Local business directories serve as online platforms that connect potential customers with businesses in their locality. In today’s digital age, every business needs to be visible online, and local directories make this possible. However, with countless directories available, it can be challenging to choose the best ones that will give your business the right exposure it needs. This is why we have done the research and compiled a list of the top 20 local business directories that will help increase your online visibility and drive traffic to your website.
What is the Significance of Local Business Directories
Local business directories play a crucial role in helping small businesses thrive in their communities. A local business directory is a platform that lists the contact information, address, and other relevant details of businesses within a particular geographic area. These directories can be in print or online, and they provide a centralized location where consumers can find businesses and their services.
One of the key benefits of local business directories is that they can improve a company’s online visibility. Online directories are often optimized for search engines, so businesses that are listed on these directories are more likely to show up in search results. This is particularly important for small businesses that may not have a large marketing budget to compete with larger companies.
Another benefit of local business directories is that they can help businesses establish credibility and trust with consumers. Consumers are more likely to trust a business that is listed in a reputable directory, as it indicates that the business is established and legitimate.
Local business directories often allow consumers to leave reviews and ratings for businesses, which can provide valuable feedback to the business owner and help other consumers make informed decisions.
Best 20 Local Business Directories
The following directories have been carefully selected based on factors such as their domain authority, page rank, traffic volume, and user-friendliness. Let’s move ahead and find out about them.
1. Google My Business
Google My Business is a tool that enables you to manage and optimize your Business Profile on Google—which is one of many important business directory listings. So to explain what Google My Business is and how it works, let’s first make sure we’re clear on what a Business Profile is.
Your Business Profile is Google’s term for your Google business listing. Business Profiles appear in Google Maps and in the local results of Google Search.
2. Yelp
Yelp is a popular online directory for discovering local businesses ranging from bars, restaurants, and cafes to hairdressers, spas, and gas stations.
You can search Yelp via its website or with the official apps on iOS and Android smart devices. Listings are sorted by business type and results are filtered by geographical location, price range, and unique features like outdoor seating, delivery service, or the ability to accept reservations.
Yelp has a strong social aspect and encourages its users to leave written reviews, star ratings, and photos of their experience with each business they visit.
3. Bing Places for Business
Bing Places for Business listings are very similar to Google Business Profiles. It helps you get online customers for your business on the Microsoft search engine Bing. Adding your business to Bing is free and helps online customers discover your business while they search on the Bing browser.
Your listing will appear in Bing Maps and search results. To appear in Bing Maps, your listing should have the following information: Business Name, Address, Phone Number, Website, Primary Category, and Hours of Operation. If you are a verified Google Business Profile user, you can verify your Bing Places for Business listing instantly.
4. Yahoo! Local
A Yahoo Business Listing is an online directory that helps customers find your business based on location and category. When you create a listing for your business, you provide basic information like your business name, address, phone number, and website URL. You can also add categories, hours of operation, photos, and other details.
Creating a Yahoo Local Listing is a great way to make sure prospective customers can find your business when they search online.
5. Facebook Business
A Facebook business page is a public social media profile designed for commercial organizations.
Like a personal Facebook account, Facebook business pages allow you to make connections online. Brands use their Facebook pages to promote products and services through links, status updates, photos, and videos.
Companies also build stronger connections with their consumer base through their Facebook business pages by engaging in conversations, commenting on posts, or “liking” statuses.
6. Yellowpages
YellowPages.com was created by the original company that made Yellow Page phone directories and is one of these online directories. YellowPages.com allows your business to appear on its search maps and search engine result pages.
It allows to you better interact with your customers. The YellowPages.com website allows you to manage the information YellowPages users see about your business, interact with customers and gather their feedback through reviews, and understand your online business presence.
7. Foursquare
Foursquare is a social networking service available for common smartphones, including the iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android-powered phones. To use Foursquare on these devices, download the free app. The app’s purpose is to help you discover and share information about businesses and attractions around you. Every time you use it, you share information about the community with your friends.
Once you download the Foursquare app to your smartphone, it finds your friends in your contacts and in your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Once you have added friends to your Foursquare account, the app will notify you about what your friends are doing and vice versa.
8. MapQuest
MapQuest created the world’s first online mapping and turn-by-turn directions service. It launched back in 1996, almost a decade before Google Maps, and was once so popular and ubiquitous that its brand name was used as a verb
MapQuest.com will look familiar to anyone who uses other online maps. There’s a prominent search bar on the top left of the screen where you can search for a location by name, address, or keyword (“pizza”). Below the search bar are shortcut buttons that highlight nearby points of interest: hotels, food, shopping, coffee, grocery, and gas.
