A great profitable step to take on your way to total local market domination is to take advantage of all of the FREE and EASY ways to help customers find you.
Forget the old days of advertising in the Yellow Pages with a ‘big ad is better’ mentality. If you’re still a believer in that strategy, you’re just going to lose your hard earned money – maybe even your business – a little bit faster.
As a local business – small or large – attracting new customers will always be a challenge so you need to work hard to keep your name profitably visible.
For the majority of people today, opening up a local Yellow Pages book to find a business is an outdated, antiquated – if not non-existent – method for of search!
Today, we simply Google to find your business – and you better be there at the top of the page!
Today, there’s a great, free and easy way for local businesses to get found on the Web and that is, by completing their profiles in online directories and claiming their turf. And, it seems these directories continue to pop up online.
It’s pretty simple to add a listing, but if you’re only listing with Google – as powerful as it is – you’re missing out on lots of opportunities to get found by people who are interested NOW in what you’re selling.
Did you know that 82% of local internet searches follow-up offline with an in-store visit, phone call or purchase? Well, it’s true. In fact, check out this Local Web Infographic for more insights.
Every online directory you submit your Business to gives you one more chance to step up to the plate and hit a home run with your customers.
Over the past few year or so, we’ve come across over 60 free online directories to date (see below), and wish you much success in using the list to help you get found. If you come across any others, please let us know so we can add to our list.
60 A to Z and Free Local Business Online Directories
| AOL Patch Sites | American Towns | Axciom | Best Deals on | Best of the Web |
| Bing | BizJournals.com | Biznik | Brownbook | ChoiceVendor.com (TBD – bought by LinkedIn) |
| CitySearch | CitySlick | CitySquares | CityVoter | Dex |
| Discover our Town | Foursquare | Genieknows | Google Places | HopStop |
| Hotfrog | Infignos | InfoUSA | Judysbook | Justclicklocal |
| Kudzu | Local.com | LocalCompanySearch | LocalEze | |
| Localndex.com | Local Pages | Local Site Submit | Magic Yellow | Mapquest |
| Manta | MatchPoint | Merchant Circle | Metrobot | MojoPages |
| Myhuckleberry | Navteq GPS | Outside.in | RelyLocal | ShowMeLocal |
| Supermedia (Yellow Pages) |
TeleAtlas | ThinkLocal | Topix | Twibs |
| UsCity.net | USYellowPages | Whitepages | Yahoo! | Yellowassistance |
| Yellowbook | Yellowbot | YellowPages.com | Yelp | Ziplocal |
| Zipweb | Travelocity* | UrbanSpoon* | *Note:Hospitality | Angies List – Service Providers |
Here are three final key points.
First, to see where you rank now, go to this GetListed.Org link.
Second, you might get tired filling in all of these online directory forms, so check out Firefox’s Auto-Fill add-on link to help save you some time.
Third, if you still don’t have the time to complete online directories for your business/es and keep them up-to-date, check out companies like BrandMill or others such as Yext.Com who will charge you a small fee to keep you updated in online directories.
Good luck in getting found more often!
