So, your beautiful, responsive website is up and running and it looks great.
You’ve even taken the time to implement SEO, sign up for social media accounts and submit your site to the search engines – all important steps in gaining visibility for your business’ website.
However, if you want to make it easy for potential customers to find your business, you need to make sure you’re listed in all the right places.
With so many options out there, you may not know where to start. That’s why we’ve compiled this helpful list of top online business directories, along with the right links to get you started.
Google My Business
In addition to submitting your site to Google, it’s important to go through the steps of “Google My Business” in order to start ranking well with the Big G.
Google My Business “puts your business info on Search, Maps and Google+ so that customers can find you, no matter what device they’re using”.
Make sure to create posts on your Google+ account on a regular basis to obtain more followers and further improve your ranking.
Bing Places for Business
Bing – the Microsoft-owned and second-most used search engine – allows you to list your business on Bing Places in three easy steps: 1.) Claim your listing, 2.) Complete your profile and 3.) Verify your listing.
The third step involves getting a PIN mailed to you within a week or so and then going back in to verify ownership. Super easy and well worth the effort.
Manta
When performing a Google search on “small business listing”, Manta comes up in the number one spot, so this site deserves proper attention.
Create a free listing for your small business at the self-proclaimed “place for small business”, which lists U.S. companies by category, provides news and advice on a number of small business topics and even allows you to join a community where online discussions are abundant.
Yelp for Business Owners
Many people rely on Yelp for honest reviews on local companies.
If you happen to be in the restaurant, retail, professional or any other service-related business, you’ll want to make sure your business is properly listed here.
Word-of-mouth advertising is one of the strongest marketing tools out there, so encourage your customers to give you reviews on Yelp in order to increase your site’s prominence.
Angie’s List
If you are a service provider, you definitely want to make sure your business is on Angie’s List.
In fact, your business may already be listed, so make sure to check and make the appropriate updates to update and improve your business’ profile.
Companies with the best reviews get the top listings when someone does a search in your industry. So again, make sure your customers provide solid (and honest!) reviews on your services.
Once you have enough ratings, you can create special offers to take advertising your services one step further.
DexKnows
Dex Media, a print and interactive marketing company, owns the business listing sites of DexKnows, Yellow Pages, White Pages and Superpages.
These aren’t just phone book publishers, they each have online directories that help connect millions of consumers with local businesses.
Get your site listed on DexKnows and you can cross the Yellow Pages, White Pages and Superpages sites off your list.
Foursquare for Business
Foursquare is similar to Yelp in that it allows consumers to find the best places to eat, drink, shop, or visit in any city in the world.
It also provides recommendations to consumers based on their tastes, places they have rated and social media friends.
More than 55 million people use Foursquare worldwide and more than 2 million businesses are listed, so make sure yours is one of them.
