Introduction

<p>Business directories are very important from local search perspective. If you want to give your business improved local search rankings, and wants to establish relevance for your audience and business, then identifying the business directory and launching a listing on it would help you. Google works with its various tools in establishing a perfect local online presence for your business. If you are planning to list your business on a local listing, which one should you choose? Which will effectively improve your rankings? Here are a few business directories that are suggested for you. We will discuss the features and the benefits of these directories to help you choose the right ones for your business.</p><h2><strong>Google Places for Business</strong></h2><p>Google Places for Business should be the first place to list your business. The reason being you cannot ignore Google’s search powers and ranking capabilities even with local searches. Not only is this listing available for free but also offers to integrate with Google maps. This means your address will be available on the map, which makes it easy for the user to reach your place. This listing works on web 2.0 principle, which means you get genuine user reviews, which will help you know if the business identifies your need or not.</p><h2><strong>Bing Places for Business</strong></h2><p>After Google, Bing is the most sought after place for searches. It is only sensible to be present on this search engine. It is a free business listing site. It allows you to add photos, videos and other types of content to enhance your listing. You can even add multiple locations to a single listing to make it relevant for different locations.</p><h2><strong>Yelp!</strong></h2><p>This is a popular business directory wherein the data available is crowdsourced. It acts like a social networking site wherein user reviews and their conversations help users select the place that seems relevant to their search. If you are listed on this website, you are sure to reach out to real and relevant audience. Recently, the website has included a feature using which you can reserve a table at your choice of restaurant.</p><h2><strong>Merchant Circle</strong></h2><p>This is the business directory meant to connect local businesses with relevant local audience. With the free marketing tools, you can build your business effectively. You can localize the listing to match geographic needs. This website allows you to host a business blog. You can even promote your listing to get more users.</p><h2><strong>Yellow Pages</strong></h2><p>An online version of the famous business directory that served offline for years, it has a good and organized interface with detailed listing relevant to local audiences. The best part of this directory is that it receives a huge chunk of data and searches each day.</p><h2><strong>White Pages</strong></h2><p>The white pages in phone book have been taken online with the White Pages business directory. It allows paid ads to promote your listing. This allows premium text messaging services for mobile marketing.</p><h2><strong>Angie’s List</strong></h2><p>If you are a service-based business, you should list your brand on this website. You need to pay for the membership on this site. This site allows your users to review the different businesses listed, and help others choose the ones that will benefit them.</p><h2><strong>Yahoo! Local Listing</strong></h2><p>Yahoo! is another popular search engine, and listing on this site will help you reach to local audience. You can always get the premium membership to put up photos and basic company description to improve your search results. It helps you reach out to more audience base.</p><h2><strong>Superpages.com</strong></h2><p>This has unique features that might interest you like cars for sale, lottery results etc. It even offers helpful tips to businesses. You get local weather listings at the top of the page. It allows social login which is an exclusive feature.</p><h2><strong>Yellowbook</strong></h2><p>You can create unique and searchable listing with this business directory. The full profile includes complete information on your business along with a link to your website. You can have product descriptions too. Include display and video ads for better reach.</p><h2><strong>TestFreaks</strong></h2><p>Listing on this will get you both customer reviews and seller reviews. You will be rated based on the reviews collected. With the question answer feature, this site definitely gets the icing on the cake.</p><h2><strong>Trustpilot</strong></h2><p>You have the basic and premium version for this review site. The free version allows you to have a profile page, while the premium version allows you to customize your review invites, share ratings and even the social media reviews.</p><h2><strong>YellowBot</strong></h2><p>You can list your contact details and location on this listing site. With the premium account, you can easily manage your account on this listing site. You can add searchable tags to your listing.</p><h2><strong>Manta</strong></h2><p>This site has over 30 Mn unique visitors and searches. You can improve your website traffic with the optimization packages offered by this listing site. If you want to improve your searches, you should highlight the brands and products on this site.</p><h2><strong>CitySearch</strong></h2><p>This directory has a wide partner network which includes Expedia, Urbanspoon etc. You can welcome your users with a fun message, and it would indicate city wise searches.</p><h2><strong>MapQuest</strong></h2><p>With this web mapping service, you can get users to your doorstep. It offers detailed driving directions to the users. It offers a central dashboard to manage your listings.</p><h2><strong>Local.com</strong></h2><p>You get everything and anything you need to know about your business right here with Local. It also offers advertising options to boost the brand visibility.</p><h2><strong>Foursquare</strong></h2><p>It is not just a business directory, but also a social networking website. You can map check-in, check for reviews and integrate with Twitter to enhance your presence.</p><h2><strong>Dexknows</strong></h2><p>This directory helps you know how your users interact with your social profile, so that you can provide them engaging information. It also directs you with business advertising.</p><h2><strong>HotFrog</strong></h2><p>You can detail your profile with this website, and even offer coupons and deals as incentives to your customers.</p>