Business Owners Guide

• What is TrueLocal?
• How do I register as the business owner?
• How do I make the most of my business listing?
• Does TrueLocal moderate my business listing’s content?

What is TrueLocal?

TrueLocal is the one place where you can advertise your business and be sure to target customers looking for your goods or services in your local area.

TrueLocal is also the place where your customers can let others know how they feel about your products and services, guiding potential customers to your business whilst also providing your business with invaluable feedback.

How do I register as the business owner?

Once you’re a registered TrueLocal user (please see User Guide on how to register), go to your business’ listing and click on the link that says ’Register as the business owner’ (mid way down the right hand side of the page below the heading ’Is this your business?’) and fill out the required details. Once our team has verified your details you’ll be registered as the business owner.

If you don’t yet have a business listing on TrueLocal, no worries, it’s easy to do and then you can register as the business owner. To list your business, just follow this link: List your business.

How do I make the most of my business listing?

As the business owner you have access to ’My Business Manager’. This allows you to change your details as well as upload content such as a description of your business, images, documents, exclusive special offers and more.

The more information and content you can provide for customers the longer they will spend browsing your listing, giving you a greater opportunity to capture their business.

For information on how to use My Business Manager please see ’My Business Manager FAQs.’

Does TrueLocal moderate my business listing’s content?

Yes. All content on TrueLocal is moderated to ensure all guidelines are followed and nothing inappropriate is uploaded. Content is post-moderated which means it will appear online immediately and is generally moderated within the next 24 hours.

If your content is rejected you’ll be notified by email.

Adult services content is pre-moderated which means it will not appear online until the content has passed our moderation process. This is to ensure users are never able to access content deemed inappropriate, offensive or does not meet our guidelines.

• What is Ratings and Reviews?
• Are ratings and reviews important?
• How will ratings and reviews help my business?
• Can people say anything they like about my business?
• Can I be kept up to date with reviews of my business?
• What do I do about an inappropriate review?
• What happens to a suspended review?
• Tips for businesses that receive a negative review
• Still unhappy?

What is Ratings and Reviews?

Ratings and Reviews is an important part of TrueLocal that lets members share with others their experiences of businesses. People generally prefer to get recommendations about goods and services they’re shopping for and this is a great way to get personal recommendations online.

Ratings and Reviews has benefits for businesses too. A good review can help a business stand out from the competition and win customers. Even a so-so review can help a business learn more about their customers’ needs.

Are ratings and reviews important?

The way people use the internet has changed. They’re no longer content with just sitting back and trawling through site after site - users want in on the action. User generated content (UGC) whether on a social website or a simple review is the latest buzz.

Other people’s experiences often help guide potential customers to your business or service. It can certainly be a more effective way of promoting your business than standard marketing or advertising avenues. The Ratings and Reviews section allows users to learn more about listed businesses and share their experiences with likeminded people.

Ratings and Reviews keeps users online longer. The longer they’re online, the more they are exposed to your listing, in turn increasing its overall impact.

How will Ratings and Reviews help my business?

TrueLocal’s Ratings and Reviews section will help you get closer to your customers. Learning more about a customer’s experience with your business is valuable knowledge. Not only will Ratings and Reviews tell you what’s working with your current business model but what problems it may be experiencing, problems perhaps you were not aware of. Managed effectively, the process can open up a dialogue between you the business owner, potential customers and the wider market place.

Engaging the internet user means your online advertisement becomes more than a simple directory listing. It can introduce customers to the business on a more personal level. At the end of the day it will assist in differentiating your business from the competition.

Can people say anything they like about my business?

Users are free to write anything they like but no review will go live until it has gone through a stringent moderation process with the TrueLocal Content Services Team. Any review containing content of a defamatory nature or inappropriate language will not be posted on the site.

Can I be kept up to date with reviews of my business?

Yes. Just register your business with TrueLocal (it’s free, by the way) and you’ll be entitled to:

• Receive email alerts of new reviews of your business as they’re posted
• Add comments to reviews that have been posted
• Select the best review of your business to go to the top of the list
• Flag any reviews you are concerned about to our moderation team

What do I do about an inappropriate review?

If you’re concerned with any reviews you can suspend them pending further investigation by TrueLocal. A suspended review means it’s not visible to consumers. To suspend a review you:

• Must be a registered business owner with TrueLocal
• Log on as the registered business owner, go to the review and click ’Report this review as inappropriate’.

If you contact TrueLocal by telephone or email regarding review suspension you’ll be directed back to the site.

What happens to a suspended review?

All reviews reported to the TrueLocal Content Services team are reviewed with three possible outcomes:

1. The review is deemed appropriate and likely to be true. The review will be redisplayed on the site for view by consumers. This usually occurs within five working days
2. The review is deemed inappropriate and permanently removed from the site
3. The review may be true but requires further clarification from the author.

