Making sure your business’ location and services data is up to date across the Web is perhaps the most important thing you can do to help potential customers find you. And the Local SEO Guide is here to help.
The sites listed below are some of the most important in the local search world. On most you can update the data they display about your business for free and who doesn’t like a free yellow pages listing?
NEW!
Since I wrote this ten years ago (!) a lot has changed. One service in particular can help you speed up the whole yellow pages updating process:
Yext Powerlistings can automatically update your business’ information across 50+ of the top local search sites out there including Yelp, Yahoo Local, SuperPages and more. They also now do review monitoring. It’s not free, but the amount of time it can save you is huge. Check it out here.
Here’s their fancy graphic showing where they send their data:
Full Disclosure: I get paid every time someone buys a Powerlisting via that link. It’s not much, but it helps keep the lights on at the blog – and I do think it’s a great service. Ok, end of shill…
Major Local Search Engines/Yellow Pages Submission Sites
– Add a business to CitySearch (now known as CityGrid). UPDATED 6/24/13: This link no longer works. Apparently you can add a business for free by emailing them directly. Their email address is: myaccount@citygridmedia.com
All you have to give them is [your business name, address, and phone number] , web address, and category and they’ll add it manually for you. It takes them 3-5 days to create the listing and then 2 weeks before it’s searchable on their website. Hat tip to Phil Rozek.
– Not sure if you can get a free listing here
Local.com Free Business Listing
Mapquest Local Business Center – Mapquest no longer provides a business claiming/updating function. They have outsourced it to Yext. To add or update a business on Mapquest you need a Yext Powerlisting.
MerchantCircle – How to add a business listing to or update/edit a listing on MerchantCircle.
Patch – Claim your business on AOL’s Patch.com local business directory.
Superpages.com Free Listing This is where you can add, edit or delete a listing on SuperPages.com
Yahoo Local Free Business Listing
Yellowbook 360 It doesn’t look like you can add a business to Yellowbook.com without becoming an advertiser.
Yellowpages.com Create A Listing
Yelp You need to become a member and then add a listing
Major Data Suppliers to Local Search Engines
Localeze®Neustar® Manage Your Business Listing
Yext Powerlistings Update NAP info across 50 top local sites from one dashboard, suppress duplicate listings in minutes (affiliate link)
Popular and/or Well-SEO’d Local Search Engines With Customer Reviews
Insider Pages – How to claim your business on InsiderPages.com
MagicYellow.com Add Your Business
UK Yellow Pages – Local Search Sites in England
If you know of other free yellow pages listing sites that have a lot of traffic let me know. And one more pitch for you to try a free business listing scan on Yext.
It’s Mr. Data!
124 Response Comments
*Axciom.com I have no idea what page to use. These guys need some usability help*
I believe that axciom will not allow an individual to update or add a listing to their database. They get their local data straight from Telephone companies. I think the strategy behind this is to have telephone company operators hand-edit their information.
Incidentally, Google can than can get this hand- edited information from a site like Allpages.com, which I bet includes the age of the listing and use it part of the Maps Algo.
Axciom has been “axced”. Thanks Tim.
Thanks for the list Andrew. When you build your list of free listings inside niche markets let me know, I’ve got your back.
Frank’s page is awesome. If you are looking for a more exhaustive list of places to update your data it’s a good start. If you are just looking for the biggest bang for the buck I think mine should do just fine.
FYI some of Frank’s links are out of date.
Great resource, thanks for the local tips, Andrew!
Hey, I wanted the title of Mr. data!
Great list.
I’m hurt Andrew! We’ve been through so much and you still neglect us here at Zvents 😉
And of course everyone should make sure their business is listed on Zvents.com.
Paul, please point my readers to the page on your site where you can add your listing and I’ll be happy to post it.
Great list but are you only listing US sites? There’s a fair few UK sites as well and local search is huge over here. Just to get you started there’s http://www.bizwiki.co.uk – wiki style business directory where any registered user can contribute and it’s free to submit/change, http://www.welovelocal.com – businesses must be verified and then it’s free for them to submit/change, http://www.touchlocal.com – basic listing is free.
