Local Search

How to get listed in local directories online (Yellow Pages)

There are many ways that potential clients will find you on the Internet including local search directories. Local search is a term used for directories formatted geographically. Several well known services allow you to submit a free business profile, hours of operation, payment methods, products & services, website link and contact information. Internet directories can drive local traffic to you directly from their business listings. Further, many directory listings can appear near the top within search engine results at MSN, Yahoo and Google. This is the result of recent efforts by some of these companies to make their listing services more attractive.

Here are free services we think are important. We include links to get you started to submit or modify your listings. All have good directions to walk you through the process. All have basic free listings and some offer premium services that you can add if you think it is appropriate for your business.

If you already have a listing in these directories you may want to occasionally revisit them to review and modify your details.

Verizon Super Pages
http://www.superpages.com/

Verizon listings are used by multiple other search services, including MSN, so your listing will be available through many other directories.

If you have your phone service through Verizon you should already have a listing. As the owner you can sign in and add additional details about your business.

Go to http://advertising.superpages.com/spweb/products/business-listing and sign up for a Free Business Listing Account.

Google Local and Google Maps
http://maps.google.com/

Account sign up is necessary but free.

Google is important because of their popularity as a search source on the Internet. Further, when searches are done through regular search and geographic search terms are used, such as “contractors natick, ma”, they will often present Local Business Results with Google Map information at the top of the page. Google also allows multiple listings for multiple business locations.

Google explains how to setup an account here http://maps.google.com/support/bin/topic.py?topic=10793

Yahoo Local
http://local.yahoo.com/

At the top of the page either sign in to your Yahoo account or sign up.
Account sign up is necessary but free

Like Google and MSN, a Yahoo listing is important because of their popularity as a search source on the Internet.

YellowPages.com
http://www.yellowpages.com/

Register for an account. Sign up is necessary but free.

YellowPages.com provides it’s results to many other services, including SwitchBoard.com and AOL Yellow Pages, so a listing here will show up in multiple directories. Once you get listed you may receive a sales call to sell you premium services.