In the case of point 3, the review remains suspended until the Content Services Team contacts the originator of the review to seek further clarification or information. If the details of the review are confirmed by the originator the review is released back to the site; otherwise it remains suspended.

The business owner will receive an email from TrueLocal confirming the outcome of any suspended review.

Tips for businesses that receive a negative review

Things to take into account:

• Encourage other clients to review your business - lots of good reviews will quickly outweigh one poor review
• As the business owner/manager you can choose your favourite review - this review will appear at the top of all the reviews and on the search page
• The most recent review appears next, so any older reviews will be pushed towards the bottom of the page
• If you want to communicate with the reviewer, attach a comment to their review asking them to contact you so the issue can be resolved
• If you sort out a problem with a reviewer ask them to go back to TrueLocal and post another comment on how you reached a resolution (this is a great way to show other consumers how your business is customer focussed).

Still unhappy?

If you’ve gone through the process of suspending a review and you’re still unhappy, please provide details of your complaint in writing and send it to:

Content Services Manager
TrueLocal
Level 23, 175 Liverpool Street,
Sydney NSW 2000

The Content Services Manager will respond to the letter within 21 days.

• How do I add an image to my listing?
• I can’t upload an image.
• How can I view changes I’ve made to my business details page?
• How do I upload a video?
• What is a ’Display Ad’?
• How do I add a display ad to my listing?
• What is a ’Special Offer’?
• How do I create a ’Special Offer’?
• What is ’Add documents for download’?
• How do I add a document for download?
• What are ’Search results’?
• What does ’Select phone contact to display on search results’ do?
• What does ’Show contact details on search results’ do?
• What is ’show other information in display results’?
• What does ’Select thumbnail to be displayed on search results’ do?
• Why haven’t the changes I made to my search results appeared online?
• What is a ’Feature Image’?

How do I add an image to my listing?

1. Click on the ’Multimedia & specials’ tab in ’My Business Manager’ and select ’Add images’
2. Click on the link that says ’Add another image’. This will open a dialog box headed ’Upload image’
3. In the blank field that says ’File’ enter the location of the file/image you wish to upload or simply click the ’Browse’ button next to this box to locate the file/image you wish to upload
4. In the blank caption field enter a caption or title for your image (for example a picture of staff might be captioned ’Our staff’)
5. To finish click the ’Submit’ button. You’ll then see a thumbnail of the image you’ve uploaded.

If you’ve made a mistake with the caption and wish to change it click on ’Edit image’.

If you wish to change or remove the image you have uploaded click on ’Remove this image’. You can continue adding images by following the same procedure.

Now you can select an image to appear as the ’feature image’ and for Priority Listings you can select an image to appear in your search results. For more information please refer to the ’Search results’ section.

I can’t upload an image

Please check your image is the correct size and file type. (You can have up to 9 images at a max size 5Mb each. You can also select an image to feature in the search results page by clicking the 'search results' tab. Accepted file types: .jpeg, .jpg, .jpe, .gif, .bmp & .png)

How can I view changes I’ve made to my business details page?

You can view the changes you’ve made to your business details page at any time by clicking on the ’Preview my business details page’ link which can be found below the tabs on the right hand side of the page.

How do I upload a video?

1. Click on the ’Multimedia & specials"’ tab in ’My Business Manager and select ’Add video’
2. Click on the link that says ’Upload Video’.
3. In the blank field that says ’File’ enter the location of the file/video you wish to upload or simply click the ’Browse’ button next to this box to locate the file/video you wish to upload.
4. You can enter a title and description (maximum 180 characters) of your video in the corresponding fields.
5. To finish click the ’submit’ button. Allow approximately one hour for your video to appear.

If you make a mistake or would like to change your video, click the ’Remove this video’ link below the video and start again.

Videos must be smaller than 32mb and in one of the following formats: asf, wmv, avi, flv, mpg, mpeg, mp4, mov, m4v.

What is a ’display ad’?

A ’display ad’ is any image you have that incorporates text and images such as a business card, brochure or print advertisement.

How do I add a display ad to my listing?

1. Click on the ’Multimedia & specials"’ tab in ’My Business Manager’ and select ’Add Display Ad’
2. Click on the text that says ’Upload Display Ad’.
3. Enter a title and description for your display ad in the corresponding blank fields.
4. In the blank field that says ’File’ enter the location of the file/display ad you wish to upload or simply click the ’Browse’ button next to this box to locate the file/display ad you wish to upload.
5. To finish click the ’Submit’ button. You will then see a thumbnail of the display ad you’ve uploaded.

If you’ve made a mistake and would like to change the title or description click on ’Edit Display Ad’, make changes and click the ’Submit’ button. To change the display ad click on the link ’Remove this Display Ad’, remove the current display ad and replace by following the same procedure as above.

What is a ’Special Offer’?

