You may be wondering, what’s up with with people trying to sell you directory listing services?\u00a0 Some people are selling directory listing services only to benefit themselves, while some other options are actually good for your business and will help it in a variety of different ways.\u00a0 Want to find out how directory listing helps you and how to spot which one’s will be of most benefit to you?\u00a0 Don’t worry, we have you covered.\u00a0 All you have to do is continue reading to find out!<\/p>\n
There are thousands of different websites that list businesses all around the world. They serve as a great resources to help people find products or services they need.\u00a0 These include local area directories, and national directory listings, as well as others.\u00a0 These listings typically have information on your business, such as your company name, your services and products, and your contact information and hours if applicable.\u00a0 One of the most well known directories is Yelp.\u00a0\u00a0These listings are important because they help people find your business and ultimately buy something from you or use your service.<\/p>\n
IMPORTANT:\u00a0 It’s very important that you keep ALL of these directory listings up to date with accurate information about your company.\u00a0 Even if you have incorrect information listed on only 1 website, that could be the next way a potential customer learns about your business but you could miss a sale because the hours are wrong, or even worse the physical address or website URL is wrong, so the person moves on to the next company listed.<\/em><\/p>\n We’re going to start by pointing out the most obvious benefit of good management of online business directories.\u00a0 Many people that use directory services on a normal basis, use them because they make it very easy to sort by a certain product, service category, or geographically.\u00a0 So, for example, let’s say someone is traveling outside\u00a0of the city or state that they live in\u00a0and a crisis arises, using a directory like Yelp or similar will allow them to search for whatever service they need.\u00a0 It could be anything from “Phone Repair” to “Roofing Companies” to “Website Design Companies in PA” or almost any other services.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Something you may not be aware of is that your site, and every other website has a certain authority online.\u00a0 Google and other search engines rank websites based off several different factors including (but definitely not limited to) how\u00a0many years the domain has been registered, how much content the site has and if it’s all coherent throughout the site.\u00a0 One of the biggest factors, however, is something known as backlinks.\u00a0 Backlinks are known as links from one domain or site to another.\u00a0 “Search engines\u00a0often use the number of backlinks that a website has as one of the most important factors for determining that website’s search engine ranking, popularity and importance.\u00a0Google’s description of its\u00a0PageRank system, for instance, notes that “Google\u00a0interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B.” –\u00a0Wikipedia.org<\/a>.\u00a0 So the more backlinks you get from other websites, and the higher their online authority, the more authority and trust your site is given.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Surely as a business, you understand how important it is that your company or brand is recognized and remembered.\u00a0 What better way to do that than to sprinkle your company’s name, logo, and other business information all over the internet.\u00a0 Over $17 billion was spent on radio advertising in the year 2016… so why wouldn’t you take advantage of free online directories as advertising mediums.\u00a0 The more you put your name and website link out there, the more likely it is that people are going to find your business that may never have found it otherwise.\u00a0 Additionally, if a potential customer types your name into a search engine, the more results you display on the first couple pages, the\u00a0more established your company brand looks and the more likely a potential customer will convert into a true, paying customer.\u00a0 Directory listings add more of these results throughout the first few pages.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If your company has only one goal, it should be to provide a better, faster, or cheaper product than your competitors.\u00a0 This will allow you to essentially make more money than them, and beat them at your own game.\u00a0 As\u00a0mentioned above, directory listing (especially listing yourself in local directories) will contribute to your success over your competition.\u00a0 I like to use the example of business card dropping (I know, who does this?) but it’s a perfect example.<\/p>\n Let’s say you’re going door to door just letting people know about your business and it’s products or services.\u00a0 You can walk down the street\u00a0and leave\u00a01-5 business cards in each of 50 businesses on a particular street.\u00a0 By doing this, your card\u00a0can be seen by ONLY the clients who visit businesses and walk inside their door.\u00a0\u00a0Now lets say instead, you walk down the street, strategically dropping cards all over the sidewalk.\u00a0 There\u00a0might be hundreds of people that walk that particular street every day and might potentially see or pick up\u00a0a card that they stumble upon.