How Important are Online Directories for Small Businesses?

Step one in creating a strong online presence is building an outstanding website for your small business. Yet, your homepage likely isn’t going to be of much use if nobody can find it. That’s where online directories come in. These sites, essentially digital yellow pages, are places where you can list your business’ info, including name, address, phone number and website. Doing this may seem mundane, but it has a host of benefits. But first we must ask, where do we find them?
What are Online Directories?
There are hundreds of online directories, also known as an online citation site. Some you’re likely very familiar with, such as Google, Bing, Yelp, YellowPages, City Pages, Apple Maps, Angie, Foursquare and others. However, there are many others that often fly under the radar or offer niche listing categories, such as those only for roofers, dentists, lawyers or auto shops. Finding these sites and building out your online directory listing offers many benefits that all help grow your bottom line.
What are the Benefits of Setting Up Online Directory Listings for a Small Business
There are several benefits to claiming and building online directory listings for your business, here’s just a few of the top ones.
Reduce Paid Ad Spend:
If your website is showing up more often organically, especially on Maps, people are less likely to click on a PPC ad. This increases traffic and decreases the amount you are spending on advertising.
Improve SEO:
As search engines develop search results, they seek as many data points as possible to ensure an accurate response to a query. The more places your business is listed with accurate information, the more likely your business will show up high in organic search.
Earn More Spots in Results Pages:
Aside from simply having your business ranking improve in search, your business could actually take up more than one spot. Imagine having your paid ad show up on top, Map listing show next, your website be a top result, followed by a Yelp listing or other directory listing. That’s some serious Internet real estate! Ultimately, claiming directory listings maximizes your web presence.
With so many directory listings, it can be time consuming to claim existing listings and ensure they contain accurate information, as inaccuracies can harm SEO. On top of that, you likely need to create new listings on directories where automation hasn’t occurred. It’s a lot of work, but well worth it in the long run. At MORBiZ, we can handle this time consuming task for you as part of our ultimate web presence package. By claiming and creating web directory listings, we make sure your compnay not only gets found online, but gets found a lot! Give our small business Internet marketing experts a call at 1-855-266-7249 or use this contact form to learn more about our services. We look forward to helping you grow your business both online and off.









