The SEO Benefits of Local Business Listings

Connecting with local customers is a crucial part of any business, and effectively applying the benefits of local listings is a great way to do it. As more customers search for products, businesses, and information online when researching a purchase, it becomes increasingly important to focus on providing accurate information to customers searching near you.

Fortunately, there are a number of free local business listings that can put you on the map and give potential customers all the information they need to discover your business. Online directories have replaced regional newspapers and the yellow pages, allowing customers to search within an area or industry. All major search engines pull reliable listing data that businesses can access and complete.

Google results present a number of local options right at the top of your search results, and this information is largely pulled from your local listings on Google+. You can give your business a significant boost by completing your online profile and appearing among these results.

Local listings can include a variety of information, including:

• Name, address and phone number (NAP)
• Website
• Hours of operation
• Accepted payment methods
• Business Description
• Images
• Customer Reviews

In addition to providing your customers with information when they search locally, these local listings also provide significant SEO benefits for your website. The vast majority of local business listings will include an area for a link to your website, providing a valuable back link. You can usually include another link in the description text as well.

Making sure the information in your listings is consistent also provides search engines with reliable information about your business, which can improve your rankings.

Many companies offer a local listing service to complete these profiles on your behalf, but proceed with caution. Businesses that use an automated system for this task often end up with incomplete, inconsistent, or missing listings because they cannot be completed without some form of verification. Personalized attention to your listings is well worth the time spent and is the only way to ensure that everyone offers the most benefit. Make sure the company you’re considering will pay personalized attention to each of their listings.

Free local business listings

There are hundreds of local listing directories available, with varying degrees of reliability and benefit to your business. Here are some of the best free local lists available for you to take advantage of:

• Google+
• Facebook
• CitySquare
• yahoo
• bing
• dmoz
• internal pages
• Firm
• The best of the web
• merchants circle
• Yelp
• YP (Yellow Pages)
• super pages
• show me local
• blanket
• hot frog
• Angie’s List
• city ​​grid | CitySearch
• golocal247
• ExpressUpdate
• Kudzu
• eLocal
• plancast
• Connection
• Factual
• yellowbot

Taking the time to fully fill out these listings is definitely worth it. Not only are you more likely to appear to customers at the top of local search results, but your website will also gain valuable SEO benefits.