<\/p>\n What’s the difference between the two scenarios?\u00a0 The difference is that by\u00a0dropping business cards off inside 50 businesses, you can only reach the clients who physically walk into that business, whereas by dropping them on the ground you’re potential reach is much more because with the same amount of cards\u00a0you reach people who are both walking the street and going into the businesses instead of just the people who visit the business.<\/p>\n Listing your business in all the local and national directories you can is the same as dropping\u00a0business cards on the ground AND ALSO leaving them inside the businesses; but it’s\u00a0cheaper!\u00a0 You’re sprinkling your information all over the internet to be found by the most people you can.\u00a0 If you’re not leveraging these directories as tools, your competition might do so before you.\u00a0 So the moral of the story here is to make sure you’re listing yourself before your competitors are able to, which will greatly increase your chance of scaling your business well past the competition in the\u00a0years to come.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lastly, listing yourself in directories\u00a0has many other obvious advantages to your search rankings beyond just your page rank or authority.\u00a0 Let it be known, that while most of the information listed on these sites might seem repetitive, the content and\u00a0business information that these directories are listing are helping Google and other search engines learn more about what your business does.\u00a0 With the slight variation of wording and categories these listings display, it really helps encompass all areas and help prevent confusion in people trying find you\u00a0or the\u00a0 products or services you provide.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How does one get their business directory listings on a local or national level? There are 3 main ways:<\/p>\n Even though some directories will list your company automatically (number 2), very few directories have the capability to do this; and even fewer, if any, ensure that the information is up-to-date.\u00a0 Due to this inefficiency, we usually don’t even tell people about the automatic scraping.<\/p>\n The answer to that question is managed directory listing software<\/a>.\u00a0 This is software where you can update many different directories all from one single dashboard with one single button.\u00a0 \u00a0Some services are better than others, and some are just a joke.\u00a0 So how do you know which software or provider to trust?<\/p>\n There are a few different things to consider when deciding who to trust or which software will give you the best ‘bang for your buck.’\u00a0 The first thing\u00a0you should consider is how many directories the software can list your business on.\u00a0 Some will only provide listings on 5-10 websites, some 50 websites, and some list over 100 sites automatically for you.\u00a0 The next thing to consider is the price they want for this software.\u00a0 Is it a monthly or yearly service and how much will it run you?\u00a0 Do they automatically manage the listings for you, or do they just give you a login and you must do everything yourself?\u00a0 What happens when you don’t renew or stop paying for the subscription?\u00a0 Do they revert all the changes, therefore throwing away all the money you spent while you had a subscription?\u00a0 Are there any other software or features that come along with this, like a bundle package?<\/p>\n We always advise that people look for a company that charges a monthly or yearly fee for managed listings (so you can focus more on what you do best) on\u00a0at least 40 directories.\u00a0 Stay away from providers who are super pushy.\u00a0 Make sure to avoid software that automatically reverts listings when the subscription is canceled and\u00a0try to get the most features possible for your budget.<\/p>\n If you read this and think listing software could benefit your business, we have a solution for you.\u00a0 We believe that our listing software is the absolute best on\u00a0the market.\u00a0 It’s ease of use, automation, and the directories it supports trumps all other software we’ve tried in the past. It syncs with over 100 local and national directories, shows information about interactions with your company and business reviews across\u00a0all supported websites and social media,\u00a0respond with just a few mouse-clicks, get insights into search rankings, and encourage positive reviews while stopping negative ones in their tracks by leveraging email and text messages.<\/p>\n Our software is also constantly being developed by a team of\u00a0professionals and new features are being added almost every single month.<\/p>\n Scan your listings for free using this completely free scan tool<\/a>!<\/p>\nHow does listing your business in local directories help your business?<\/h3>\n
-Increases\u00a0Visibility<\/strong><\/h3>\n
-Increases Online Authority<\/strong><\/h3>\n
-Increases Brand Awareness<\/strong><\/h3>\n
-Increases Your\u00a0Advantage Over Your Competition
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n-Increases Overall SEO<\/strong> (Search Engine Optimization)<\/h3>\n
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What’s the best way to list your business?<\/h3>\n
Getting\u00a0listing and directory management software?<\/h3>\n
Get\u00a0a Free Local and National Directory Listing Health Report<\/h4>\n