Improving Local Search Rank For Contractors & Small Business Owners
There are many ways to help your business become more visible on the web and one of them is to get your business listed in several of the online business directories and consumer review websites. Search engines regularly pull information from these directories when indexing and categorizing websites, especially when it comes to determining the rank of local businesses.
The list below will take 1 – 2 hours of your time to submit your business to all of them but the payoff will come in a few months time when your link popularity increases and your website becomes much more visible to the people who are looking for your services.
So, What Are Local Listings?
Whenever a searcher in your area goes online and types in a service such as “roofing contractor” or “kitchen remodeler” the search engine will always try and display all of the relevant local results first. Google, Bing and Yahoo have all sort of adopted the maps approach, where they will even plot your business location on a map, and put your listing over and above the actual organic search results, because it’s local and deemed more of a match for the searcher. The major search engines factor in plenty of variables to determine your rank and that’s where these local directories, business listing, and consumer review websites come in handy. Some of these listings are FREE and almost all of them offer paid upgrades for more comprehensive listings and business profiles. I will indicate below the costs associated with each and recommendations as to what listings you may want to purchase.
How To Get Your Company Listed
These listings are very important for your local optimization so it’s worth it to put in a little bit of time to make sure your listings are plentiful and complete. Take advantage of the ability to add photos, logos, map links and a thorough description of your products and services. Getting your company listed in any of these sources is actually quite simple. Just fill out the required information and verify your listing. Sometimes the verification process is just a simple email, others it may require a phone call to your business phone or a letter sent to your business address. It just lets them know you are a real person and you are authorizing the listing.
*TIP* – Before you start signing up for all of these business listing services it might be a wise idea to create a free Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail email account to be associated with the listing services, or at least use an email that you don’t mind getting marketing messages to occasionally.
Have Ready Before You Start:
– Your Business Name
– Your Business Address (It’s OK if you’re home based)
– Your Business Phone #’s
– Your Logo/Photos (some allow you to add photos)
Save this information into a word doc or somewhere easy for you to copy/paste into your business profile with each site.
Where Should You List Your Company?
Getting listed is the easy part, choosing where to list can be really confusing considering there is literally thousands of these directories out there. Below is a list of the various places you should consider submitting too first, and in no particular order.
Local Search Directory Submissions For Contractors
Google PlacesHaving your company listed with Google Places/Maps will help to ensure your company can be found for local searchers utilizing Google to find your services. Google Places List Your Business Here <— This one is Free. |
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Yahoo LocalSame principal as Google Places, with Yahoo local you are simply making yourself more visible and letting them know your business exists. Free Listings Yahoo Local – Add Your Business Here |
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Bing LocalBing is Microsoft’s search engine – it’s local site is also popular. Bing Local – Add Your Business Here |
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YelpYelp is a popular place to review businesses. FREE To List Your Business |
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| HandyDirectory (Canada Only)
HandyDirectory.Ca is a Canadian website whose goal is to provide consumers with the best local contractors. FREE To List Your Business HandyDirectory.Ca – Add Your Business Here |
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| HandyCanadian (Canada Only)
HandyCanadian.Com is another Canadian website trying to connect consumers with local contractors. FREE To List Your Business HandyCanadian.Ca – Add Your Business Here |
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| ContractorsInCanada (Canada Only)
ContractorsInCanada is a fairly simple contractor directory website that is useful for Canadian consumers. It is worth the $3.99 for a lifetime listing. $9.95/Year for a featured link |
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| USAContractors (USA Only)
USAContractors.Com is a website with the purpose of connecting consumers with local contractors in their area. The listing is FREE for one category per Contractor. You’ll need to register as a member, then login to your account and fill out your business information. USAContractors.Com – Add Your Business Here |
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| HandyAmerican (USA Only)
HandyAmerican.Com is the sister website to HandyCanadian.Com and provides consumers with information on local contractors. HandyAmerican.Com – List Your Business Here |
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| ConstructionState.Com
