Imagine if people look up your business and the first page of the SERPs are filled with random URLs that happen to share your business name. That doesn’t help you look established. But if the SERPs are all filled with listings from other directories, users will feel like your company is real and therefore worth their investment.
Before the web became the go-to for finding all the information in the world, whenever someone wanted to find a local business, they’d check the original local business directory: the Yellow Pages.
Today, physical Yellow Page books are mostly a relic of the past. But their spirit lives on in online business directories and their local business listings. And just like decades ago, having a great local business directory strategy can be key to helping potential customers find you.
A local business directory is a collection of information about businesses located in a specific geographic area, organized by category. Their purpose is to help people find the right local products or services for them.
Local business directories used to be printed as books and distributed via mail or store. Today, almost all directories are online. The most widely used directory is Google, primarily through its Maps tool. Each listed location on its map is a local business listing. Other local directories display their listings by map, category, or alphabetically. The practice of creating and optimizing these listings is known as a local SEO strategy.
The most popular directory, Google, is used billions of times per day. Having your listing surface in Google’s results can be a massive boost in awareness for your business. Google used to only show its listings in Map-based Google searches, but now, it shows local listings in any search it deems to be related to local businesses. So the opportunity for greater exposure for your local business through Google is greater than ever.
There are other local business directories, too, such as Hotfrog and Local.com. Not only do customers use them, but Google reads them to inform their own listings. Maintaining your business on multiple local business directories increases your overall visibility and sends signals of your trustworthiness to Google.
Of course, not every business will benefit from setting up local listings. Directories are designed for businesses with a physical location or specific service area. If your business is remote, or not restricted to a service area, you may not qualify for most directories, and you wouldn’t see much benefit anyway. For example, software companies typically don’t benefit from having local business listings.
If you own a small business, creating a local business listing is a simple process that helps to ensure your company can be found online. Local business listings help potential customers discover your business, learn about your products or services, and find important information like your phone number, address, and hours of operation. Here’s the best-practice process for creating your listing:
Your business’s Google listing is the most important listing, as it’s by far the most-used directory. Other directories also tend to follow Google’s standards for information required, so if you have a complete Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business), you’ll likely have all the information you need for your other listings. You can start the process from the Google Business website.
Businesses can already have listings without creating them themselves—users can choose to create them when they want to leave a review. This is known as an unclaimed listing, and in Google, it will have a button saying “Claim this listing” on it. If there is an unclaimed listing for your business, it’s better to claim it than to create a new one. This avoids duplicate listings and keeps your unclaimed listing’s reviews. Once you do this, the process is the same as below.
Joy Hawkins, owner of Sterling Sky, agrees on the importance of establishing a Google Business profile: “Based on businesses we have tracked over a few years, we have seen businesses in various industries increase their lead volume from their Google Business Profile by 16%, to 149%, compared to three years ago.”
These are the most important details, as directories use them to know when and where to show your listing. Most listings will have pre-set categories and will allow you to choose primary and secondary categories. Choose the category that best captures your overall offering as your primary category, and choose sub-categories that reflect your individual product/service offerings. Only choose categories that you actually offer on your site or in your store.
Similarly, for your address and/or service area, select your real physical address and the actual bounds of your service area. If you don’t have an official service area, ask yourself, “How far would I drive for a customer?” Keep in mind that directories don’t reward larger service areas—they use this geographic information to see what’s close enough to their user.
Directories like Google want their users to have as much business information as possible. So they encourage businesses to add all the details a user would want to know. Be prepared to submit business hours, phone number, website, types of offerings (for example, if you’re a retail store, whether you offer fitting rooms), and more.
Google will seek proof that you are the real owner or manager of your business. It has multiple methods of verification, including a video call, verification letter via mail, and phone call. This can be instantaneous or take up to 10 days for your verification to be reviewed, depending on Google’s own settings for your location and business type. This is an important step—your listing won’t go live without verification.
Once you’ve completed your Google Business Profile, you are ready to submit to other directories. Make sure the information you provide to other directories is the exact same as the information you provided Google. Google crawls other directories for consistency.
