Local business directories are platforms that list businesses within a particular niche, category or industry. It registers a business’ public information like contact info, address, social networks, images and more.
What are examples of local business directories? Here are ten listing platforms with high domain authority.
- Google My Business
- Apple Maps
- LinkedIn Directory
- Yelp
- Bing
- Foursquare
- Hubspot
- Yellow Pages
- Yahoo! Local
Alternatively, there are local business directories that specifically tailor to your city or region also. Top4 is a great location-based marketing platform for businesses of all sizes. It’s a simple, cost-effective way to advertise your business, products and services. Whether you have one or 100 locations, manage all your businesses from a single dashboard.
Search engines and local business directories
Local business listings play an important role in SEO as much as it improves a business’ marketing strategy. It’s an off-page strategy that alters the search results page (SERPS) of most search engines.
But the question is, how?
Search engines index websites and platforms that cover information about your business. The more you list your business online or make its presence known, the more search engines use this data to analyse your business’ information and rank you higher in SERPs.
Search engines crawl on a variety of sources to match their index. If you offer a more consistent, active and comprehensive detail, search engines will consider your business a highly-valued listing.
Benefits of local business directories
Local business directories come with free or paid plans, but they all provide one good thing: to market and publicise your company. Here are the advantages of listing your business in local directories.
1. Improving your online presence
Getting listed online will improve the chances of customers reaching out to you especially when your business shows up in directories. Getting your public information out there will improve your online presence big time as users search listings in specific criteria. The directory will connect your business if the keywords are appropriately optimised.
Even if users aren’t familiar with your business (yet!) they’ll be redirected to your listing where they can contact you for transactions.
Our unique proprietary platform Top4 is designed to deliver to your target market using geographic, categorical and demographic targeting. By joining Top4 your business will be found in the very suburbs that your potential customers are searching.
2. Increasing your brand awareness and reach
When people search in a listing directory, the results will display a quick snapshot of businesses relevant to the keyword input.
Even if the user won’t choose your listing, they get to see your business and put their minds into it the next time. Every time a person comes across your listing, you get increased brand awareness with possible engagement in the future.
3. Boosting local search
If you’re a business catering to the local community, it will bode well to integrate local directories as a marketing approach to amp your business. Your listing gets to be searched on a specific level, highly concentrated on your home-grown roots.
If your business has multiple locations, you get to create separate listings optimised with the location for each branch. Even with that, you get to fully boost local searches of your business in different locations.
4. Helping with reviews and feedbacks from customers
Business directories have customer reviews to serve as a trusted source for potential prospects. Customers can publish their experiences and post photos of your business. This further improves SEO and search algorithms. This is because SERPs highly depends on active, positive and quality businesses to be ranked higher.
People search for online reviews before transacting with a business also. So open up to the idea of having your store be reviewed by people. Even a negative review about your business can be turned around as an online reputation fix-up. Respond to it accordingly by being courteous and take this chance to improve your operations too.
5. Enhancing reputation
Placing your store out there positions you as a respectable business figure. No matter if you’re a small-time owner, fixing your brand in directories will have customers see you with such professionalism.
The fact that you show up on the first page in Google through proper SEO practices, for the most part, indicates that you are trusted by customers.
Join Top4 now and enjoy the benefit of getting found on the first page of Google!
6. Boosting SEO
Online directories boost your optimisation other than the usual website and your social media tactics. Listings are another way to supplement existing information about your business – paving that extra validation for search engines.
It’s possible then to get on the first page of most SEs through online business directory sites, especially Google.
How to optimise your Top4 business profile
Our unique location-based marketing platform Top4 provides a number of features you can use to boost your business online marketing strategies and drive more customers’ engagement. To get the most of your being on Top4, you need to optimise your business profile by leveraging these features. Here are some proven actions you can take to enhance your digital presence by being on Top4.
Optimise description of the company
Integrate keywords customers regularly use when they search for information on the web. For example, pizza in Constitution Hills or bathroom supply store in Hornsby. 