9. Citysearch
Citysearch is an online business listing directory that acts as a city guide to travelers and locals in the United States.
It provides key information about local businesses in the dining, entertainment, travel, professional services, and retail sectors. Adding your business to Citysearch is free, and it doesn’t take long to do. A Citysearch listing is worthwhile. It helps with your local SEO through citations and it boosts your legitimacy and visibility.
10. Angi
Angi, formerly known as Angie’s List is a professional business directory and review portal created by Angie Hicks. What sets Angie’s List apart from other review and directory websites, such as Yelp, is that users have to pay for memberships to Angie’s List.
The trade-off, though, is that all business reviews on Angie’s List are written by invested users or verified outside parties, instead of just anonymous passersby. That way, you can trust that a review of a business is from someone who has actually hired them before, and not just a random person trying to cause trouble or play out a grudge, an employee of a company trying to make them look good, or a competitor’s employee looking to run a smear job.
11. TripAdvisor Listing
Tripadvisor is one of the world’s largest business listing websites, helping over 463 million travelers reach their destinations each month. It’s the perfect place for hotels, inns, B&Bs, and other hospitality businesses to advertise their offerings.
Your Tripadvisor business listing is your first point of contact with potential customers and an important marketing tool that can lead to increased bookings, loyalty memberships, or even hotel/restaurant reservations from hundreds of potential travelers.
12. DexKnows
DexKnows.com is the expert when it comes to online business listings, helping connect millions of consumers with local businesses each month. DexKnows.com provides its users with the information they’re looking for — from phone numbers and driving directions to ratings, reviews, and special offers.
13. Manta
Manta is one of the largest online resources for small businesses. You should definitely keep this free listing site on your digital marketing checklist.
Manta’s directory gets millions of visitors each month, all searching for local services. Because of this, Manta is constantly working to improve its platform to better serve you and your customers.
14. Better Business Bureau
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is more than a century old, and it still helps customers find reputable businesses and report issues. The BBB offers ratings based on reviews, complaints, and how a business responds to its patrons’ comments.
You can add your business to its online directory for free. However, BBB accreditation requires an application fee of around $50 depending on where you apply and annual dues ranging from $510 to $1,225, based on the number of employees you have.
15. MerchantCircle
MerchantCircle is the perfect platform for connecting with new, local consumers, and it also helps improve your local search rankings. The more online directories you can list your business on, the better chance you have to rank high in the local search results.
MerchantCircle helps you own your page, respond to reviews, and update your blog and photos. It also lets you interact and chat with the other 2 million merchants that are members of MerchantCircle.
16. Local.com
Local.com is a one-stop-shop platform designed to provide business listings and events to searchers — specific to their area. Consumers can also access reviews, directions, ratings, contact info, and maps, as well as deals, services, and shopping in their area.
Listings are free for businesses, but you can also pay for premium features like “Featured Listings” positions at the top of relevant searches. Plus, the platform is kind of a big deal; for four years in a row, they were included in the Deloitte Fast 500 Companies list.
17. Hotfrog
A Hotfrog profile is a tool for you to create demand for your business. Say exactly what’s different about your products and services, add images, create coupons and put your business’ unique approach and personality in front of people searching online. So if you consider service to be more than just delivering something on time, Hotfrog can help you stand out to potential customers.
Hotfrog began in 2005 as three people and an idea and has grown through experimentation and perseverance. Today Hotfrog is in 38 countries and helps 69 million businesses reach new customers globally.
18. Whitepages
Whitepages is the authority in people search, established in 1997. With comprehensive contact information, including cell phone numbers, for over 250 million people nationwide, and Whitepages SmartCheck, the fast, comprehensive background check compiled from criminal and other records from all 50 states.
Landlords use Whitepages TenantCheck, which is designed expressly for screening rental applications. Whitepages provides answers to over 2 million searches every day and powers the top-ranked domains: Whitepages, 411, and Switchboard.
19. Thumbtack
Thumbtack is an American home services website. It is an online directory that allows users to search for, rate, and hire local service providers to work on a variety of personal projects, including home improvement, financial and legal services, and event planning.
20. HomeAdvisor
HomeAdvisor is a directory catering to homeowners and local service providers. Homeowners can use this platform to find professionals for home-related services such as cleaning, repairing, maintenance, staging, remodeling, and so on.
They just have to provide some basic description of the service needed by answering some simple questions in an interview-based questionnaire. These series of questions will help the homeowner in analyzing the different aspects of the services they want.
Conclusion
Utilizing local business directories can be a great way to boost your online presence and attract more customers. With so many options available, it can be difficult to know which ones to use. However, by choosing from our list of the top 20 local business directories, you can be sure that you’re getting the most effective and trustworthy options out there.