Google provides clear guidelines on how to optimize your local business listings. These guidelines apply to other directories as well. By following the three Cs of local listings, you can give your listing the best chance of growing your business.
Consistency. When one directory says the address is Suite 501, and the other says Floor 5, that’s confusing to users. It’s confusing to directories too, who may rank you lower if they detect discrepancies between directories. This is particularly important for what’s known in the industry as NAP: business name, address, and phone number. Ensure these are the same for your business across all listings.
Yellow Pages Pakistan LahoreCommunity. Directories want to trust that the businesses they show at the top of their search rankings have a brand reputation for providing quality, reliable products and/or services. So they highly value what they call “prominence.” This includes reviews on Google and mentions across the local web, including other directories. Prompting (but never paying) your customers to leave reviews is a great way to optimize your listing. One common way to do this is by putting an insert in your product and asking them to leave a review. It’s best practice to respond to all reviews from your business account as well, either thanking the reviewer or responding to any negative commentary (with positivity).
Many entrepreneurs are aware of online business directories but are skeptical of their value to their company. The online directory is not an alternative for the Yellow Pages. Where you search for information and turn pages to locate what you need. These are extensive platforms that allow users to find, learn about, and contact firms that are relevant to them rapidly. For your small business, being listed in online business directories might be invaluable. This article discusses the advantages of online business directories for enterprises.
You may boost your chances of being discovered when clients look for services or products similar to yours, even if they don't search your business name directly, by verifying that your business details are precise on various online business directories websites. This is useful because the majority of clients do not search for a service by company name. Customers may search for "graphic designers near me" or "catering in Cairo," for example.
Many large business directories have complex filtering options that allow your consumers to find you Locally. Local business directories can help you target customers in your community.
Many people are unaware that when a company is looking for a possible business partner with whom they might like to collaborate, the first place they look is an online business directory.
Sometimes businesses avoid getting listed online due to a fear of negative reviews, but this also prevents them from receiving positive reviews, which are critical for a strong reputation. The cost of one negative review is outweighed by the reward of positive reviews if you know how to handle them appropriately. Furthermore, a diversity of reviews can help to build your reputation by demonstrating that you are a legitimate business.
SEO is a good way to get your firm to the top of Google's first page, but it can take months to see results. Google, on the other hand, considers an online business directory to be a valuable and trustworthy source of information. The results for online business directories are normally shown on the first page of results. If you add your company to an online business directory’s website, you may be able to take advantage of their already stabilized SEO and appear on Google's first page.
SEO is a good way to get your firm to the top of Google's first page, but it can take months to see results. Google, on the other hand, considers an online business directory to be a valuable and trustworthy source of information. The results for online business directories are normally shown on the first page of results. If you add your company to an online business directory’s website, you may be able to take advantage of their already stabilized SEO and appear on Google's first page.
Targeting is simple for international searches. You may use online business directories to reach your consumers regardless of your target market. You can target both international and local markets from one location if you use a reliable B2B online business directory.
You may be able to create a content-rich profile for your business depending on which business directories you choose. For example, in Unlock, you could choose to upload images, videos, a client and business partner list, the areas you cover, and more.
Finding the perfect directory for your business can be a difficult task. Here are four tips to help you find the right directory for you:
1. Read the description of each online business directory and find out what they do well and what they don't do as well.
2. Browse through the list of directories and see if any of them might be a good fit for your business location, size, or industry type.
3. Check out reviews from other businesses on social media or review sites to see what their experience was like with a particular directory site.
4. See if there is a geographic limitation on any of the directories that could exclude your target market from finding you.
As you can see, using online business directories to expand your reach and exposure is a strong strategy. They enable you to increase brand awareness, trust, high-authority backlinks, and site traffic, among other things.
Now that you understand the importance of using online business directories, the next step is to determine which ones to use. You've come to the perfect place if you're ready to start listing your company online. UNLOCK is the best B2B matchmaking service provider for businesses in Egypt.
