Business listing sites can help companies spread their brand on the web but did you know that there’s also an SEO (search engine optimization) benefit when you list your business on the right web directories? Especially, for local companies!
You see, what search engines care about the most is user experience. They want their users to come back and use them again, so they aren’t willing to place websites on page one without carefully vetting them. And they do so by relying on plenty of clearly defined factors.
So part of our goal in SEO is to ensure that the most relevant information about your company is passed on to their algorithms (a form of AI). One of the ways we do this is through the use of local citations from business directories.
Essentially, if your business is based in Canada and serves people in a specific city, then you need to tell them about it. And that’s what you’re doing when you use business listing sites.
For any website directory to qualify as a citation source, they must provide the ability to include three things in your business listing and these are your name, address and phone number aka NAP.
When the search engines can verify your NAP information on several other websites, they can be sure that you’re a good pick for their user’s query. Think of it as a verification process that their algorithms use to decide which sites belong on page one when someone types in something like “Flower shop near me”.
Benefits of Online Business Listing Sites
There’s more to online business directories as a marketing tool. Consumers use them to find and interact with relevant businesses. Some people prefer to use them because they can instantly acquire a list of companies that they can contact for any given service or product. Here’re some benefits of including online business directories in your marketing plan.
- Increased exposure/reach
- Brand awareness
- Better local and national visibility
- More places for customer reviews (reputation management)
- Improved rankings on search engines
Top Local Citations Sites For Canadian Business
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Hello Gabriel,
This is a great list of local citations for Canadian business! I would also add the DA (domain authority) of each website so that we can see which directories have the most value in terms of ranking potential for Local SEO.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll think about it. However, in my opinion, these directories are valuable regardless of DA. They’re primarily for NAP (name, address, phone number) consistency and awareness purposes. The links that come with them are a bonus.