Businesses and customers are still searching local.
“Local” Directory Services are still used extensively by people or businesses when searching, so it is prudent to take every opportunity and get relevant quality back links to your sites and listings. This is crucial for these directory services in order to appear in the Search Engine Page Results (serps), however we must add that one should not use any old directory service! At Howzit Media Marketing we do our homework and investigate the page rank or page authority of these directory services, we look for a minimum PR3 or page authority of 30 (the page ranking). Google penalized many of these directory services a few years ago and stripped them of their rankings as they came to be seen as nothing more than “Link Farms”.
Local Business Directories
Local business directories can be a valuable and often overlooked source of traffic and links. As Google continues to roll out “Universal Search” results, one can see that they are becoming very regionalized.
One of the many benefits of submitting to local business directories includes:
Local Brand Recognition: Good brands tend to be well established, which is reflected in their Page Authority or Page Rank. They are not usually targeted by optimizers, which helps to create a unique profile and increase recognition amongst a growing customer base. It is important to establish your brand in the local market and build trust with the businesses (in your targeted directory) and consumers that support you.