Teresha,
Unfortunately I am a typical American and only thinking about what happens in these borders. Thanks for expanding my limited world-view.
MagicYellow is a waste of time, free listings will not show, they are strictly a pay to play directory/and a ripp off- no value – I’ve found great value in Localized SEM on google/Yahoo and have used bid management software for my national campaigns,
Duly noted Joe. Thanks.
Just FYI: in all of our ‘expansion’ markets (ie, any market outside of Atlanta, Las Vegas, San Diego and Arizona), Kudzu is giving away FREE Premium Profiles through 2008 (a $900 value), if you add your business before the end of the year. In addition to display features (logo, photos, video, etc.), Premium Profiles show up higher in search results…
http://free.kudzu.com
Duly noted Ed. Get em while they are hot.
Great article! I enjoyed this one, Andrew.
I’ve just found myself userped from the local results for my primary keyword, so thanks for the info. I’m based in Glasgow UK, so many of your links aren’t of use, but perhaps those on Franks page will be.
Thanks again.
TEJAS DETECTIVES is being managed,owned and run by the most renowned and experienced detective Ms. Bhavna Paliwal.
The detective world have fewer women detectives and particularly in India and among them Bhavna Paliwal Has been on the leading front.
Detectives India, New Delhi Detectives,The Indian Detectives Whoever you search for Bhavana Paliwal has been the most leading Lady Detective Of India.
She has paticularly done a number of investigations for women who are in distress and are not getting any support from their family or society.
Many organizations have welcomed and supported her in this effort.
We are formally associated with times detective agency which is lead by Mr. Pradeep Sharma, who has an experienced of more than 20 years in detectives field has been on the fore front in supporting her.
Call her now for any kind of investigations need.!! 91-0-9871233331
We guarantee you 100% satisfaction with assured secrecy.Our investigation ranges from Corporate, Financial & Personal Investigation to most of other services.
Tejas Detectives is committed to serving you and your clients. My staff and I are determined to provide you with professional, reliable results with a 100% GUARANTEE OF CONFIDENTAILY.
We are fully licensed and insured.
I am leaving the above blog spam up for a while because it is just so kooky. If you are looking for a chick private dick in New Delhi, Bhavna is your man, er woman.
Lets not forget to submit to YellowBot 😉
I would also recommend akama.com as a free yellow pages portal.
Merchant circle has been good to me. If you fill it out fully with unique content, expand the title, connect with merchants, it will perform well. I have done a few pages that now have pretty good page ranks and are good links for a local company.
Nice list Mr. Data! Oh and thanks for Zvents too Paul. Yous guys ROCK!
MerchantCircle recently crossed 500,000 members. We’re proud to help local businesses acquire customers by offering an alternative to over-priced, ineffective offline marketing channels. We’ve been interviewing our merchants in all 50 states – you can read about their MerchantCircle experience here: http://www.visualcv.com/merchantcircle.
We’re committed to providing every local business a web presence, easy-to-use marekting tools and a platform for connecting with other merchants, all for free. As always, please email any questions or concerns to support@merchantcircle.com and we will respond as soon as possible.
Thanks for the info Kevin.
Does anyone know how long it takes for each of these guys to update a listing?
Andrew,
Just bumped into marchex.com’s http://www.openlist.com. They seem to get a decent amount of traffic.
Openlist is a nice site. I don’t think they have an “update your listing” feature. You need to submit your data to Localeze and eventually it will find its way to Open List. They do have an “Add Your Business” feature though.
Thanks for the list, but are these sites helpful only for business oriented sites or good for blogs also?
Eva,
These sites will display your info as long as you have a physical location. Here’s what I did for my blog:
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/15240163977
Great list! I have found that CitySearch brings in a lot of potential customers, but not many convert. Anybody having any luck with them?
Heres the million dollar question:
Which one takes a bulk upload?
Besides Google, the only other I found was Oodle.com, and that’s not even been brought up yet!
Good question. I’ll look into it.
