Guides & Articles on Citations & Listings

Business Listings Visibility Study

Sammy Paget — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 12:48:49 +0000

BrightLocal has been measuring how consumers find local businesses for a long time. From the key websites they use, to, more recently, the platforms where they discover new businesses altogether, we’ve got a pretty good grasp on the most popular sites for finding business information.

Even as the way people search changes, business directories continue to lead the way in business discovery. As of the Local Consumer Review Survey 2024, Google, Facebook, and Yelp were consumers’ top three online sources for finding local businesses.

What we don’t talk about so often, though, is how consumers get there—or, rather, how search engine giants like Google surface these websites in search results. After all, aside from optimizing your brand website for better local rankings, understanding how to maximize your presence in SERP real estate can be a game-changer.

With all of this in mind, we wanted to find out how prevalent business listings are in search engine result pages (SERPs) for searches with local intent, along with other types of business mentions, to give a sense of where your marketing dollars are best spent to try to appear behind one of those coveted top ten blue links.

Methodology

In this study, we conducted 800 manual Google searches for local businesses and recorded the first ten organic search results (AKA the first “ten blue links”) for each, for a total of 8,000 search results.

We used one transactional keyword (e.g. coffee shop) and one informational keyword (e.g. best coffee shop) in searches across 20 different business verticals. We repeated these 40 searches in 20 different US cities to provide a broad set of terms and locations.

So that we could compare the presence of forum results in local SERPs, we used the same 20 business verticals and 20 US cities as in our previous Reddit SERP study

Note: For this study, we did not record any AI Overviews (AIOs) because the study focuses purely on organic results. However, it is also worth noting that a recent study (August 2024) shows that AI Overviews match organic results in the top ten organic results almost 100% of the time, so it’s fair to assume that the information that appears in organic results influences AIOs.

Understanding definitions within this study

For every organic search result, we recorded the website name and classification of each website’s ‘type’ using the following criteria:

Example searches used in this study:

“electrician portland” (transactional)

“best electrician portland” (informational)

A full list of search terms and results can be found in the appendix.

SERP Results Compared

Our study found that business directories make up almost a third (31%) of the top ten organic search results overall, providing users with several options beyond Google’s results to view local business information. As the average local search surfaces three directory results within the first ten, you’re going to want to make sure your brand is present and accurately represented in the most visible and relevant directories.

Meanwhile, it’s generally no revelation that business websites make up a large portion of the top ten organic results for local searches. Whether the intent is informational or transactional, it’s arguably in users’ best interest to visit different brands’ websites to a) complete a transaction or b) gather the information they’re looking for.

One surprise, however, is how the visibility of forum results has changed since our Reddit SERP study, where we found that Reddit made up 11% of organic results for transactional searches and 52% of informational searches (31% across all search terms tested).

While that study focused solely on Reddit results and not any other forums, it’s worth noting that we found that Reddit makes up 89% of all forum results recorded in this Business Listings Visibility Study. As of October 2024, forum results make up just 7% of the top ten organic search results.

When we look at the breakdown of result types for transactional and informational search terms, the pattern remains largely the same, but with one exception…

The biggest difference is in the proportion of website and directory results displayed in the top ten for informational searches. For informational searches (e.g., best coffee shop), directories take the larger share (37%) over business sites (32%).

Screenshot of SERP for ‘best coffee shop buffalo,’ where multiple business directories are present

Why might directories be this prominent for informational searches? The business listings found on today’s modern directories provide users with a detailed snapshot of several key business factors, not just contact information, particularly where industry-specific directories are concerned.

In addition to contact information and opening hours, information such as photos of facilities, listed products and services, and customer-submitted content such as business reviews help to inform user research and enable consumers to compare multiple businesses in one place.

Therefore, if a consumer is searching for the ‘best’ type of local business (a search with informational intent), it makes sense that Google would consider directory results relevant.

