MARKETING

50 Best Online Local Business Directories & Listing Sites

Published

9 months ago

February 14, 2024

50 Best Online Local Business Directories & Listing Sites

Creating business listings on directory websites is an easy way to improve your local SEO.

All you have to do is list your business in online local directories such as Yellow Pages, Manta, and more. This is called building citations, and it’s a critical piece of a local marketing strategy.

By building citations, you can ensure that you appear in local packs when people look for businesses like yours in their area. Business directories may seem like a thing of the past, but they’re a great way to grow your presence online.

In this post, we go over everything you need to know about creating business listings and why they’re so valuable, even in the age of social media and other marketing tactics.

Table of Contents

What is a business directory?

A business directory is an online list of businesses within a particular niche, location, or category. One way local businesses can get found by online searchers is through inclusion in business directories.

I know that promoting a local business can be challenging these days. Whether it’s because of oversaturation or complicated search engine algorithms, it’s all too easy to feel like no one will find your business in the local search results.

Today, Google is inserting itself between consumer and local business websites much more often. For proof, you need to look no further than Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), featured snippets, and most importantly, local packs.

You can improve visibility in local packs by listing your local business’ NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) on directories, online business listing sites, and citation sites. Aside from improving your local SEO, these can also improve your rankings on search engines because the listings usually link back to your site.

But what is a business listing, and what does it look like?

What is a business listing?

A business listing is your company’s profile page in an online directory site, which typically includes your business name, address, and phone number (NAP). Some business directories allow you to include a link back to your website, an image of your logo, and even a list of your services.

When I was a local SEO specialist at my previous company, I spent much of my time finding new business listing opportunities to build citations and generate backlinks for our local websites. This allowed us to rank not only in the local packs, but also in the main SERPs.

I have a few tips to help you out. Make sure your company listing has the following information once you add it to a directory:

Consistent NAP. If you add or update your business on multiple business listing sites, make sure you’re providing the same company information across each directory.
A link to your website. Backlinks — also known as inbound links — are crucial to your company website’s Domain Rating. I recommend adding a tracking link at the end of this URL as well, so you can see how much traffic your website specifically gets from the business directories that are linking to it.
A company description. Make sure you have a detailed description of your business that reflects your organization’s mission, culture, and values.
Multimedia. Give company searchers a visual taste of your business with a picture or video of your office, your employees, or your daily business operations.

There are plenty of location-specific and industry-specific business listing sites where you can submit your data. To start promoting your local business, however, I recommend starting with the bigger sites and working your way towards the more niche directories.

I’ll soon go over our list of best local directories, but first, let’s cover our methodology.

How I Chose the Best Online Directories

I used to build citations for my former company, and I can confidently tell you that there are many, many business directories out there — and not all of them are good.

I used two simple parameters to curate the best business listing sites you can sign up on right now.

Domain Rating

Domain rating is a score given to websites to reflect how well they rank on Google based on their backlink profile. The minimum score is 0, and the maximum score is 100. Domain rating is similar to domain authority.

The minimum required domain rating for the directories on this list was 50. I gathered the data from Ahrefs, but you can also double-check using your preferred SEO tool.

Free Business Listings

Google Business Profile
Yellow Pages
Foursquare
Better Business Bureau
Superpages
Hotfrog
Merchant Circle
EZLocal
eLocal
Manta

The below business listing sites made it onto the list because they’re free and also offer an easy process for claiming or creating your profile.

Some online business directories require phone verification or extra steps, but the below options below are simple to sign up for. These ten business listings are a great place to start before signing up on more industry-specific listing sites.

1. Google Business Profile

Domain Rating: 92

Monthly Organic Traffic: 81M Visits

Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) directly lists you on Google’s local pack and search results. A Google Business Profile includes your NAP, business hours, services, customer reviews, photos, and more.

Claim your free Google Business Profile.

2. Yellow Pages

Domain Rating: 90

Monthly Organic Traffic: 14M Visits

An oldie but a goodie, Yellow Pages is maybe the most well-known local directory. A Yellow Pages listing includes your NAP, parking information, business hours, and customer reviews.

free business directory listings: yellowpages

Claim your free business listing on Yellow Pages.

3. Foursquare

Domain Rating: 91

Monthly Organic Traffic: 30M Visits

Foursquare is a general online directory for a wide variety of local business categories. A Foursquare listing includes your NAP, business hours, logo, and customer reviews.

free business directory listings: foursquare Claim your free business listing on Foursquare.

4. Better Business Bureau

Domain Rating: 93

Monthly Organic Traffic: 13M Visits

Better Business Bureau is an online directory site for a wide variety of local business categories. A Better Business Bureau listing includes your NAP, company history, company email, and website. You may also apply for optional accreditation.

free business directory listings: BBB

Claim your free business listing on BBB.

