In a previous post, I wrote about using Google Places to promote your business. You can take this a stage further by listing yourself on national and local directories. These will help drive traffic to your website and even improve your search rankings and although many charge for premium listings most have a free option. Adding your listing needn’t be time-consuming. It’s just a question of identifying which directories will give you the most value.
Yahoo Local
Like Google Places, Yahoo Local provides company details organised by business type and location, e.g. web design Kent. You can list your company for free by going to this link. It can take a couple of weeks to process.
National Directories
There are plenty of national organisations like Thomson Local and Yellow Pages. Most of these directories offer more than one level of listing. The disadvantage with some directories is that your free listing is very limited, often little more than your company name and a phone number. Premium listings are upwards of £50 and often not worth the money.
Directories like FreeIndex allow you to add more detail in your free listing, including your website address. Whatever directories you choose to list yourself on, make sure you can add your website address.
Local directories
If you’re based in the Thanet / East Kent area, there are several local directories offering similar services to the national ones. Again, choose directories that you can add your website address to. Take a look at iKent for an example of one Kent-based directory that allows you to list for free.
Top tips
Website addresses – the more directories you’re listed on, the better. But if you are going to be selective then pick ones that allow you to include your website address for free.
Be consistent – it’s worth writing out a generic listing before you start submitting to different directories. Make sure you are consistent with your address, phone number, business category, etc.
Reviews – if the directory you have submitted to has a review system, ask some of your clients to leave you a favourable review. The more the merrier – but ensure you only ask clients you’re confident will leave you a five-star review.
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[...] In a previous post, we touched briefly on using directories to promote your business. [...]