Places to List Your Business Online
Citations directories are a key piece of any SEO strategy. Gone are the days when businesses paid annual subscriptions to get to their contact details listed in the Yellow Pages. In the modern-day landscape, businesses need to do far more than that in order to be more visible to their consumers. Most people utilize information online through search or citation directories for the services and products they need. What is probably even more important is that mobile search has overtaken desktop search by a considerable margin.
Online Directories That Matter
Staying in the limelight is about making sure that your business listing shows up on all the relevant directories. Not only will this increase your business, but it can boost your profitability and bottom line as well. Here we take a look at some of the best business directories you can list your business on.
Google My Business is Essential To Be Found Locally
This is undoubtedly the search engine mammoth and it isn’t surprising that online marketers recommend that clients start with listing their business on Google My Business (GMB). In 2017, Google hogged the average net share of 74.54% of all Internet searches. When you list your business on GMB, it shows up on a mobile-friendly map. You get a significant amount of visibility when it comes to iPhone and Android phone users searching for businesses within a radius of 5-km.
Since Google My Business shows up very high on top of the SERPs, it also boosts your SEO rankings and helps optimize traffic. Your GMB profile can include aspects such as videos, images, special offers, printable coupons, and opening hours as well as any other meaningful information related to your business. It also has an analytics function that permits you to track users that the search for you and gives you visibility of the other websites they have visited.
Aside from Google My Business, here is a list of 16 other relevant directories that can significantly increase the visibility of your business:
Bing Places for Business Is Second In Search Importance
This Microsoft product is only second to Google in terms of visits. The registration process is easy and you have the option to add multiple business locations, videos, photos and more.
Yahoo
Yahoo is in third place for search and draws literally millions of searches every single day. Microsoft now manages crawl and business listings for Yahoo sites.
Yelp
Most modern-day customers read online reviews before making a purchase decision, and Yelp is one of the most visited sites for candid customer reviews. As a business, you have the option to send private or public messages as well as offers to customers. The Yelp reporting tool allows you to review the latest business trends. If you are in the retail, home services or restaurant business, Yelp is a good site to be registered on.
MerchantCircle
This network is free of charge and is targeted to smaller businesses that seek to connect with a more local clientele & other small businesses in their local area. You can advertise your listing, add business hours, and benefit from the free marketing tools that can be used to build your business.
Yellow Pages
The classic hard copy Yellow Pages has made way for the digital version that offers lead generation, advertising as well as a detailed ad performance data. The company states that it is “the No. 2 local search destination in the U.S.”
White Pages
The White Pages list in excess of 30 million companies. It offers sponsored ad opportunities; clients can also opt for the premium text message service.
Superpages.com
This is a free and very user-friendly service that has lottery listings, weather listings, and
various other helpful options. It also offers users a very convenient Facebook sign-in option and search tips.
Yellowbook
You can list your business on Yellowbook, and include information such as your contact
details, a link to your site, a map feature, product descriptions, as well as your ads.
YellowBot
This site lists the business location and other relevant information, premium listings, customer reviews, and searchable tags. It offers fast sign-ins via Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter or Windows Live, which adds to its user-friendliness.
Manta
This site is a vast online resource that is specifically dedicated to small businesses. Literally, millions of unique visitors access the site each month and search for individual businesses, geographic-specific listings as well as industry segments.
Citysearch
This free website specializes in listing businesses in the hospitality industry such as restaurants, hotels, spas, bars etc. These businesses are optimized via an impressive partner network which includes MerchantCircle, Urbanspoon, and Expedia. The city search mobile app is very popular, and there are over 20 categories that users can access on this site.
MapQuest
This is Verizon’s web-mapping service which directs users to your business location easily and quickly via detailed maps. It is estimated that the MapQuest mobile app shows up for every 20 smartphone users that access Google Maps.
Local.com
Searchers can use this free directory to find detailed information about various events, venues, as well as other information relevant to specific cities. Its database includes more than 16 million business listings that cover all zip codes in the United States.
Foursquare
Foursquare is a combination of a social networking site and a business directory. Users can post their comments about your business and find your location via maps. In 2017, the site had over 60 million registered users, of which 50 million were monthly active users.
DexKnows
This particular listing site monitors your business ratings and reviews and provides detailed data into how consumers engage with your online profile. This helps give insights into offline and online advertising opportunities. The mobile app is available for iPhone and Android smartphones and users can write reviews, make single-tap searches, find fuel stations based on the GPS location, as well as mark favorites and more. There are charges for this service.
The Business Journals
This local listing option is now available in most of the major cities in the U.S. cities. It has four different listing levels and boasts 8 million monthly searchers, 84% of which shop online, and have an average income of over $97,000. This is a paid solution.
Some Aspects To Keep In View
While it is important for every business to maintain visibility in the online space, it isn’t necessary to list your business on every single online directory. It’s a good idea to conduct a certain amount of research on your audiences and which avenues they use to access businesses in your industry. This will give you a better idea of which sites will provide your business a boost and keep you in view of consumers at all times. Post listings on a few sites, conduct some analysis to find the perfect balance so you get the visibility you need. It’s always important that you maintain updated contact information of your business so prospective customers are able to find you easily.
