Are there any online directories that an online ONLY store should list itself in?

[Edward_Sturm]

I watched the Whiteboard Friday Video about this, but didn't hear it deal with directories exclusively.

Should an online only store use online directories- and if so, how? Would there be a NAP involved?

[Nigel_Carr]

Hi Edward - yes the online 'ONLY' was staring me in the face - this is more suited to companies with a physical presence. Still important to have consistent NAP wherever it is listed but not so much on locally only focused directories.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Nigel!

That is a really good list from Whitespark, but it's applicable to truly local business models. I think, in Edward's case, we're talking about a virtual business, which changes our outlook considerably on best marketing strategies.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Edward,

That's a good question, and I can see that the WB Friday you've linked to doesn't really answer it. In a nutshell:

1. Local business listings on sites like Google, Infogroup, Yelp, etc., are meant to represent businesses that meet face-to-face with consumers in the offline world, either at the company's location (like a restaurant) or where the customers are (like a plumber). So, no, your virtual business shouldn't be building these types of "structured" citations.

2. This, however, does not preclude you from getting un-structured citations from entities that are local to you. So, for example, your carpet factory is located in Augusta, Maine. You do not have an offline showroom that sells your carpets directly to customers at the factory. Rather, your carpets are sold on your website, and perhaps at 3 local home improvement stores and also at select national retailers. While you don't sell directly to consumers at your factory, your factory plays an important role in the community. It sponsors a children's crafts program at the Augusta community center, as well as contributing team uniforms to the Augusta Little League. The website for both of these entities might then mention your sponsorship, including linking to your website, as a form of an unstructured, partial citation. Meanwhile, as a major employer in Augusta, your brand might be mentioned on local online news sites or blogs, providing further citations. These citations might feature your complete NAP (name, address, phone), your partial NAP, a link to your site or no link at all, but all of them act as references to your business that Google sees as data that reinforces belief in the existence of your company.

3. For a virtual business, citations are not nearly as important as they are for true local business models, If they contain links from authoritative sources, they definitely will help you SEO-wise, but their purpose in terms of featuring your NAP just isn't the same. For a local business, repeat references to accurate NAP are believed to strongly impact local rankings, but your business won't be going for local rankings, so your mindset in regards to being mentioned by local entities is organic, rather than local.

4. As for online-only directories, they do exist, but I wouldn't focus too much on them. These were a big deal a decade ago, but due to abuses of them, Google has significantly downgraded any impact they may have on actual rankings. So, rather than focusing on directories, you may be better off looking for ways to get press from local or industry publications that would enhance awareness of your brand and be a credit to it.

Hope this helps!

[Edward_Sturm]

Google, Twitter, Foursquare, Yelp - I thought these were mainly for local. GMB for example- isn't that local?

[Nigel_Carr]

Hi Edward

It is really important to have your NAP listed across all the common directories - well when I say all, not low grade ones obviously but sites like Google, Twitter, Foursquare, Yelp, Yell, Thompson Directory etc, depending on your country. There is a great list on Whitespark and you can download a citation checker so that all of the information is consistent across the web. I have seen very tangible moves up in SERPS when this is done correctly as many of these sites are high DA.

This is brilliant - A convenient list by location. I hope it helps: https://whitespark.ca/top-local-citation-sources-by-country/

Kind Regards

Nigel