Listings on top directory websites are still important for local businesses that need to get noticed on the internet. Claimed and optimized listings on top directory websites are crucial for local business survival – not to mention growth.
Correct Name, Address and Phone Number
Making sure your local business is correctly listed on top directory websites server at least two purposes. First, a consistent Name, Address and Phone number on every directory website helps to show search engines that you are a legitimate and honest local business in your town. Second, most of the directory websites that I’ll list below offers opportunities for reviews. And, getting great reviews is crucial to a successful local business these days.
Reviews – Tamp Down Negatives
Reviews on these top directory websites have pretty much replaced the mouth-to-mouth referrals of old. I can virtually guarantee that your potential customers will look you up on the internet to see what others say about you before they will make a purchase with you. If they find very little information about you and your business, chances are they’ll move on to one of your competitors and spend their money there.
And the worst case – suppose your prospective customer finds some bad reviews about your business. If you haven’t claimed that page with the bad reviews and haven’t developed a plan to get good reviews to help offset the bad one, then the public just might see only one really bad review. If that’s the case you can pretty much expect your competitors will get that business.
If you have been in business for any length of time, chances are good that many of these top directory websites have already picked up your business information and have created pages (unclaimed) for you. That’s a good thing – if all the information is correct. Back to the Name, Address and Phone number – these three items must be correct across the internet. If either one is incorrect – anywhere – you will need to claim the page(s) and make the corrections if you hope to ever rank well in search engines.
Top Directory Websites List
Here are the top directory websites that your business should have a page on. You should also claim each page and make sure all the information is 100% accurate.
- Google My Business
- Facebook.com
- Foursquare.com
- Superpages.com
- Infogroup.com
- Localeze.com
- Factual.com
- Citysearch.com
- Insidepages.com
- BestOfTheWeb.com
- Bing.com
- Hotfrog.com
- Acxiom.com
- Yelp.com