How Directories Can Drive More Customers and Better SEO

Online directories consist of business listings such as Yelp, Foursquare, Factual, Manta, City Search, etc. There are hundreds of these types of listings online that people use on a daily basis to find the products and services they need. Having your business represented in all of these listings can help drive new and repeat business in a couple of ways.

First, having your business show up in a multitude of listings guarantees that your business is where your prospective customer might be looking! Everyone uses the internet differently, and while one person might just Google the product or service they are in need of, others like to use sources that they may have used in the past and trust. Moreover, having your profiles in all of these directories be complete with all of your business information, services you offer, products and brands you sell, hours of operation, and pictures and videos of your work help the prospective customer get the information they need to make their decision.

Secondly, having a large and robust online presence with your business listed in as many directories as possible can help to give your business a SEO boost! The larger and more filled out your business looks online, the more trust search engines like Google and Bing might put into your company – and when it comes to ranking higher on search engines, it all comes down to trust. So the larger your online presence, the more areas for search engines to gather that trust factor.

And finally, when you search your business name online, you want to take up as much real-estate as possible. The last thing you want is for someone to be looking for your company, but since you have a small online presence, on the first page your competitors come up right with you. The more presence you have online via directories, social media channels, etc. the more your business will show up when searched – giving your business the first few pages of a Google search all of the links available.

Directory listings are one of the most important aspects of your online marketing strategy to drive you more leads, walk-ins, or purchases. If you are looking to simplify the process, the Lead Generation tool within the Toolbox is your go-to to create a huge online presence with a single form to input your business information and imagery, and push it out to all of the directories you need to be in. Check it out by logging into your account and going to the Lead Generation tool.