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9 Free Online Directories to List your Small Business


GET YOUR BUSINESS LISTED

The days when you call up your local phone book to get your business listed are just about over. Very few, people actually still do this. And that, of course, is because we now live in a digital world. We actually still had our other business listed in the old school yellow pages for a while, but after tracking where our calls were coming from, it was clear that, for the price we paid, it simply wasn't worth it. There are too many free ways to get your business out there, and they should really be taken advantage of! It takes a little time to set up, but consider it an investment.

Free business listing sites increase your company’s online exposure and help improve your local search ranking results in major search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. 

This post will be your resource/checklist for getting your new business AND new business's website in the free listing websites available. Getting your business and website listed is important for the obvious reason, but it's also important if you have just recently gotten your new website up and running. The reason is because it takes time for your new website to start appearing in searches (roughly 6 months), and so, in the mean time, you'll need to do things like this to help drive traffic to your website, and also create external back links that help (a little) in bringing your website up to the top of search engines.

Here is a list of where you should start a (typically) free account, and list your business. Click on each one to be taken to the page.

1. yp.com - Here we have the digital version of the paper book we used to receive on our doorstep. I'm not really sure why one would opt to pay (several hundred) to be listed in the book, when you can claim your free listing online, but, to each his own.

2. manta.com -Manta is a nice, user friendly listing website that allows you to list your business. The receive 30 million visitors per month. You can claim your listing, add your logo, your photos, and don't forget to add your website link!

3. yelp.com - Yelp is the go to for consumers, and also tends to appear towards the top of searches, so it is very important to start a listing with them, and work hard to get amazing reviews!

4. google - Google receives nearly 6 million searches daily, so this should be a priority to get listed with. You can add your logo, photos, coupons, see site stats, and respond to customer reviews.

5. Bing - Bing is the 2nd most popular search engine, so it's important to list your business, and website link here. You can also upload photos, deals, menus and more.

6. Mapquest - If you own a brick and morter, you'll want to get onto listing websites like mapquest. (Note, this may require a subscription)

7. Superpages - Superpages is an online business directory offering local business listings, reviews and advertising solutions. 

8. Merchantcircle - Merchantcircle is an online business directory specific to small business. You can claim your listing, add coupons and more.

9. Angie's list - Angie's list has 2 million paying members who read and review. If you fall within certain categories you can claim your free listing. Angie's list is ideal for home improvement, auto, health, pets or other various services.

This is just some of the listing websites out there. There are also many more for specific industries. For example a restaurant may want to get listed with Zamato , Openmenu , or Zmenu.

For information on how to build your social media, please check out our post on 3 important points - Social media for small business
That's all for now. Please feel free to leave any other helpful information in the comments below


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