A ’Special Offer’ is a coupon system whereby customers can print coupons from your business’ listing on TrueLocal and present them to your business for discounts or special offers.

Coupons should be special offers exclusive to TrueLocal and not simply advertising a sale or standard offer.

How do I create a ’Special Offer’?

Click on the ’Multimedia & specials"’ tab in ’My Business Manager’ and then ’Add Special Offers’

Click on the link that says ’Add new special offer’. This will open a dialog box titled ’Add promotional coupon’. Following the character limits, fill out each of the fields. For example:

Headline: Free entree when you buy two main courses
Sub Heading: Available Mon-Thurs
Description: Receive one free entree when you buy two main courses and sample some of the delicious new flavours we have on offer. Available lunch and dinner Mondays-Thursdays inclusive.
Promo Code: SPE1001

You can then choose to delay displaying your coupon by checking next to ’pause don’t display coupon for now.’

Your coupon can also have an expiry date by checking next to ’Choose expiry date’. If you check this option you will be required to enter an expiry date (DD/MM/YY). If you don’t choose an expiry date your coupon will automatically default to ’never expire’.

Once you’ve completed your coupon click the ’Update’ button and the special offer coupon will appear.

If you’ve made a mistake anywhere on the coupon simply click on ’Edit special offer’, correct any mistakes and click the ’Update’ button again.

You can remove the special offer coupon any time by clicking ’Remove this special offer’.

What is ’Add documents for download’?

This tool allows you to include entire documents on your business details page for customers to download such as a catalogue, restaurant menu or price list.

How do I add a document for download?

Click on the ’Multimedia & specials"’ tab in ’My Business Manager’ and select ’Add a document for downloading’

Click on the link that says ’Add another document’. This will open a dialog box titled ’Upload document’. Fill in the title and description in the blank boxes provided. For example:

Title: Restaurant Menu
Description: Our complete autumn menu displaying the best of the current season’s foods.

In the blank field that says ’File’ enter the location of the file you wish to upload or simply click the ’Browse’ button next to this box to locate the file you wish to upload.

Once you’ve completed adding your document click the ’Submit’ Button and an icon with a link to your document will appear along with the description underneath.

If you wish to change the description simply click the ’Edit Document’ link and make the appropriate changes.

If you want to change the name of the document or remove the document click on ’Remove this document’.

What are ’Search results’?

These are the results displayed after a customer types in a search for a business or business type.

The ’Search results’ tab allows you to choose the information that is displayed for your listing on the search results page and is separate to your business details page although it contains similar information.

To change information contained in your search results listing click on the ’Search results’ tab in ’My Business Manager’. The first thing you’ll see on this page is an example of how your listing will appear in the search results.

What does ’Select phone contact to display on search results’ do?

This allows you to select one phone number to be displayed in your business’ search results.

Simply check the circle next to the phone number you would like displayed on your search results, either: Local no, Fax no, Mobile, National (eg 1300 or 1800 numbers), or you can choose to have no number displayed (this is only recommended for online businesses).

You can click on the ’Edit’ link corresponding to any phone number if you would like to add or change a number.

What does ’Show contact details on search results’ do?

These options allow you to choose the contact details displayed on your business’ search results.

Check the box next to the corresponding contact details (Street Address, Web or Email) to have those contact details displayed.

You can click on the ’Edit’ link to change the corresponding details.

If you’d like to have only your street address or suburb displayed you can do this by clicking on the corresponding ’Edit’ link which will take you to the ’Business details’ page in ’My Business Manager’.

What is ’show other information in display results’?

These options are for Priority Listings only and allow you to display other pieces of information in your business’ search results.

One option is to display an excerpt of a user review by checking ’User review excerpt’.

Another option is to have your tagline displayed on the search results page. To do this check the box next to ’Tagline’. You can also edit your tagline from here by clicking the ’Edit’ link.

If you check ’More Messages’ different messages can be selected to appear where the ’More’ link is on your search results by selecting from the drop down menu. (For example it can say ’See more images’ and link directly to the images on your business details page.)

What does ’Select thumbnail to be displayed on search results’ do?

If you have a Priority Listing you can select an image from those you have already uploaded to appear on your business’ search results.

Why haven’t the changes I made to my search results appeared online?

Changes made to search results usually take 24 hours to appear online.
Once you’ve made changes to your search results please make sure you click the ’Submit’ button at the bottom of the page so that the changes are saved.

What is a ’Feature image’?

The feature image is the image that features most prominently on your business details page.

The feature image and two small images beside it will be displayed on your business details page when you select a feature image. The accompanying two images will be selected in order from the first three images you uploaded.

Alternatively you can choose to have an icon image that links directly either to your display ad, document or special offer.

If you don’t want to have a feature image displayed in your business details page, simply check the circle next to ’Do not display a feature image’.

Once you’ve selected a feature image click the ’Submit’ button.