The Top Local Business Directories to Boost Your Online Visibility

One of the biggest challenges for small local businesses is finding new customers. For people to buy from your business, they need to know that it exists. But how do you get your name out there without spending piles of money on advertising?

Listing your business in free online business directories is the answer. It doesn’t cost anything to create a listing for your local business in these directories, and you can use them to make it easier for local customers to find you.

Learn the best free online business directories for local businesses and how to optimize your listings to maximize your online visibility.

What Are Local Business Directories?

Local business directories are lists of businesses in a specific area. They’re designed to help customers find local companies that offer the products or services they’re looking for. 

For example, say someone is new to town and needs work done on their car. They might go online and search “car repair shop near me” to see what their options are. Most likely, the top search results will be local business directories that contain listings for auto repair shops. The customer can scroll through these business listings within the online directories and use the details to decide which repair shop they want to use. 

The Benefits of Local Business Directories

The core benefit of being in a local business directory is that it helps more local customers discover your company. Greater online visibility means more potential leads and sales. 

Specifically, some of the benefits of joining these directories include:

• Driving traffic to your website
• Boosting brand awareness
• Improving your search engine optimization
• Increasing your business’s credibility
• Encouraging more online reviews
• Offering more accurate and consistent business information

7 Online Business Listings For Your Business

There are lots of free business listing sites available, including ones that are devoted to specific locations or industries. As you’re getting started, try these popular online business directories first to reach the largest audience. 

1. Google Business Profile (GBP)

Setting up a Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) helps customers using Google Maps and Google Search discover your business. Beyond basic information about your business, these listings can include answers to frequently asked questions, posts, and business updates. 

To set up your listing, sign in to your business’s Google account or create one. If there’s already a profile for your business, you can claim your listing officially. If there isn’t, you can start one from scratch. All you need to do is enter your business name and address to help Google verify your business. Then you select your primary business category, such as “auto repair shop.” Add your business phone number and website. Then, optimize your Google Business Profile with photos, keywords, and other details you think might be relevant to potential customers. 

2. Yelp

Yelp is known as a restaurant review site, but that’s not all it is anymore. Businesses across industries use Yelp to get their information in front of the site’s 178 million unique viewers per month. 

Reviews are incredibly important on Yelp, perhaps even more so than on other online business directories, so encourage your customers to share their experiences. Positive reviews can boost your online reputation and help persuade new potential customers to purchase from your business. 

3. Bing Places for Business

As the default search engine for Microsoft products, Bing still gets plenty of searches, even though it’s much less popular than Google. So, if you want to reach more PC users, it may be worth creating a profile on Bing Places for Business. 

Your Bing Places listing contains your business name, address, business hours, and website link, along with other optional details. It will appear in the results of relevant Bing Search or Bing Maps searches, alongside other local or national brands. 

4. Apple Maps (Apple Business Connect)

Similar to Google Business Profiles on Google Maps, you can create a business Apple Business Connect listing to make sure your company appears in Apple Maps searches. 

In your listing, you can add all the important details about your company, as well as custom actions for customers, like Reserve, Order, and Tickets. 

5. Better Business Bureau (BBB)

The Better Business Bureau evaluates businesses and grades them based on their trustworthiness. Being a BBB-accredited business can make potential customers trust you a lot more, helping drive more sales. First, you need to create a business listing, though. From there, you can apply for accreditation. 

6. Nextdoor

On Nextdoor, you can create a business listing and share related posts to promote your company. When you post something, that content will automatically appear in local customers’ Nextdoor feeds, making it a great way to get more people to learn about your business. 

7. Facebook Business Pages

As the most popular social media platform in the world, Facebook is still a powerful tool for connecting with customers. Create a Business Facebook page with your business name, description, and a profile photo that represents your business. To help you drive conversions, you can add a custom call-to-action button to your page that instructs visitors to take action, like calling your store or visiting your website.

Best Practices for Local Business Directories

Setting up your business listing on most local business directories is fairly straightforward. However, some small steps can make a big difference in the results you see from your listing. Try to implement these best practices with your listings for better visibility and more lead generation:

• NAP Consistency: Make sure your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) are exactly the same across all of your directory listings. This consistency helps eliminate confusion for customers and makes your business seem more legitimate and trustworthy. 
• Regularly Update: Business listings aren’t a set it and forget it kind of thing. Regularly update your listing to show customers (and the directories themselves) that your business is still active and the information shown is accurate. 
• Claim Listings: On some business directories, people who are not affiliated with your business can create a listing for you. If any of these listings exist, claim them as the business owner so you can take control of the content and optimize them. 
• Encourage and Manage Reviews: In the age of online shopping, reviews are incredibly valuable to businesses. Encourage your customers to leave you reviews and try responding to positive reviews. It’s worth responding to negative reviews, too, by staying professional and trying to solve the customer’s problem. 
• Compelling Descriptions: When you’re describing your business and the products or services you offer, incorporate compelling language. Get potential customers excited and motivated to take action.
• Use Keywords: Part of local SEO is including relevant keywords in the content you share, including in the local business directory. Conduct some local keyword research to see what terms customers in your area are searching for online, and add them to your business listing. 
• Incorporate High-Quality Visuals: High-quality photos and graphics help your business listing stand out from the crowd. Add a picture of your logo, your storefront (if applicable), and your products or the results of your services. 

Get Discovered Today



Getting your business listed in online business directories is a free way to make sure more local customers hear about you. Each listing helps you build a stronger local presence, which is the foundation of a great local SEO strategy.

Managing these listings can be time-consuming, though. That’s why Optimize Digital Marketing offers directory management services. We’ll take care of optimizing, updating, and managing your directory listings for you. Contact us today to get started.