Local Listing Directories value
-
Hello fellow mozzers,
I would like to start a discussion on whether certain local listing directories are worth it.
Most people are of course familiar with Google+ Local(Google Places), Yahoo Local, Bing Local, Yelp, Hotfrog etcetera..
I know there are a lot more of these big local listing directories.
I am situated in Holland and we have a lot of small local listing directories.
Some of these directories are not really good quality. For example:
http://dordrecht.cylex-bedrijvengids.nl/bedrijf/pizza-presto-dordrecht-12014914.htmlThis domain is filled with ads in prominent locations. They have a domain authority of 44 and as far as i can tell there are close to 0 reviews on companies. (So not a very active community).
When you perform SEO for a local business you want the business to be found in the local search results. Google goes around the web to see if the business information (contact and address information, website etcetera) is consistent on different local listing directories. The links from the directories are still links and therefor they pass a certain amount of PageRank.
How much value do you think local listing directories such as the links i will provide below will add to a business? Do you think it is worth the time to find these small directory sites and fill in information about the business there or is your time better spent on other SEO activities?
I would love to hear your input on this subject
Links
-
Don't forget that I am from Holland and that a lot of the American directories do not work for for Holland. But thank you for the advice.
-
I would direct submit to all the biggies and then submit through LocalEZE (now Nuestar (sp?)) for the lesser directories. Chris ^ is exactly right, there's diminishing returns on spending the 5-10 min to claim your listings on every directory and if you look at the David Mihm infographic that Chris shared you'll see that LocalEZE feeds most of the lesser known directories. That's what I've been doing for my clients for years and it works well.
-
It depends on what you are trying to get out of it.
If you are using local directories to improve your SEO and inbound link profile, then no - I don't think they are worth the time.
If you are using local directories to get your brand in front of potential customers, then yes, it is definitely worth your time.
-
I know what Local SEO can do for your business:)
My question is however whether the small local listing directories are worth spending time and effort on.The reason i'm asking this is that i got a discussion with some quite recently on the subject of how important the smaller local listing directories are towards your ranking in both the normal search results and in the local search results.
-
Local directories will help you with expanding your reach for local search. Having a listing on Google Places, Bing, Yahoo, Yelp, FourSquare, etc., will get your brand in front of potential customers faces. Isn't this the ultimate goal? Whether or not this helps you rank in search engines, you still want to turn leads into sales.
If you are looking at local directories as your sole source of inbound links to improve your SEO, you should probably look elsewhere, but if your interested in getting your brand out there for people to see, local directories are essential.
-
Well, once you get down to the point where it's not worth the time and effort, you kind of start spitting hairs but for the majority of those little directories, I'd say even the IP diversity factor is of little or no value--and that wouldn't really be of help in local search anyway. When you see a local site that might be of value to your local results, it's going to stand out from from garbage directories and such.
-
Thank you for responding
So if i understand your answer correctly. You think that the smaller local listing directories are not worth the time and effort or they do not provide any benefit at all?
-
As far as directories that are typically of primary value to local search, I'd stick with David Mihm's local search ecosystem. Outside of those, you might do searches for the [name, telephone number] of the top listed local results to get a feel for their local citations. Sites that provide overlapping citations to the highest-listed local results should be at the top of the priority list to check out.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Local Seo for Two Offices?
What is the best way to go about doing local seo for two offices? Everything I can research on local seo provides awesome information...if you have one office, but we have two: one is in downtown Tampa and the other in a northern suburb. Anyone have experience with this that they'd like to share? I'd appreciate it. Happy Friday! Ruben
Image & Video Optimization | | KempRugeLawGroup1 -
Schema for a local business with multiple locations
Hello I am trying to add schema to a website that has several locations. Is the best way to do this is by tagging the home page of the website as the business main location and then create a page for each location and then mark them up accordingly? Thank you for your help.
Image & Video Optimization | | edwardfrebow0 -
Local Citation NAP: Comma difference
Hello, Is there a difference between: 111 Streetname #L, City, CA, 84111 and then on facebook it's 111 Streetname #L City, CA 84111 on two different lines? Note on the first one, there is a comma after #L and on the two line facebook page citation, there's no comma after #L. Should I add a comma on facebook after the #L? Thanks!
Image & Video Optimization | | BobGW1 -
Can SEO companies be listed on Google Local, Bing Local, and Yahoo Local?
Can anyone confirm if SEO companies can be listed in the local results for Google, Yahoo, and Bing? I'm asking because when you search for most local terms, it will return their local listings. However, that doesn't appear to be the case when searching for SEO or marketing services - or at least none show up when searching from Houston and I'm pretty sure we have quite a few SEO companies here 😉
Image & Video Optimization | | ChaseCameron0 -
For Local SEO on a business with many locations, should the city be included in the business name?
For a franchised business with ~50 locations spread across the US, should the city be included in the business name when building citations? Fictional example: We have a staffing franchise called 'Hamilton Staffing'. They have 50 locations in the US. They are all called 'Hamilton Staffing'. We need to finalize the correct NAP information so we are consistent in building citations. For the name, should we just use 'Hamilton Staffing' for all of them? Or should we use 'Hamilton Staffing - Chicago' and the like for other locations? It looks like InfoUSA and Axciom are just using 'Hamilton Staffing', whereas Google is using 'Hamilton Staffing Chicago' and the like. Thoughts on this?
Image & Video Optimization | | brianspatterson0 -
Google local listings question
im working with gutter installation company, and we're ranking for all the top keywords in google. the only thing that we're not ranking for is for the map results, for the keyword "gutter ma" since we're located in Springfield ma, i thing Google considers certain areas from Boston, because its more center of Massachusetts, What can i do to improve my rankings in maps for this keyword, because i know it wont work with PO box since i need to confirm an address? Thanks
Image & Video Optimization | | vladraush990 -
Local SEO: How to optimize for multiple cities on website
Hi, I couldn't find any reference to this, so if the answer is already here, I would appreciate a link to the answer. That said, my question is this: When a local business services a large geographic area, I wanted to know how to optimize for the multiple towns? I already have the main city in my title tags, but there are at least 40 areas that surround this town. Should I have a "Services Area" page, and place all the towns there, or should they all be in the footer? I saw this one guy - in the same niche who put all the towns in his meta keyword section - but I think that's incorrect, especially since Google doesn't look at that particular meta tag. Any help would be appreciated.
Image & Video Optimization | | jayestovall1 -
[local seo] How to compete against e.g. yellowpages on Google Rank 1 - 4?
Hi Folks, How to compete against the big SEO-powered pages like Yellowpages in the SERPs? I mean, they have thousands of Rd -> Rd Links as well as super Page and Domain Authority. How has a let's say Dentist or Electrician a decent chance to compete against those? Does Google give credit to them because of the Content they have on their page? These yellowpages totally take the fun out of it for my clients. Answeres would really much appreciated. Thank you. For me it feels like Don Quijote.
Image & Video Optimization | | gooddy1