Quickly disappearing are the days when people go to the Yellow Pages to find local businesses. Today, people are turning to the internet as a way to find trusted business recommendations. You must be prepared with an exceptional website and a mobile optimized one at that. Another way local businesses can get found or INCREASE their ‘find-ability is through inclusion in online directories. Adding a listing to these online directories is easy and usually free, but if you only list in a few, you’re really missing a huge opportunity to get found by online searchers and increase the overall SEO of your website. Below is the Ultimate List Of The Top 5 Online Local Business Directories, what they cost (if anything), how they work and why you should be on them:
#1 GOOGLE (Google My Business)
Google’s Google My Business is a free tool for businesses to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. By verifying and editing business directory listing information, you can help customers find a business through their local search.
Cost to List on Google’s Business Directory
It is free for the business listing directory portion (unless you want to show up in ads).
Who Uses Google’s Business Listings Directory
Any user who uses Google as a search engine. Users are statistically a younger demographic. They are typically college/university educated and Facebook users. Within the last month, Google had over 175 million unique US visitors. Alexa data shows a fairly even representation across all demographic groups and segments.
Why Businesses Should Be Listed On Google My Business
Businesses need to be listed on Google because it is a large online local directory, a large volume of users go through the site (175 million in a month in the US alone!), it can improve search engine page ranking, businesses can show up in local search with key terms, a business can be easily found on Google Maps, and it’s a cost effective form of local marketing. Hard to say that in one breath! Really, though, who needs to be convinced that they need to be listed on Google?
Google’s Business Listing Reach
Google’s search engine performs over 3.5 billion searches per day. Within the last month, Google had 32.30 billion total unique visits globally. The search engine has become a verb–the prevalence is obvious.
#2 FACEBOOK
In case you’ve been living under a rock, have an aversion to trending technology, or have never read my blogs (heaven forbid!), Facebook is a social networking website. Here, users can create profiles, upload photos and videos, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family, and follow their favorite businesses and brands. Companies can create business profiles that users can follow.
Cost to Add a Local Business Listing on Facebook
It is free to add or claim a business profile/business listing page. You can advertise on Facebook for a fee with options for sponsored posts.
Facebook’s Demographics
Within the last month, Facebook had over 117 million UNIQUE visitors in the United States.
Facebook is used:
- slightly more by women and slightly less by men
- slightly more by those who earn 60K-100K
- slightly more by those who view the site from school
- slightly more Caucasians and Middle Eastern groups than the average internet population
Why Businesses Should Get a Facebook Business Listing
It’s free to post a business on the site, and the 117 million unique US visitors is more than enough volume to justify creating or claiming a business’ presence. Users can follow a company through updates or posts, and customers can post reviews about their experience with a business on Facebook. Because it is widely recognized as the most robust social network and has the largest user base, reviews and feedback on Facebook are essential content for local businesses.
A Facebook Business Listing’s Potential Reach
There are 1.59 billion active Facebook users worldwide. Within the last month, Facebook had 29.5 billion total unique visits globally (Similarweb).
#3 Yahoo!
Yahoo! is a portal website that incorporates a search engine and a directory of websites organized in a hierarchy of categories. Yahoo! Local is the online business directory portion of the website devoted to business listings. For a time, Yahoo and Bing were teamed up as a part of the Yahoo Bing Network, but their agreement has now changed.
Yahoo’s Business Listing Directory Fees
You can create a free Yahoo Local Basic Listing or pay to have either an Enhanced Listing for $9.99/month, or sign up for Localworks, which is $29.99/month. A Basic Listing includes your company’s phone, address, website information, store hours, as well as your products and services (help.yahoo.com). In order to sign up for the Localworks, users are directed to Aabaco Small Business from Yahoo! Localworks will list the business on Yahoo, Google, Yelp, WhitePages, Bing, MapQuest, Superpages and other listing sites and local directories.
Yahoo’s Local Business Directory User Profile
Data pulled is for Yahoo!’s domain and not Yahoo! Local (Yahoo’s specific online business directory) specifically. Within the last month, Yahoo! had over 98 million unique US visitors.
Yahoo! is used:
- slightly more by women and slightly less by men
- slightly more by those aged 65+
- more by those with no college or some college education
- more by those who earn $60K-$100K and $100K+; less by those who earn $0-$30K
- more by Asians and Caucasians; less than the internet average by African, African American, Hispanic, Middle Eastern and “Other” demographic groups
Why Businesses Should Get Listed on Yahoo’s Online Business Directory
There are varying opinions as to how effective the local business directory listings are versus the price you pay for the service. My advice? Take a look at the Yahoo! Local directory website before you purchase—maybe even try searching for a few businesses. If you like what you see, then it may be worth the investment to have a local business listed here.
The Yahoo! Local Business Directory Reach
Similarweb reports that within the last month Yahoo! had 7 billion total visits globally, which is approximately 1.17 billion visits a month.
#4 Twitter
Twitter, in case you haven’t heard, is an online social networking service where users send and read 140-character messages, also known as “tweets.” Users can tweet messages, links, and images to their followers, or use #hashtags if they want to be found by that word or phrase.
Twitter Business Listings Pricing
Businesses can create a Twitter profile for free. You can advertise on Twitter for a fee.
Portrait of a Twitter User
Within the last month, Twitter had over 74.6 million unique US visitors.
Twitter is used:
- slightly more by women
- slightly more by those who view the site from school
- more by Caucasians and Hispanics; less than the internet average by Asian, Middle Eastern and “other” demographic groups
Businesses Should Get a Twitter Business Listing Because…
Local businesses can put advertisements on Twitter, connect with potential customers, network, tweet about sales to followers and so on. However, there is a catch… other than posting an ad, Twitter, like any other social media platform, can be a large time investment to maintain a presence. There are platforms and services you can use to assist with maintaining a presence on Twitter, but compare the costs and benefits and see if it makes in the use case of each business.
Twitter’s Network Size
Within the last month, Twitter had 3.1 billion total unique visits globally (Similarweb).
#5 LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a social networking website for the business community. Registered members can link to networks of people they know professionally. It can also be a way to grow your professional network. It has recently become a leads machine for sales teams, so you’ve likely noticed that every person who’s asked for a demo has also asked you to connect.
How Much Does a LinkedIn Business Listing Cost?
Businesses can create a LinkedIn profile for free. You can advertise on LinkedIn for a fee as well, of course.
The Typical LinkedIn User
There are 107 million American users on LinkedIn as of Feb. 2016. Within the last month, LinkedIn had over 57.9 million unique US visitors. LinkedIn is used:
LinkedIn is used:
- slightly less by those aged 18-24 and slightly more by those aged 45-54
- more by those with graduate school education and sightly less than those with no college or some college education
- more by those who earn $100K+ and less by those who earn $0-$30K
- more by those who view the site from work
- more by Caucasians; less than the internet average by Asian and Middle Eastern demographic groups
Reasons to Get Your Business Listed On LinkedIn’s Business Directory
Depending on the type of company and product or service offered, businesses likely want to spend the time to create a profile on Linkedin. Creating a listing is free, and potential applicants and vendors alike can find businesses here. My advice would be to go on the site and look around for similar businesses. If competitors are on there, businesses should likely follow suit and make a profile. A Linkedin profile appeals to most businesses in most verticals.
LinkedIn’s Network Reach
Within the last six months, LinkedIn had 996.2 million total visits globally, which is approximately 166 million visits a month.