The reason I ask this question is I have been speaking with Localeze; they want me to pay them to submit my our information to all Local search engines. I just can’t seem to grasp why I would do that yet.
How many locations/listings does this cover?
Covers 3900 locations
Umm – who does Localeze even submit to? Their own customers? :-S
I dunno, I see there point, they are supplying MSN,Yahoos,some Yellowpages with legit addresses, but I could hire someone to do it all manually I guess.
I am guessing that most big sites would rather not deal with thousands of businesses bulk uploading when they can get it from a single trusted source.
I submitted 123 of my client’s pizza locations to localeze and we and our client was pleased with the results.
There were a few sites we had already submitted, but we saw the value in the other 100+ sites. Many of the sites didn’t have a meachnism for adding our locations. In addition to our listing info we added our stores hours and menu items.
It worked for us
@ theworldfamous – isn’t every single one you mentioned just a customer of theirs?
Thom, Well you also have to realize that not everyone makes good partners and customers too. I’m happy to hear it works for your 123 Pizza locations.
AhmedF, lol, in my opinion, which I’m obligated to have (cough); the ones of importance anymore days.
Great list Andrew, thanks
May I ask your thinking behind creating a local lsiting for your blog (the insiderpages listing you mentioned)? Is that because you get local customers?
I’ve been wondering whether it is worthwhile for a company selling nationally (or even internationally) to create local search profiles. Will it add to overall credibility with the search engines (and incoming links to the website)? Or will it confuse the search engines as to what areas you are geo-targetting (so that you show up more in local searches and less in national searches)?
Cheers, Jon
Jon,
I created the IP profile pretty much just to see what would happen. I may get a little business out of it but it’s not significant – I don’t think a lot of people are looking for SEOs in yellow pages-type environments.
I think national companies miss out on a lot of local search traffic by not figuring out how to use local profiles.
I noticed that there hasn’t been a post here in awhile, but I was curious. I have been telling a lot of my clients to go to merchantcircle.com to get their free profiles. Is one site better than another.
Thanks in advance for your assistance and good luck in all of your future endeavors,
Beugene
Beugene, it’s hard to say one is better than the other. They all get a lot of traffic and have strengths in different categories and geographies. My recommendation is to cover as many of them as you can.
Thanks, I will update my info right away, espcially if its free :).
Peter Helse
Vladimir, Akama won’t help on the SEO side. Excerpt from Akama’s FAQ page: “we hide contact information from bots and spammers the way it cannot be grabbed by any software. Only humans will be able to see your email or phone number.”
One site that hasn’t been mentioned is mojopages, it also has customer reviews as well as a host of other features for those who choose to sign up. However, joining mojopages isn’t required to read reviews or see rankings!
IYP listings help local results for bing and google maps.
These are great directories – if your business is in the USA.
No good for elsewhere, except Google
What is worse is that for some of the sites I tried, you can’t see that only the USA is served until you get some way through the sign up. Even sites like Yahoo, which has a UK & Ireland domain (for my case), don’t bother to let you know that their business listings are the for the USA. You have to guess because there are only USA states listed in the drop-down.
Directories should state what countries they list – saves us all loads of time and effort
Hey-
Which review sites are the least labor intensive while effective to getting Google to index them?
My clients, dentists, want their patients to post reviews so they can be indexed by Google. Of course there are sites like Yelp, but we are looking for something that doesn’t require joining.
Chris
Sorry Chris, but most review sites require membership before publishing the review as to discourage spamming.
Many of the sites you listed already had my information so I am not sure how useful this really is. It is like having your name listed alphabetically in the phone book. I’d prefer to get noticed a lot more than just a basic minimal listing.
Thank you for this list. It was VERY helpful. Now that I’ve claimed and updated my data on these sites how long does that information take to get added to my local business center listing. I noticed that all my competitors have a place on their local business center listing that says “information provided by Superpages”. I’m listed with Superpages too. How do I get that?
What is the best way to market my website for free
I would recommend you try BeginLocal.com or LocalDoo.com.
