The goal of marketing is to raise awareness and drive sales. Local directories are another channel to do that. People used to use a big heavy yellow book to find local services. Now it’s all digital and customers have gotten smart, they do their homework. Businesses want to make sure when customers are looking, they get found. They should claim unclaimed listings, ask happy customers to leave reviews, and advertise as their budget permits. They should be consistent across all directories with NAP (name, address, phone number), add high quality photos, fill out the listing completely, and update their web site when seekers click.
Benefits:
- Exposure
- Targeted opportunity to advertise
- Credibility (reviews and reputation)
- SEO backlinks and keyword benefits
- Branding
Which to Target:
- Unclaimed directories from quick Google search for your business
- Directories your competition are listed in
- Niche directories
- Reputable directories with good traffic and user activity
Which to Avoid:
- Low quality directories with a bad reputation
(type directory name + scam to find out) - Directories with low traffic and user activity
- Ones that won’t return a good ROI due to high costs and/or low traffic
- Ones that won’t boost your bottom line
