Starting a small business involves overcoming significant challenges. And since the internet offers limitless opportunities to expand businesses, many brands gear their efforts towards advancing their online visibility. Aside from having a data-optimized website, one way to achieve this is through enlisting your business in a top business listing. How can these online directories benefit small or local companies and their endeavors? Let us explore their significance further.
Business Listings and Its Impact on Businesses
Boosting a company’s online visibility is one of the primary benefits offered by a business listing directory. These online directories allow businesses to join a list categorized by aspects like location or niche. By doing so, online prospects are more likely to discover these businesses when searching for their services or products online.
Aside from promoting a business’s visibility on the directory, business listings may improve a brand’s ranking on search engines. When companies proactively manage their listing profiles, it generates a higher Domain Rating. Such a score reflects a website’s Google ranking based on the links pointing toward their website (or backlink profile). While these benefits sound promising, they are never a guarantee, especially if a company implements ineffective measures for maintaining listing profiles. So, what can businesses do to harness these advantages?
What to Do When Listing Your Business on an Online Directory
It’s always ideal for companies to reduce the cost of business ventures, especially for small businesses. Fortunately, several free online directories are available for you to join. These listings offer features that will benefit your business, depending on your needs, without charging excessively. Registering your brand on a directory for more specific niches is also an option. These listings may involve payment since they offer exclusive features that focus more on your target prospects. However, this doesn’t mean joining a free online directory won’t serve its purpose. Once you’ve determined what listing website best suits your approach, it’s time to add your business to their online directory.
The following information should be available on your company’s listing profile:
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Your website’s link
One way business listings help brands gain traction is by promoting website visitors. As mentioned earlier, backlinks help determine a website’s Domain Rating. When many online users visit your website, it fosters online visibility while boosting your rank on search engines. When you add a tracking link, it helps determine the effectiveness of your listing profile. It allows you to check how much traffic the link from your listing profiles generates for your website.
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A consistent company information
Most people visit online business directories for one thing: to learn more about businesses. Consider adding valuable details to your profile that spark the interest of prospects. You may add your vision, mission, and principles to attract potential clients and employees. Furthermore, consider adding multimedia files showcasing your business’s products or services. Another thing to keep in mind when sharing information across multiple listings is consistency. As a business owner, you must ensure that all information you share on your listing profiles remains coherent. Doing so avoids confusion should an online user visit your profile from different online directories.
Once you finish adding these details, you must manage your profiles, especially when updating business-related information. However, this task can involve too much effort, which some business owners may find a hassle. When you want to focus more on running other aspects of the business, consider seeking business listing services. These services help monitor and maintain your business profiles, from online directories to databases.
Now that we’ve established how to maximize the benefits of business listings, we’ll explore some of the best business directories in USA.
Top Business Listings of 2023
Throughout our years working with businesses, we can attest to the fruitfulness of business listings on their digital marketing ventures. With the array of business listing websites available, it may be struggling to pick which ones suit your company best. Hence, we’ve curated some of the best online directories options for you to consider listing.
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Facebook
Let’s start the list with something business owners may deem unconventional for a business listing. When thinking of online directors, Facebook may not come to mind first. However, the widespread use of Facebook is something not worth overlooking. Throughout the years, Facebook developed features that serve as a platform for growth among small and local businesses. Maintaining an interest-grabbing business profile on Facebook will contribute to your citation-building endeavors. This social media application will allow you to interact more with your prospects and clients. It can also help strengthen your brand and online presence. That is especially true since this app has a total global audience of 2.9 billion (as of 2022). -
Google Business Profile
Source: Google Business ProfileGoogle maps contribute significantly to local business listing endeavors. Adding a business profile on Google will not only help your clients locate your physical establishment. Doing so also pushes traffic momentum for your website through local Google search results. As an added perk, did you know your business information may also appear on other local listings? That’s because these smaller directories sometimes curate information on Google to generate new lists, sparing you the effort.
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Apple Maps
Source: Apple MapsContinuing on geography-based listings, Apple Maps is the iOS equivalent of the former listing. Having a business profile for Apple Maps offers many surprising benefits. People will most likely uncover your business when they search for related information on their apple devices. Such an opportunity is beyond promising since iPhone has an 11% leading market share (compared to Android) in America.
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Yelp
Source: YelpYelp is perhaps one of the first options coming to mind when thinking of an online business directory website. That’s because Yelp is one of the ideal platforms to gain reviews and build a reputation for your business online. With its customer-centric approach, Yelp encourages consumers to upload photos and reviews of their experience with a listed company or brand. Such an approach is so influential that, according to 2023 statistics, 90 million mobile app users visit monthly.
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Bing Places for Business
Source: Bing PlacesWhile Google remains the top search engine people use in 2023, Bing follows with an 8.85% rating in January. With 126 online users searching on Bing exclusively, it would be a waste not to list your business there. Like Google Business Profiles, Bing Places for Business offers a platform that makes users find local businesses easily on the search engine. Some of the features this online directory offers include customizing profiles and integrating your listing with Facebook.
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Yellow Pages
Source: Yellow PagesYellow Pages (YP) is one of the most iconic telephone directories almost every household had in the 90s. In 2023, YP has now gone digital! While Yellow Pages’ popularity dwindled over the years, we can say it’s still worth listing your business there in 2023. For businesses targeted to the older demographic, their prospects may use YP to search for companies since it is something familiar to them. YP also offers an interactive feature with potential clients. On the app, users can leave questions that businesses can respond to and address during their availability. Although it may sound niched, Yellow Pages’ free listing may benefit your business significantly.
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LinkedIn Company Directory
Source: LinkedInPeople consider LinkedIn as a platform that blends social media with corporate ventures. Getting your company featured on LinkedIn offers several key benefits. As a platform with over 187 million users, listing your business here will guarantee to generate traffic for your website. LinkedIn (with its business-centric approach) significantly benefits companies with services catered to other businesses. Your business profile may also serve multiple purposes, especially for recruitment and employee engagement. Hence, with LinkedIn, your business can hit many birds with one stone!
So, Is Listing Your Business on an Online Directory Worth the Effort?
Every opportunity for growth is worth pursuing. We believe such a mindset makes business owners succeed in their ventures.
Since we’ve listed directories offering free listing, local businesses have more to gain and nothing to lose with listing their company. However, to maximize the difference online business listing can impart, business owners should do their part to manage their profiles. Listing your business means you’re willing to invest in keeping your information updated and consistent across multiple directories. These details include your company’s NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) and other information necessary for prospects to discover your business.
Seek Expert Support Today!
Listing your business on an online directory involves many aspects that our professionals can help with at Proweaver, Inc. From managing social media profiles to helping your website rank better on search engine results, these are all part of our expertise! If you want to begin our ventures together, we invite you to contact us at your convenience. You may dial us at +1 (866) 777-8315 or +1 (877) 300-6564.