5. Superpages

Domain Rating: 84

Monthly Organic Traffic: 1.7M Visits

Superpages is a general online directory site for a wide variety of local business categories. A Superpages listing includes your NAP, business hours, and website.

free business directory listings: superpages

Claim your free business listing on Superpages.

6. Hotfrog

Domain Rating: 79

Monthly Organic Traffic: 24K Visits

Hotfrog is a general online directory site. A Hotfrog listing includes your NAP, business hours, business description, and website.

free business directory listings: hotfrog

Claim your free business listing on Hotfrog.

7. EZLocal

Domain Rating: 77

Monthly Organic Traffic: 90K Visits

EZLocal is a general online directory for a wide variety of local business categories. An EZLocal listing includes your NAP, parking information, business hours, and website.

free business directory listings: ezlocal

Claim your free business listing on EZLocal.

8. eLocal

Domain Rating: 77

Monthly Organic Traffic: 14K Visits

eLocal is a general local directory. An eLocal listing includes your NAP, business description, website, and payment options.

free business directory listings: elocal

Claim your free business listing on eLocal.

9. Manta

Domain Rating: 87

Monthly Organic Traffic: 2.3M Visits

A Manta listing includes your NAP, business hours, services, website, business description, and social media links. You may also apply for Manta verification.

free business directory listings: manta

Claim your free business listing on Manta.

10. Merchant Circle

Domain Rating: 85

Monthly Organic Traffic: 70K Visits

Merchant Circle is a general online listing site. A Merchant Circle listing includes your NAP, logo, payment options, business hours, business description, and website.

Claim your free business listing on MerchantCircle.

Featured Business Listing Site: HubSpot Solutions Online Directory

HubSpot also offers an online directory for marketing and advertising agencies. If you fall into this category, I highly recommend signing up for free.

Add your free business listing to HubSpot’s Solutions directory.

Online Directories for Local Businesses

When listing your business online, you aren’t limited to just using the free sites above. I’ve compiled the best directories on the web to list your business, whether paid or unpaid (most, however, should be free).

In my years as a local SEO and citation builder, I found most of these relatively easy to sign up on, but a few sites may require additional verification or a pending period. The good news is that there is little to no chance your listing will be rejected.

1. Facebook Pages

Domain Rating: 100

Monthly Organic Traffic: 1.7B Visits

Facebook Pages is one of the best places to list your business online and get visibility through both organic search and Facebook’s internal search feature. A Facebook Page includes both basic NAP information and updates from your business.

Create your free business listing on Facebook Pages.

2. Instagram for Business

Domain Rating: 99

Monthly Organic Traffic: 1.4B Visits

Like Facebook, Instagram is another valuable place to list your business’ NAP information for visibility, local SEO, and social media marketing purposes. An Instagram profile will include your business’ NAP information, as well as photos and updates posted directly by you.

online business directory: instagram business page

Create your free business listing on Instagram.

3. LinkedIn Company Directory

Domain Rating: 98

Monthly Organic Traffic: 319M Visits

LinkedIn offers a directory of business pages (called LinkedIn Pages), where most companies and businesses can add a profile for free. Like Facebook and Instagram, you get an opportunity to list your NAP and publish updates and jobs.

Companies are listed alphabetically on the Company Directory landing page, and users can find your business by navigating to “Browse By” and selecting the first letter of your business name.

online business directory: linkedin

Create your free business listing on LinkedIn.

4. Apple Maps

Domain Rating: 97

Monthly Organic Traffic: 424M Visits

If people visit your business in person, it’s always a good idea to add it to navigation apps and services. Apple Maps isn’t technically a business listing site, but it’s still an essential citation. You can now easily get started by using Apple’s new Business Connect portal.

online business directory: apple maps

Create your free business listing on Apple Maps.

5. Yelp

Domain Rating: 95

Monthly Organic Traffic: 234M Visits

Whether you run a restaurant, a local boutique, or a repair shop, Yelp is an invaluable directory to list your business online. It boosts your credibility with customer reviews and provides one more citation with your NAP, business hours, services, and more.

online business directory: yelp

Create your free business listing on Yelp.

6. Bing Places

Domain Rating: 93

Monthly Organic Traffic: 17.1M Visits

Bing may not feel as essential as Google, but it’s still an important citation, especially because some of your customers might use Bing as their primary search engine. Adding your business to Bing also allows users to navigate directly to you using Bing Maps.

online business directory: bing places

Create your free business listing on Bing Places.

7. Foursquare

Domain Rating: 91

Monthly Organic Traffic: 28.3M Visits

When building citations at my previous company, Foursquare was one of my favorite business listing sites. It’s quick, easy, and painless to add your online listing, and it includes all essential information without many frills. An easy citation if there ever was one.

Create your free business listing on Foursquare.

8. Angi

Domain Rating: 91

Monthly Organic Traffic: 14.9M Visits

Formerly known as Angie’s List, Angi is a valuable citation for providers of home services — from plumbing to landscaping to maintenance and renovations.

online business directory: Angi

Create your free business listing on Angi.