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People must now learn the importance of business listings in SEO and understand that as a business, listings benefits for SEO are incredibly valuable.
As the years have passed, physical directories, phone books and newspaper listings have been phased out.
Over time, the importance of business listings remained strong but they were replaced by a digital version, with local directories being made up of local businesses on a website page. But it’s not just a digital phonebook that people turn to nowadays, as online searches for a specific service are where most potential customers turn to.
Get in touch with the team at Six Search, and we can help to support you and work with your business to earn the platform it deserves. One of our tactics is maximising the benefits of business listings, as it still affects SEO and is often vital to an SEO strategy.
We’ve put together some of the reasons behind why we believe the importance of business listings can benefit your business so you are updated with all the relevant information, including:
- What is a business listing or web directory?
- Why were they created?
- How are they used today?
- Google’s thoughts on web directories and business listings
- Six Search’s tips for considering business listings in SEO
- What is a business listing or web directory?
As a rule, most business listings and web directories are a list of businesses within a specific industry-targeted niche or an overall category that provides a service. This can include listings or directories such as a list of florists in a specific area, or several builders who specialise in backyard extensions within a certain price point.
They often include a link to a website, a contact number, opening hours and an address where relevant, so that searchers can easily get in touch with the business.
Why were business listings created?
Online business listings were created to provide an easy-to-use service for people seeking out specific businesses based on what they offered, along with the area they operated in and when they were available.
They were also digitised due to the convenience of updating them and keeping them as relevant as possible, as it is much easier to update a webpage than it is to plan, create and print a whole new physical directory.
How are business listings used today?
Today, business listings are used globally by anyone looking for a service online. However, rather than people searching directly for a business listing or directory, it is more likely that they will search for a service and land on the page indirectly.
Business listings are often used in SEO as a link-building tactic to gain relevant, organic links. Though, over time this tactic has been overused with the rise of directories just for SEO, and black hat domains.
Since then, Google has cracked down on this tactic by spammy SEOs and stopped placing as much importance on many. Even so, natural, high-quality online directories that get online traffic are still a great way to earn natural links and referral traffic for your website.
This is why it is so important to use business listings correctly if you’re looking to expand your business’ reach and find a wider target market.
Google’s Thoughts on the Importance of Business Listings in SEO
Google has rules across the board for websites and businesses to adhere to, and when they don’t, a list of penalties they can be subjected to as a response.
As a result, it’s important to know where Google stands on the importance of business listings and directories to know if the importance of business listings in SEO is worth any potential penalties.
As a whole, Google will penalise websites that have bought links to manipulate the backlink profile of a specific page. This is because backlinks are used to determine the quality of a web page, so manipulation of this can impact how dependable a domain authority of a site is.
This is taken so seriously that links generated from a low-quality website could hurt the linked website. As a result, it is important to ensure that before you contact any online business directory or local business listing site, you have vetted their status.
Six Search’s Top Tips for Considering The Importance Of Business Listings in SEO
The team at Six Search are experts at harnessing the power of business listing benefits for SEO and has worked to create expertly-led processes that will boost your business when people search for your services.
To help you out, we’ve put together some of our top tips for when you’re considering the importance of business listings to avoid any penalties and to ensure you get the most out of your listing.
1. ENSURE THE DIRECTORY IS RELEVANT TO YOUR INDUSTRY
You must ensure that the business directory you have chosen as a business owner is highly relevant to the industry you operate. Otherwise, you will generate traffic that will not convert, and people will not spend very much time on your website.
This will signal to Google that your website and the link are of poor quality, reducing your chances of ranking highly in organic search.
2. MAKE SURE THE DIRECTORY IS CREDIBLE
Having a credible directory hosting your business is vital to any SEO strategy and is of extreme importance to business listings in SEO.
If you have your business on a spammy-looking or dysfunctional website that has broken links, misspellings or no clear direction, this will not fill searchers with confidence. Instead, find directories that look professional and are intentional in who they add to instil a sense of authority and credibility behind your business.
3. CREATE CONSISTENT LISTINGS
There’s no use in having conflicting information about your business across the internet as it does not translate the importance of business listings in SEO for your business’ success.
If you have used directories or online business listings, ensure that every piece of information is consistent across each one. Otherwise, users may spot contingencies and lose confidence in your credibility, resulting in lost traffic and ultimately, lost conversions and profits.
4. ENSURE ACCURACY FOR LINKS, ADDRESSES, NUMBERS, BRAND, ETC
Broken links, inaccurate brand logos, missing email addresses and incorrect phone numbers are all elements that searchers will take note of and judge you from.
When adding your business to directories, it is important to double-check all the information entered and to confirm it is accurate once the directory has been posted.
5. DON’T GO FOR EVERY FREE LISTING
Free-to-list directories are directories in which anyone can register a business to appear on the website.
As a result, these directories can become spammy, full of broken links, have little to no relevancy across the businesses and dedicated industry or location and be of little use to a user. Google will rarely promote these types of directories and often you can see your website’s authority hurt by them, both technically and within your target market.
6. MONITOR YOUR LISTINGS
It’s easy to lose track of where your business has been featured on online business directories.
We highly recommend keeping a list of all the directories your business is on, along with any login details and notes you may need to remember. This will help you to update them with ease if anything changes, as well as check in now and then to ensure the listing is not hurting your business.
7. MAKE SURE YOUR BUSINESS ISN’T APPEARING IN LISTINGS THAT YOU DON’T WANT IT IN
Put yourself in the position of a user and get a first-hand look at what they will see when they search for the service you provide.
Perhaps you will spot an issue that needs to be resolved or a gap that your business could fill. But more importantly, you can make sure that your business hasn’t found itself in listings that aren’t relevant or are harmful to your overall success.
Get in touch with Six Search for support on your business listings in SEO
Six Search has been working with a variety of businesses to help them get the most out of the importance of business listings. By developing processes that ensure they are entered in highly relevant, the team will place businesses in directories that are authoritative so that it won’t just help users find them, but also provide a boost to their rankings.
Business listings aren’t the only tactics we use. We have developed expertly-led processes so that you can trust our Liverpool SEO team to deliver success for your business and your website.
Our team is passionate about delivering successful strategies that involve elements such as technical SEO, digital PR and website migrations, so get in touch to find out how we can help!