information and authorization to claim it.

Within a few days, someone from Patch will contact verify owner's and manager's listings and be approved. The next time they log in they will see a "Manage Your Listing" button.

From there, owners have lots of options including reviewing statistics and editing basic information. To make updates, owners should visit their listing after they are signed into Ames Patch. At the top of the page will be a link which reads "Manage your listing." This is where listing managers will be able to view their Dashboards. After they click on "Manage your listing," they will see another link which reads "Edit listing." This will give managers access to make changes to both "basic" information (i.e. hours, phone number, fax number, website) and "extra" information (a list of services specific to your category). To make updates to the businesses name, description, category and address (also in "basic" info section), they will need to click on the "request a _____ change" link which will forward their inquiries to Directory Support for editing. To manage photos, videos and PDF files, go back to the Dashboard and click on "Manage photos and media." Managers will only be able to remove photos that they have uploaded. To remove old photos, please reach out to Directory Support and they will remove them for you. Here are a few of the tools managers will see and what they mean:

Your Stats:

Here managers can see how many users have rated, reviewed or followed their listing. They can e-mail their customers to seek out more reviews, and link the Patch Place to their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Edit Listing:

Add photos, website information, hours of operation, contact information and more under the Basic Info tab. Some of this information cannot be changed, but managers can request a new description if managers think their business is inaccurately described.

Choose "Extra Info" to add information like the founding date of their business, what kinds of payments they accept, parking information and more.

Manage Photos & Media:

Here they can add and edit photos and choose which image is featured. If they have a video or PDFs, they would add that here.

Reviews:

Managers can see what people have to say about their business and respond to reviews.

Free Tools:

This is an easy way to post events and add job openings to our classifieds section, also known as the Marketplace.

Paid Tools:

They can upgrade their listing with a video profile, add a message from the owner and become a featured business on the Places page for a fee. They can learn more about these options and see how to get in touch with a sales team member.

Questions? Contact local editor Jessica.miller@patch.com