Very Very and very interesting and unique info on free updation listing of yellow pages.
Thanks Admin
Andrew, great post! You were well ahead of your time. Everyone is into local search now and optimizing for Google maps, etc. Its nice reading a post from over 2 years ago from someone who obviously knew the direction we’re headed in. All the SEO people I’ve talked to here in Cool Springs talk a good game, but I have always learned well more just going online myself and reading it from blogs such as yours. Keep up the good work!
Bill Felk
Interesting to see that some of the comments get af dofollow link and some (the mainpart) get af nofollow link.
Why not be consequent?
Great site!
btw, haven’t you gotten at least a DMCA takedown notice for the star trek material?
and why do you have that stuff up anyway?
Always looking at the legal angle eh Matt? I’ll leave it to my curious readers to figure out why I chose that pic.
Yeah, it comes with the territory.
Don’t get me wrong – i agree the “data” reference in probably fair use (although i prefer the picard “bot”!) – just wondered if they’d given you any flack anyway….
The jackbooted thugs haven’t knocked down my door yet Matt.
Great start to a list. Just wanted to mention a Local Directory Submitter Service that will do all of this work for you.
They will submit your business to about 40 local directories, plus 60 other sites like Facebook, Twitter, Entreprenuer.com, GetFaves.com and more. They have identified all the sites that David Mihm has used in his Local Search Ecosystem and then hand submit content heavy listing to each site. These listings tend to rank higher within the directories themselves.
I have seen Google Map rankings soar due to these types of submissions.
Thanks for the list, it sure helped. I will be passing it along to others.
Just a quick thanks to the author of the list, since fresh content helps with a blog/sites return ranking. Thanks for sharing this information …. is appreciated. Other than that nothing to add.
d.
Thanks so much for the list, these are all great websites and very highly viewed by the public. A directory listing on any one of these sites will pass on a lot of credibility and relevance to the website being posted and help to improve rankings in their particular category.
I will check back in a few weeks to see if this list has been updated, thanks again for the publish. I found you guys on Google, this page holds a top ten spot for the search term “submit a listing to dexknows”; I think you came up number 4. Not bad!
Later guys.
I keep reading that Citations are the new Link for local search and that consistency matters when adding a new Citation. I’d like to see someone compile a List of the Top 10 IYP where a new business listing should take the time to add their company profile and the caveats for not doing so.
Good stuff Andrew.
I recently referenced your article “Local SEO Guide SEO QA” in a blog I published yesterday, “Optimizing Your Business Listing for Local Search Supremacy.”
Link: http://www.searchengineguide.com/dave-cosper/optimizing-your-lbl-for-local-search-sup.php
^Would love your feedback on this.
axciom.com will finally have a website this month, mid april 2010, which will finally allow for business owners to add their listings online.
Hi….
I need Thailand Country Local Business Provide business directory….
If anyone know so please send me list….
Waiting for your positive response…
Thanks
Aric
Hello Andrew. The post is great as usual (I start my day online with reading your RSS’) 😉 I wish I got this list a few months back when I was doing optimization campaign for one of my business partners. I am sure that having this list in hand we would save quite some money 😉 Keep up the great job!
I really appreciate your help. I focus more on the design end of things but have been to push more into the development and seo for sites. Thanks again!!!
I found you’re article a month or two ago and ended up posting my site/biz on all the pages that you recommend and just wanted to let you know that I’m already seeing more traffic being sent my way because of it. Thank you for your help!
Sean
I know i’m a little late to the party here, but just wondering if anyone knows of a similar list of sites for Australian local search. Most of these are USA based of course, and would be good to have a definitive guide for Australia as the data providers to Google for local search (Places) are different. I know Yellow Pages and TrueLocal are two of them, haven’t be en able to find the rest.