ConstructionState.Com is a professionally run contractors directory. It allows consumers to search based on services and state. I am not so sure how much traffic you’ll get from the listing itself, but the link back to your website is very beneficial for your SEO efforts so with that in mind, I am including it here because I believe it’s worth it. $19.95/Year Basic Listing ConstructionState.Com – Add Your Business Here |
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AllConstructionDirectory.Com AllConstructionDirectory.Com is just another online contractor directory. The site is readily found in Google, which means your website link will be too. They charge a $10.00 expedited listing fee. Well worth the $10.00 in my opinion. $10.00 Lifetime Listing AllContructionDirectory.Com – Add Your Business Here |
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| Search4Contractor.Com
Search4Contractor.Com is a trade specific search directory for consumers looking to hire a contractor. The listings are inexpensive and the website is found in Google so this is another one I think is very worthwhile. $7.95/Year for a featured listing. Search4Contractor.Com – Add Your Business Here |
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Merchant CircleMerchant Circle is a local business directory that helps connect businesses together. Useful for finding sub-trades or getting hired on as a contractor. FREE To List Your Business Merchant Circle – Add Your Business Here |
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KudzuKudzu is a very popular locally oriented directory and business review site. FREE To List Your Business Kudzu – Add Your Business Here |
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Best Of The Web LocalBest Of The Web Local provides a great platform to list your business for Free. They also have paid upgrade options as well. FREE To List Your Business Best Of The Web Local – Add Your Business Here |
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Angie’s ListAngie’s List provides a subscription service for consumers, where they can write and read reviews of thousands of local businesses, this one is especially valuable for contractors and service business providers. Angie’s List – Add Your Business Here |
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ZidsterZidster is a search engines to help consumers locate the best local businesses. FREE To List Your Business Zidster – Add Your Business Here |
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InfoUSA / Express Update USAInfogroup has recently launched the Express Update USA site for listing your business. They provide business information to a variety of places. Express Update USA – Add Your Business Here |
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SupermediaSupermedia powers several directories and smaller websites. FREE To List Your Business Supermedia – Add Your Business Here |
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YellowPages / YP.comYellowpages.com or YP.com, is obviously a popular website because of it’s traditional association with helping consumers find what they need. FREE To List Your Business Yellow Pages – Add Your Business Here |
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InsiderpagesInsiderpages is another busy directory/review site. |
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LocalezeLocaleze is rapidly becoming a popular consumer resource and helps increase your online presence through social networks. Localeze – Add Your Business Here |
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Local.comLocal.com is another directory/review site. FREE To List Your Business Local.com – Add Your Business Here |
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ShopCityShopCity is a directory of local businesses. FREE To List Your Business ShopCity – Add Your Business Here |
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YellowbotYellowbot is a local search site that many of the larger search engines feed information from. FREE To List Your Business Yellowbot – Add Your Business Here |
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HotFrogHotFrog has several country specific business directory websites (Canada/USA and more) FREE To List Your Business HotFrog – Add Your Business Here |
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CitySquaresCitySquares is yet one more local business directory. CitySquares – Add Your Business Here |
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MatchpointMatchpoint is a directory with a variety of features for businesses. Matchpoint – Add Your Business Here |
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Judy’s BookA very popular location for consumers to review local businesses. $9.95 ONE-TIME or $10.49/Month for an Enhanced Listing. Because it’s a paid directory there will be a lot less listings to compete with which is better for you and your SEO. Judy’s Book – Add Your Business Here |
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MagicYellowMagicYellow is another site bringing the YellowPage listings online. FREE To List Your Business. MagicYellow – Add Your Business Here |
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Now That You’re All Finished.
The purpose of all of these listings isn’t too create an avalanche of traffic to your website. These listings are to help the Search Engines see that your website exists, and helps them categorize your importance based on the services you provide and your service areas. These listings won’t make a difference in your business today, or tomorrow for that matter. Your website will start to benefit between 3-6 months AFTER you’ve completed all of these listings. Search Engines don’t rank websites overnight, it’s a long slow process.
If you have any questions please let us know
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