In May, we touched on on-site and off-site SEO, or commonly referred to as on-page and off-page SEO. One of the most overlooked areas in off-site SEO is local directory listings. This area of SEO is frequently overlooked because most of these websites crawl the web in a similar way that Google does in order to retrieve the correct information about businesses. If you have a business, there are two important reasons you should claim as many of these local directory listings as possible.
The first reason is that when you claim local directory listings, your website will get a NAP score. NAP refers to Name, Address, and Phone Number. If some websites display an old or incorrect address, phone number, or an old DBA name for your business, then Google and other search engines must try to determine which is the correct information. However, if your information is all correct, search engines will rank your website higher for trust, authority, and better web presence because there is no guessing what is the correct information. There is a consensus that this is correct and the website is valid.
The second reason is that not all directories are created equal. Some directory listings allow for minimal information, while others allow businesses to add information for a robust profile. Having your information as complete as possible will help your business rank better across the web.
So how do you add or correct all of this information if it is incorrect? There are two routes to tackle the items above. The first is to create individual profiles for each directory website. We do not recommend this as it will be very time consuming. The other route is using a directory listing service. There are a number of these services like Yext, Local Listing Ninja, Advice Local, and others. The directory services all have a different approach. Some will create the listings manually, while others are API driven. Some do a mixture of both.
The graphic below shows Corporate Conversions’ actual client profile averages. Many of the businesses we work with have a low score to start, but we can help quickly remedy that so your website gets optimal visibility locally! We can run a local directory listing audit for your website information. If your website does not score above average, we can give you recommendations or help you find the best solution for your local listing needs. If you would like to assess your current business listings, examine the reviews customers have left for you, or solicit more reviews, click here to begin.
To improve the off-page SEO for your website, don’t neglect local directory listings. For help getting your listings up to date and correct, call us. We would be happy to help improve your website’s SEO any way we can.