HOTEL SUNSHINE is a Budget Hotel in of repute in the heart of Gurgaon.Astep to ward perfection in providing world class Accomodation “Sunshine” The hotel Sunshine is strategically located right opposite side to ITI Collage Campas in Gurgaon.All Fully Ac standerd & Deluxe room Free Wi-Fy internetGym24H.Power backup,Loundry,room service,Compelmentry News paper, Minifridge Colour T.V Dresing table in room.intercom/credit & debit cardAceptedcarparking contact us Ranjeet Kumar(Manager) 9310536850 Visit-www.hotelsunshine.org Tarrif – Min. -800 Max. 1975 include Tax.
Hope the minifridge is stocked up Ranjeet. You are about to get a flood of tourists from this strategically placed comment. According to my analytics 78% of all visitors to this site are from the Gurgaon area.
I’m not from Gurgaon, but I just thinking where would make a nice holiday spot, and looks like Gurgaon might be the place.
Just glad they have colour TV, I always hate having to watch the black & white TVs available in most hotel’s around the world these days!
Lets hope the price of 800 min to 1975 max (including tax) is in rupees or some similar currency, as if it’s in dollars i’m not sure it’s such good value!
Lol.
Great information, thanks for sharing it. I’ve already submitted my website to most of the pages you mention, now I will need to work on reviews and probably some future videos.
Google gives importance to local searches. Yellow pages play an important role in local searches.But search the local pages and submit the site is a difficult task.
Great start of a list. Just wanted to mention a local directory service that Petitioner will all this work for you. Present their business to nearly 40 local guides, as well as 60 other sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Entreprenuer.com, GetFaves.com and more. They have identified all the sites that David Mihm has used in its Ecosystem Local search and then submit the heavy hand contents list for each site. These lists tend to rank higher within their own directories. I have seen Google rankings soar map due to this type of presentation.
Hello Everyone!
http://SkyAimMedia.com has launch it’s business directory search engine http://myareabook.com. Their is currently over 20 million business listed and provide free local SEO for all businesses. We provide a free business profile complete with contact info, logos, maps, ratings & reviews, coupons, daily deals, newsletter sign up, and videos.
For more information on SkyAim Media, please visit us on the web @ http://skyaimmedia.com
Almost three years old and still a great list. Working our way through them, looking forward to the results.
My site lists local business, but I do not have a business address. Can you get listing without having one?
Good Afternoon Leila,
I am not sure if your comment was directed for our particular business listing search engine or not, but I believe you can update/add your business listing without your address at this time.
SkyAim Media
With so many companies offering listings on so many directories, it is obvious that search engines must decide which ones are more authoritative in a particular cat/geo. So…. why not create a tool to manage submissions via API? Wouldnt the optimized content loaded up by local search marketers for clients also help these directories become more authoritative with search engines….
Not like local search marketers aren’t the best at submitting this sort of information. Things such as unique value propositions and key differentiators!
Would Drupal be the best framework for such a tool?
Thank you for sharing this Mr Data! I wasn’t aware of a few of these for local listings, so now I can help a few of my clients sites out a bit more. Thanks!
Welcome and thank you for visiting us! We believe we are the most romantic and personal (intimate) DFW wedding venue in all of Texas
A lot of the listings are US-centric. Is there an equivalent list for UK-based businesses?
Great resource Thank you for sharing this
I have a client with over 1300 locations across the country. Is there a way to perform a bulk upload to YPN and is there a way to automate the upload so that it is easy for the company to perform their own uploads.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
I’m glad you mentioned infoUSA – it’s amazing how many directories pull from these behind the scenes data collaters.
Spammy or not – great post! I wish I had found your article before killing a full day figuring this out for myself.
For local SEO, do incoming links from search engines matter as much for local rankings?
Is there a cheap one-stop place to submit to get on 100’s of search engines at once? Do we need it? (like UBL.org, which is costly)
UBL is the best, then consider Localeze etc… Do you want best feed distribution, best data center partner sites that are niche, or a manual submission… Depends on so much.
The yellow pages online here in Australia is beyond a joke. I recently searched for a florist in Springfield and the first 4 pages were completely unrelated, and obviously sponsored listings. I eventually found what I needed on the very last page, called the number and told the business owner who wasn’t very happy at all!
