In this article, I’m taking a look at using business listing websites to get your website noticed and to help you boost your ranking on Google and other search engines.
In today’s digital landscape, where every search and click could lead to a new customer, mastering local SEO has become more than just a strategy – it’s an essential part of business success.
Imagine your business appearing every time someone nearby searches for what you offer. That’s the transformative power of effective local SEO, beginning with a simple yet profoundly impactful element: business listings.
In this guide, we delve deep into the core of local SEO, revealing how strategic business listings can significantly elevate your online presence. Whether you’re an experienced marketer or a local business owner venturing into the digital realm, this article serves as your roadmap to gaining visibility, credibility, and a competitive edge in your local marketplace.
From understanding the importance of consistency in your online citations to a detailed, step-by-step approach for optimising your listings, we’ve got everything covered. What’s more, we’re sharing an exclusive resource – a meticulously crafted spreadsheet – to streamline your SEO efforts, completely free of charge.
Are you ready to transform your local SEO and position your business at the forefront of your community? Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
Boost Your Local SEO with Business Listings
Having consistent citations on numerous business listing websites is very important for good local SEO.
I’ve looked at consistency with business listings previously in a previous blog post but in this article, I’m going to give you the spreadsheet that I use to monitor my own citations for FREE and some simple steps to follow.
The FREE business citations spreadsheet can be found at the bottom of the article.
1. Initial Setup
Complete the essential business details on the first sheet – these will be used for copying and pasting into the various business directory websites when they ask for your key information.
When writing the various introductions, be sure to get your primary keywords in. With SEO, every little helps.
2. Visual Representation
Gather together some images that best represent your products or services.
Have your logo to hand, both a square version and a ‘regular’ version would be useful. Square versions are really useful for when
3. Directory Engagement
Visit each of the listing websites.
- check if a listing exists for you
- if a listing exists, claim the listing and ensure the information is correct and consistent
- if not, create an account and save the log in details in the spreadsheet
- fill in all your business details you need to, using the information you’ve created
- when your profile page is created for you, add the URL to the spreadsheet
- if you need to wait for verification of the listing, add that in the notes field (and anything else that might be useful)
I personally like to colour code my listings:
- green = done
- yellow = pending
- red = something went wrong and it’s just not working
4. Sector-Specific Listings
The final sheet is for sector specific listing websites. These could include:
- business associations
- trade websites
- sector specific promotional websites
Follow the same steps as with the previous listing websites and make a note of log in details, notes and profile URLs.
5. Follow-Up
When you worked your way through all of these steps, it’s important to follow up on those citations that are still coloured yellow.
Make sure you try to get as many profiles fully complete as possible.
Conclusion
You DO NOT have to pay for any of the citations – unless, of course, you want to. There is a free option with all of them.
Some will give you “dofollow” links back to your website and others will not. Whilst the “follow” links are undoubtedly better for your SEO results, what is important is to keep your information consistent.
The spreadsheet is not an exhaustive list of all directories on the web and not all are essential but it is something you can just work through when you have some time.
The more you do, the better the results.
Of course, if this is something that you’d rather outsource to a local SEO company, then I do offer business listing management as a service to my clients at a very reasonable cost. If you’re interested, please do get in touch.