You need to strategically categorise your business according to its industry, products or service to further up your game in the SERP race.
Provide updated and consistent detail
Place your name, address and phone number (NAP) for people to search and contact you. Make sure the NAP information you put on Top4 is accurate and consistent with the information you have provided in other local business directories. Every bit of information in all your listings should be identical.
Keep your information updated and accurate. Inconsistent data will have your customers confused about how to contact you. What’s more, it will cause Google to index and crawl on the wrong business listing. This will then harm your rank.
You can also link all of your social media accounts to your Top4 microsite. Make sure you only link active accounts only. If you have a Facebook page that hasn’t been updated since 2015, it might be better to leave that off.
Include media-rich content
Include photos of your business! It can further capture customers’ attention and interest in your brand.
Top4 Galleries feature allows you to showcase the products that your service and business sell. Add your real photos of your businesses to increase exposure to potential customers.
You can also show photos of your interior or what is inside your service and business office. This really works if you own a restaurant, cafe or bakery. Showing your restaurant’s features, such as a kids area, bar venue or smoking area gives additional details of your business that might attract certain potential customers.
Furthermore, use the Galleries feature to promote what you do. If you do campaigns, fundraising or any local promotions, show it on your Top4 advert. Upload the photos of your activity and let your potential customers know what you do and the causes you support.
Post and update regular content
Our location-based marketing platform Top4 allows you to post articles, announcements and promotions pertaining to your business. Customers, and even Google, like seeing fresh content and active engagement on your part.
With our Article Post module, you can maintain an engaging and unique blog to further improve your rankings. But the content you provide has to be relevant and useful for your prospects and customers. In addition to helping you rank better, maintaining an active blog will create higher brand recall.
Blog posts are not the only content you can post on Top4. As discussed in previous articles, what makes Top4 unique is it’s an interactive directory incorporating smart digital marketing features for businesses to promote themselves more effectively.
In addition to the Article Post module, Top4 has a feature that lets business owners share promotions and discounts. With our Promotions feature, you can easily add specials when you launch a new product or offer any product discounts to your current and potential customers.
This feature can also be handy when you want to make announcements about your local business, like reopening schedules or in-person appointments post lockdowns.
Finally, Top4 has one final feature as far as content goes, i.e. the Products feature. That’s right. You can add and sell your products directly from your Top4 business profile. Add detailed information about your products to help your customers understand what your business has to offer, from the product name, category, photos, description, etc.
Customers can purchase your products on Top4 by simply clicking on the “Add to Quote” button. You’ll receive a notification about the order on your email and you can then directly process the order on your own.
The products you uploaded on your business profile will also appear on the Biz Marketplace page, which is Top4’s very own online buying and selling platform for local businesses. Customers can browse your products by the category you have selected when completing the products information.
Allow reviews from customers
Open your Top4 advert to reviews from customers and let them talk about their experience. This will make your business more attractive and credible. What’s more, this active engagement from users will affect your ranking in directory results and SERPs.
The fully-featured Review module on our platform Top4 makes it a breeze to get more reviews. You can manage reviews from any social media and webtool platforms from a single dashboard. Delivered by experts, Top4 helps your business get the review you deserve.
Monitor your Top4 business profile
You think getting your business listed is enough? Keep track of how well your listing is going and whether your efforts are making waves among potential customers. If not, take it as an opportunity to improve your business details.
Claiming a listing is one of the more impactful ways of improving your business’ online presence. Top4 Marketing takes tedious time and meticulous work in putting your brand out there. You don’t have to do it anymore by yourself! Focus on running your business while we help optimise your business’ online visibility with professionalism and efficiency.
To find out how we can help you with your Website + Marketing, using our unique location marketing platform called Top4, get in touch today at www.top4marketing.com
Looking to build customer loyalty through social media? Don’t forget to add your business to Top4.com.au
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Source: PurpleCow
