If you have a small business with local projection, you must attack at that level in your advertising and digital marketing campaigns. Then your competition is significantly reduced; now it’s just you with a few more businesses.
Let’s put ourselves in the situation. You have a small, local business and want it to be successful. Competing with large companies in your same sector is impossible because you cannot afford the costs of extensive advertising and marketing campaigns. Even if you did, the return would not justify that investment.
As an SEO and web positioning consultant, I must talk to you about specific actions. I had already told you that a marketing strategy based on local SEO positioning is very convenient in these cases. When I mentioned it, I told you about commercial directories.
What are Business Directories and Business Listings?
Its name indicates it; they are portals that accumulate all the offers, often filtered according to the site where it is, of available products and services.
For example, if you are in Barcelona, there are local directories with all the companies that make life there; it would come to be what the yellow pages were in its time.
Generally, these lists and directories of companies are usually free; you can register the company with the information you want and do not have to pay anything for it. But there are also paid directories, usually a minimal amount, because they offer other additional and parallel services: advertising to your target market, email marketing, advertising on social networks, etc.
Many of these directories are highly consulted by Internet users, which is why they show benefits for the evolution of the presence of your business on the Internet.
Of all the directories and business listings, without a doubt, Google My Business is the best of all. The requirements are more complex than in other online business directories. Still, it is also true that your company, thanks to Google My Business, can appear in Google searches and on the map of your Google Maps area quickly and without you having to do anything. Nothing else from you.
The benefit that the rest of the commercial directories on the Internet can bring you will depend on the search habits of your potential customers on the Internet. There are directories and lists of companies that many users visit when looking for a product or service; there, you should also be present.
Benefits of Registering in Directories and Business Listings
First, I want you to know that writing business lists and guides are straightforward, so the benefits are even more attractive. Let’s see some.
Improve your SEO Web Ranking
This is one of the main reasons you should make a presence in online directories. One of the most critical missions for your SEO optimization and Web positioning strategy, especially SEO Growth Hacking, is to gain links to your website.
By creating profiles in local business listings and directories, you have the opportunity to add these links. If you notice, these websites, being significant in search engines, give your website authority, which automatically translates into an improvement in Web positioning in Internet search engines such as Google.
As long as you register your company on more websites, your website will receive more links, which will help you climb positions in the search results.
It’s not all you can do, but it’s a good boost.
Free Advertising
As I said before, it costs nothing to register in local directories. If someone consults the lists and sees your company’s name, you will receive publicity without paying anything.
My advice so that this benefit is even more significant is that you know how to develop your profile in these lists “with an eye”; Write an attractive presentation that arouses the interest of your potential clients.
Improve the Visibility of your Business
Being realistic, having a Web page does not guarantee that your potential clients will find you on the Internet. It takes several months to appear on the first page of organic results, like in Google, and that’s only if you know how to do things right.
Like paid ads on Web search engines, users see you more with registration in business lists and directories.
I have always thought that appearing in a local online directory is very smart of us because when filters are applied, users only receive a few results from companies, and among them, yours will be.
If you have a good presence in local business directories, it is very feasible that you can redirect traffic to your business website. In that sense, you not only have permalinks to your page but actual visits from potential buyers. That is why local directories are one of the strategies of all Trafficker Digital.
Ease of Being Found
It is a benefit that is there and that we do not always see, but if you appear in all the lists of local companies, you have many numbers to impact with your possible client; no matter what page you go to to find a nearby business, you’ll always be there.
It’s the same thing you do in your social media strategy; your goal is to match your target market as often as possible.
Higher Probability of Closing Sales
If you look, users on social networks find your business by chance and do not always have the intention of buying. In business directories, the picture is quite different.
For example, suppose a person takes the time to search for a web page design and development company in a directory or list of local companies in Terrassa. In that case, they are seriously considering hiring services of this type. Who finds us in these directories is a potential client who is studying the offers, a possible authentic sale.
Again, if you know how to stand out from the other companies that appear in the online directory, the opportunities for success can be enormous.
Improve your Reputation
Appearing in local business directories and listings helps the customer see you as a serious option.
Many times, the big problem with small businesses is that they don’t have a well-known brand and people are hesitant to give them a try.
When these customers can associate your business with Websites they trust, such as an online directory or listing of companies in a specific industry, your reputation improves.
For example, if Google shows a search result with your company’s name, the user feels more confident about making that first contact with your business. And that is maximized if there are also good reviews of your company by former customers.
Of course, in the case of Google, you must stimulate the participation and evaluation of your clients so that your business appears first and with good reviews.
Help Other Companies Find You
This is a somewhat abstract benefit, but there is a chance that you will get it. Currently, small businesses make strategic alliances with each other to grow.
If a business that complements yours is looking for a collaboration, it is very likely that you will find candidates in directories and company lists.
No business should be closed to these odds; building a network of contacts or Networking is one of the most positive strategies for any business in almost any commercial sector.
Believe me when I tell you that you are much more likely to be found in a business directory or listing than on social media or searching for results on web search engines. And it is that the information is much better classified in these lists and guides.
You Can Inform That your Company is Going
Talking about classification has me thinking about this benefit. And it is that although search engines do everything possible to be indexed for what we offer, the client often does not know what our business provides very well.
With list sorting and filters, it’s much easier to give details of what we do. What we write is the most important thing, but the sectors in which we decide to appear are already telling what the offer is about.
In a list or directory of companies, you will never be able to give as many details as on your website, but enough to attract them and take them to your website.
Consolidate your Business Offline
This is a benefit that very few take into account and can be one of the most attractive. Imagine that you don’t have a website, and yet you own a small business with a physical store somewhere in the world.
Knowing that users prefer to use the Internet to search, you could register in local business directories to invite users and potential customers to call you or go to your location.
For example, if you own a restaurant, you probably don’t have a website, but you can use local business listings to help users find you. Again, it’s all about matching where your customers are looking.
Improve your Brand Presence
In this case, it will depend on how you put together your ad lists. Typically, a business brand is associated with a logo. If you include this in your profiles of the different directories, you will likely be recording that image with Internet users and potential clients.
When customers see your company logo, they will associate it with what you offer.
Thoughts on Local Business Directories and Listings
As you may have noticed, there are many benefits. It is an excellent opportunity for your business that perhaps you had not considered doing it.
To implement, the first thing is to search for the best online directories for your niche and start creating profiles, but you can start with Google My Business because you are interested.
As I have told you before, first of all, think carefully about what you will say and how you will express it in your ads. It is not about registering you to meet the requirement; your presence must be constant and consistent with your profiles in all media.
