Anita -

I actually used Google to search for directories and with that you will get sites that do have lists that do come up. Here are a few that I have used. I find the ones where you can add additional links, detail on your products and promotions are the most helpful: Manta, Hotfrog, Yelp.

There will be local directories and industry ones as well. For example I live in Ontario in Canada and I searched directories that had a focus on small business and were local, regional, or national in Canada and a few came up as well. So what ever state or region you are located use that as part of your search.

Another place which is great where you can for free add your company is LinkedIn. I find this tool more than beneficial and you can hook it up to other social media that you have as well. Though is important to have a profile yourself, but if you are associated with a company, you can add a company. I noticed recently they added products, careers, and even have an analytics section to look at who is hitting you as well. I now have a business account (19 a month) and am not sure if all of that is free, but do know for a fact the company page is.

Hope this helps you.

Karen Fischer edit

Hi Anita,

I wrote an article on my blog about a week ago that provided a number of links at the end to business directories / review sites. You can check it out at:

http://blastsocialmedia.com/articles/important-consumer-reviews-small-businesses/

That said, there are 2 points I think worth considering.

1. Aside from the standard directories that are affiliated with search engines (those you cited above) and those with longstanding brand and pagerank power (i.e. yellowpages, dex, etc.), most business directories are only marginally useful from an SEO perspective. Pay more attention to the review sites like those I cite in my article. These sites have the advantage of generating more referral traffic than the average business directory and they can also increase consumer trust through reviews. In the long-term they also have the advantage of being more meaningful in search as Google, Bing, and Yahoo continue to increase the significance of social media and user-generated content in their algorithms. These review sites and their "thumbs up" systems may soon be incorporated into all local business search. Just search up some businesses you're familiar with in google search and look at their "google maps" listings. You'll probably find Insider Pages or Merchant Circle reviews there.

2. From an SEO perspective, no business directory links are even close to as lucrative as editorial links (aka. content area links) attained from reputable websites and blogs. Having a blogger who has a blog that is well recognized by search engines write one unique article about your business is worth ten or more business directory links. I would caution against plastering your website in every directory you can find, because often times, these directories can also lead to proliferation, and you'll soon find your business address appearing on all sorts of sites that you've never even heard of. If you later change your business address, phone number , or other information, you will find it difficult or even impossible to update your business information on the proliferated sites, which may then cause customers who find the information to be misled. edit

Thanks for this information! edit

Thanks for the information! edit

Will is right that whether or not a business directory offers a link to your website matters, however, even if a link to your website is offered, that doesn't mean the links are helpful. Two situations can make a link from a business directory virtually useless.

1.) Many business directories may by default have their outbound links attached to "nofollow"commands. These effectively block the search bots from following the link back to your site. In this situation the link juice is absent or minimal, although most SEO's agree that one still benefits from "http:// yourwebsite.com" being included in the copy of the website. Many times you can check for this by looking at the source code of the page through your web browser. In Mozilla click "View" on the upper toolbar and then select "page source." It'll look something like this:

At the Meta level:

"<meta name="robots" rel="nofollow" />"

At the link level:

"<a href="http:// yourwebsite.com" rel="nofollow" />"

2.) If you're directory link is deeply nested within a website then chances are the page isn't even indexed by the search engine, and if it isn't indexed, then there is a good chance that the link won't be found or identified. Business directories that deeply nest business listings represent a waste of your time and resources. To illustrate, this is what your URL for your business would look like in a directory that places your business link 5 degrees separated from the home page.

"http:// thedirectorysite.com/tier2/tier3/tier4/tier5/finally-your-business-link-somewhere-on-the-page.html"

This would be a crumby business link. ;) edit

Also be aware of javascript generated links. For free How to Construct a good link read my blog: http://admanlinks.wordpress.com/ edit

Here is a great article i wrote how web directory submissions enhance SEO, http://www.onlinemarketingconsultantnyc.com/303857/2011/11/29/web-directory-submissions-help-enhance-seo.html

There are 2 great options here to start with.. edit

Hi,
To add to the other information already stated. You also need to insure that your meta title includes your highest ranking meta tag keyword a comma then your site name exactly as it is. example:
<.title>money, Aircastles-Internet-Marketing LLC<./title>
<.meta name="Keywords" content="money, Air-Castles-Marketing LLC, making money, business, Air-Castles-Marketing".>
<.meta name="description" content="money, Aircastles-Internet-Marketing LLC".>

############

Your key words can not be listed in your article/write up more the 3-4% of the total word count. secondary key word phrases should never be over 1-2%, and the title needs the highest ranking keyword included.

Anything more then this can cause the search engines to drop your listing for spamming.

Each page in your website must have this type of data included.

additional... your pages need link backs, you can provide some of these by blogging every where you can and just include your home page url as part of your signature block, next is writing articles and having them posted at the websites that accept article submissions.

Hope this helps

Nelda Percival
CEO
http://aircastles.internet.marketing.biz
a licensed LLC Company - Missouri, USA edit