Nice one Andy, some great suppliers here you have mentioned, I haven’t come across ibegin or merchant circle, I will have to check them out.
Agree with John’s comment, Yp in Aus is a joke.
Brownbook is pretty good in the UK and also hotfrog both here and in the states. Anyone now any more good sites?
Wow! This is a great list. I had a list of about 10, but this one is much better. I am using these in my business of helping local businesses rank in Google.
It is amazing how effective this is along with video marketing and a little social marketing.
By the way, here is another one that really helps.
Thumbtack.com
Thanks again for the great info.
Hey Andrew,
Again, great information. However; I noticed you still have not added Thumbtack.com. They are easy to add your site to and free and will also make a difference with your local search abilities.
Keep up the great work.
Great list add some that I didn’t have my business listed on but some of your links are broken now. Insiderpages link is broken just as an FYI.
Any encouragement to businesses to get themselves listed online is great! As a consumer I have at times been frustrated trying to find a business online. As a business owner I have been frustrated with the online business directory options. So, I created an online business directory. http://www.qurkl.com – add or edit your business using whatever terms you choose (not a dropdown list), address not required so if you visit the client at their home or your business is online you don’t have to worry about customers visiting you at home.
About One source for Instant updated telugu News on Internet (telugutouch.com): Telugu News – India No.1 leading Telugu news website offers News Updates every minitute
Thanks andrew,
I personally use Brownbook in the UK.
Yellow pages does not seam to have the same clout as it used to in the UK, does anyone know of any other good FREE sites?
manta is a good one to
Localeze has their enhanced listings for pay. What’s your expert opinion? Do you think it’s worth the extra money? Or is their free listing good enough? Do you ever upsell their paid package to your clients?
Is that too many questions??? Huh? Huh?
faied to register on https://www.yelp.com/signup can any body help me ??
Hi Andrew, interesting directory lists for local businesses. But as I’m from the UK, please allow me to include another key directory on behalf of UK based local businesses….www.Yell.com
I would add also kudzu.com, Local.com, Judysbook.com, Manta.com , mojopages.com, brownbook.com Just make sure that all information matches on all directories. Caps lock makes difference. For Google Places Windy Painters is not the same as WINDY PAINTERS. Thank you for post. I found two new directories.:)
Andrew, great write up and list, I added a couple from your list to mine that I was missing.
Curious to know, I know you mainly focus on the US, but do you have any data suppliers like yext or localeze that are in canada?
YPG is pretty much the only game in town in Canada as far as I know. IBegin used to license data but not sure if they are doing it anymore.
I just started skimming the text, hit up Yext, and boom! A nice little scan of the ever-so important NAP for most all primary sources of citations. That alone was enough to please me, but thanks for going the extra mile in providing some other goodies.
Cheers mate
Great list Andrew..
I would also list local businesses to as many sites as possible. The reason being that I want to get found on all directories which are anyway FREE 🙂
I have been using services like addlocalbusinesslisting.com and others a lot. These guys have a list of over 350 yp sites and business profile sites. Now that’s a very cost effective advertisement for local business.
I wonder if there is a n international Yellow Pages listing website where you can add your business in different countries like Australia or Singapore.
I notice the sites above are exclusively for America.
In Australia, I believe you can try Sensis & Brownbook
Wow. You really respond to your comments. Nice! I am on Yext, but I recommend ubl.org for my small business clients who don’t want to pay $50 per month. Can you give me one or two reasons Yext is worth twice the price of Ubl.org?
I like both services, but my impression is that Yext has a lot more features. It’s not an apples to apples thing though. UBL is great for getting your listings to the national aggregators. Yext is great for instantaneous updating and additional features.
kungphoo.com is also free to promote and list your business…
Thank you very much for this information Andrew. No spam link here, just legitimate appreciation. =)
Include our website too in the list!
include our website in your database
If I sign up for YEXT and then cancel down the road do my citations that YEXT created for me go away or change?
Your citations stay until the publisher overwrites them with their data.
How do I add my Business on google in South Africa? I need to publish it.
Hey, I wanted the title of Mr. data!