How and Where to Get Directory Listings for Your Small Business

The other day, I was having a conversation with a father and son from a family that owns an insurance company. Our conversation led to both of them openly admitting that two generations of experience didn't prepare them for the current business landscape. If you're in the 30+ age group, unless you've been forced to learn, teach, or possess a well-developed curiosity along with plenty of free time, you probably don't really understand how digital marketing works.

Email marketing is about letting people know that you and your business exist. A big part of it is simply being listed among businesses that people are using. Like the father here mentioned, no one goes to the yellow pages anymore. Most people now use Google's local services, which is important for you to ensure you're doing your part to get a higher ranking.

But there's another way people are accessing business resources, and that's through listings. Tons of potential clients, myself included, rely on reliable directories to offer relevant business listings. The question is, how do they get there?

Getting the right listings requires thinking from small to large. Start with any local directories you may have. I would run a regional search, such as Googling your city + business directory to see which directories are popping up. If youre in a large city like New York or Los Angeles, youll likely have pages and pages of search results. Dont waste your time with all of them; instead, stick to about the first half of the first page, stopping when you get to a listing that has a page rank below 3. I should go without saying, but dont forget about Yelp.

On a larger scale, there are some very powerful directories you need to be on if you hope to a) attract bigger fish and b) be a reliable and credible source of business. Hoovers, which I've discussed in detail previously, is one of the leading portals.

Pro Tip: Discover the top business listing sites for USA to boost your online presence, improve local SEO, and attract more customers. Start listing your business now!

And then there's Foursquare. This one obviously boasts skyrocketing users, but it's often overlooked as a business directory. Creating the page used to be a process that ended up limiting its participation to only the big dogs. Luckily, it's since been simplified, so anyone can do it now. But once you're listed, you have to make sure

1. Link your page to Twitter and Facebook

2. Add a profile picture and banner

3. Include a business description that summarizes what others expect from you (in other words, deliver value)

4. Opt-in to give permission to foursquare to count on you.

Some other best business lists include

• locale

• ExpressUpdate

• hotfrog

• Best of the Web

• supermedia

• Citysearch

• Insiderpages

• Brownbook.net

• Universal Business Listing

Universal Business Listing (UBL) has a special reputation. While most directories are free, and UBL requires a minimum of $75/year, it offers a composite business listing service that does it all for you. It lists you in all the major search engines/directories and boosts your ranking through consistent entries.

Before investing the money, take a look at getlisted.org. In a single step that only requires you to enter your business name and zip code, getlisted gives you an idea of ??how your business is performing across search engines and business directories. It also provides a breakdown of what you need to do to fix the problem. Maybe you just need to add a photo or claim a listing, but whatever it is, getlisted offers a clear plan of action. If you're truly underranking for listings, then I'd consider saving time and letting UBL do the work.