Claiming your Bing Local listing is another of the FREE services that you can use to make your shop’s presence known and control the information that search engines see about your flower shop. It’s as simple as that. Flower Shop Network is always looking for new and easy ways to promote your shop so we have created this visual guide and tutorial to claiming your Bing Local listing.

How To Claim Your Bing Local Listing

Step 1: Creating your Bing Local listing begins by visiting the Bing Local Listing Center. Here you will be given the option to create a new listing by clicking “add new listing.”

If you do NOT have a Windows Live ID or are not logged in, you will see the normal Bing Local Listing Center home page. Proceed following the onscreen instructions after clicking “add new listing.”

If you have a Windows Live ID and are logged in, your screen will tell you whether you have any listings associated with that ID or not. This is helpful in the event that multiple people use the same email address for your company (such as info@myflowershop.com) and have set up an account before that you were not aware of.

Step 2: Next you will be taken to a screen that asks for several sets of information. A progress bar at the top shows your progress through each of the four screens in this process. The first of these is your contact information including your business name, physical address (not P.O. Box), city, state, 5 digit zip code, and phone number. These are all required fields. Once you have filled out this information, click the “Check your listing” button at the bottom of the text boxes. This will check to see if a listing or similar listing exists for your business.

There is also an explanation of Bing Local listings at the bottom of this box. If you have any questions about what your Bing Local listing can do for you, refer to the bulleted list at the bottom of the screen.

Step 3: If your business is not found, simply click “Continue” to add your listing. If your business is found, click “Yes” to update your business.

You will notice that the “What Is A Bing Local Listing” section remains throughout many of these screens. This is normal.

Step 4: For the next screen, Bing will ask you to log in. If you have Hotmail, Xbox Live or Messenger,  you already have a Windows Live ID. Simply enter your information in the form under “sign in.”

If you DO NOT have a Windows Live ID, you must create one. Click “Sign Up” under “Get more from Bing”.

Step 5, Pt1: The next section asks for several boxes of information. The first of these is your personal contact information. This includes your first name, last name, phone number and email address. These are required fields. If you do not want to receive information about your listing from Bing, make sure to uncheck the box below this section next to the sentence “Sign me up for the Local Listing Center newsletter so I can receive information about my listing.”

Step 5, Pt2: Next you are asked to fill out basic information about your flower shop. Business name, physical address, city, zip code and phone number are required fields.

You will also be asked to select your state and enter your toll free number (if applicable), fax number, primary web address and primary email address. These are not required fields but are very helpful for those wanting to contact you with this listing.You may also opt out of displaying this address by clicking the “do not display my address” button at the bottom of these boxes. However, you will still be required to list that information for Bing Local’s records.

The next three boxes give you the opportunity to list any additional phone numbers, email addresses or websites. Simply click “add web  address,” “add email address” or “add number” and a box will appear where you will enter this information.

Step 5, Pt3: Next you are asked to fill out your company’s hours of operation. The button for “do not display” is already selected so you must first choose “open 24 hours a day” or “operating hours” to be able to edit your company’s hours. There is also a box at the bottom of this section that allows you to fill out additional information about your operating hours. For example, “open all major holidays”, “closed Christmas”, “wedding flowers consultation by appointment only” and others.

Step 5, Pt4: You will next be asked to fill out your payment information. You may check in multiple boxes, one for each of the payment methods that you accept.

Step 5, Pt5: Your Bing Local listing can include photos of your shop and your arrangements or similar things that will be helpful to customers browsing your listing. The next section on this screen allows you to upload photos. Simply click “browse” then find the photo that you want in your documents (usually in the “my documents” or “my pictures” folder) using the pop-up window that displays. Click “open” or “select” once you have clicked the photo in this pop-up window.

The title of your photo will display in the box next to “browse”. From here, click “upload photo”. The photo will preview on this screen once you have clicked this and the photo full uploads. A box will appear under the photo that allows you to title it. Note, there is a character limit so choose short but descriptive titles.

Step 5, Pt6: Next is a section asking for additional information. Here you will be able to list the year your company was established, a company tagline, a description of your business, brands that you carry, and your specialties.

Company Tagline refers to a single phrase used to add unique appeal to your shop. For instance, “Because every day is better with flowers from My Favorite Florist” or “Life Is In Bloom With My Favorite Florist.”

Business Description refers to, well, a description of the business. This should include your city and state but never the name of your shop. It should include words that people will be searching for. An example is “Little Rock Arkansas florist delivering flowers daily to Little Rock, North Little Rock, Jacksonville, Sherwood and Cabot. Specializing in wedding flowers. Corporate accounts welcome.” Keep it short and simple but describe your business thoroughly.

Brands That You Carry refers to the brand name items that you carry. Whether a popular local item or a national brand (such as Flower Shop Network), this is the place to include those items.

Specialties is where you will fill in the types of arrangements for which you have a flair. These can include wedding flowers, sympathy and funeral arrangements, unique gifts, corporate accounts, contemporary flower arrangements, European designs and other very descriptive forms of design that you emphasize.

Personal Affiliations, here you will list wire services (like Flower Shop Network), florist state associations and other professional associations that you are affiliated with.

Languages is the next box ask you to select boxes next to languages that you speak.

Parking Options lets you select the different parking options that are provided by your shop.

Professional Contacts If you have any professional contacts (actual people names), you are able to list those below these two boxes. Simply click “add contact” and enter the name(s) in the boxes that are provided.

To continue to the next page, click “next.”

Step 6: This page asks you to categorize your shop. If you are not sure which category you fit into, type “florists” or “flowers” (if you are a wholesale flower provider) into the search bar. This will show the “Floral & Decor:  Florists” selection. Most standard flower shops and florists fit into this description.

Click that selection and it will appear in the box on the right. You may select one or more categories, depending on what your shop specializes in. Once you are done in this section, click “next”.

Step 7: This asks you to preview your listing. You can click the “Review your business information” link above your company name and make sure you have entered all of your information correctly. If not, click “previous” and correct the inaccurate information on the previous page(s). Once the correct information is listed and preview is correct, continue to the next page.

Step 8: This page is a service agreement between you and the Microsoft Corporation. This agreements asks you to view both agreements before clicking “I accept”. By clicking “I accept” you agree to the terms and services in both agreements whether you have read them or not. This will complete the process to claiming your Bing Local listing and take you to a confirmation screen.

Step 9: The confirmation screen will say “Select verification method.” There are two ways to verify your Bing listing.

Fastest Way: (Recommended) Bing will verify your listing by phone. To do this, (1) go to the location reached by the listing number. Next, (2) hit the ‘Call me now!’ button and wait for Bing’s automated call. Answer the phone and (3) enter the PIN number when prompted. The PIN number is 4 digits long and will be right under step 3 on this page. Note: If you miss the call, you may return to the Listing Center at any time to repeat the verification process.

Other Way: A letter will be sent to the address listed. You will be asked to follow the instructions in the letter to verify your listing.

This is how Bing will verify that you are the owner of the business and a real person instead of a computer.

Step 10:
Now you’re done! Congratulations on claiming your free Bing Local listing!

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