Business directory result (Tripadvisor) for ‘best coffee shop seattle’

The difference between how often business websites are shown in results for transactional searches (61%) and informational searches (32%) gives us a clear indication of how Google measures user intent.

For a transactional search like ‘car dealership chicago’, Google recognizes that the user is looking for relevant businesses in a local area, whereas for an informational search like ‘best car dealership chicago’, Google understands the consumer is looking to do some research and compare findings.

Business mentions and forums also have a larger share of organic SERP real estate for informational searches than transactional ones. Again, where users are searching with the intent of researching or gathering information before making a decision, it follows that Google might generate results with informal opinions in the form of blog articles or discussions.

Next, we’ll take a look at how these percentages change for specific business verticals.

Healthcare and Wellness

Search terms within the health, medical, and wellness categories tend to lead to business website results for both transactional and informational searches.

Directory visibility is surprisingly low in SERPs for the searches ‘dentist [location]’ (3%), ‘vet clinic [location]’ (3%). At the same time, these are two of the search terms where business websites saw the largest share of organic search results in our study.

It could be the case that, as these business types can be associated with more ‘urgent’ needs, Google understands the intent of these search terms and knows that users need information now, and therefore might be less concerned about ‘shopping around’.

However, this changes when we look at informational search intent. When a consumer is looking for the ‘best’ dentist or ‘best’ vet clinic, directory results jump back up (34% and 23%, respectively). If you consider some of the less urgent needs for these business types, but where a consumer is looking for the ‘best’, things like cosmetic dentistry spring to mind, where it’s likely you would want to shop around before making a decision.

‘Best gym [location]’ sees some of the most forum results in this whole study (18%). When we analyzed some of the USA’s top gym brands in the recent Brand Review Index, we found strong themes of community, culture, and lifestyle. Gym reviewers tend to advocate for their gyms based on very specific factors, and it seems that Google recognizes the need to return search results that reflect this.

Forum result (Reddit) for ‘best gym milwaukee’

Hospitality

When it comes to hospitality-related searches, you would expect to see a variety of results in SERPs, where professional reviews feature in established lifestyle publications, local blogs host listicle-style articles, and threads on local food scenes are common across forums.

As you’ll see below, the ‘coffee shop’ searches reflect this the strongest, with business mentions in the likes of Eater, Edible, The Infatuation, and Best Coffee Guide all appearing in the SERPs.

Both transactional and informational searches for ‘fast food restaurants’ and ‘hotels’ show a heavy weighting towards directory results. Hotel results surface the travel-specific listing websites you’d expect, like Tripadvisor, Kayak, Booking.com, and Trivago, where users can compare prices, hotel ratings, and real customer experiences all in one place.

Fast food directories generate a lot of third-party delivery partner sites and apps. Although technically similar to travel-specific directory sites like Booking.com, which have transactional features, fast food third-party sites are unique in that the focus is on getting something right now. So, it is interesting to see the likes of Uber Eats and Door Dash appearing prominently in organic SERPs for informational search terms. Of course, we don’t necessarily recommend listing your fast-food restaurant on all of the delivery apps unless you can handle the customers!

Interestingly, the search term ‘fast food restaurants’ also sees the highest proportion of directory results than any other search term in this study (72%). It shows how far industry-specific directories have come and how they’re continuing to evolve. DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grub Hub, and their competitors are hybrids of a directory, map system, and ordering platform, as each vendor is listed with NAP information.

Services and Trades

While we know from the Local Consumer Review Survey that long-standing directories like Better Business Bureau (BBB) still play a part in consumers’ decision-making, this study reinforces this by showing a strong SERP presence for directories in both transactional and informational search results pages.

While all transactional searches see more business website results appear in the top ten search results than other types, we can see that some informational terms generate more directory results. ‘Best electrician’ and ‘best HVAC contractor’ lead the way, surfacing a variety of typically more trade-specific directories such as Angie’s List, Expertise, Thumbtack, and BBB.

The clear exception is for ‘car dealership’, where 100% of organic results lead to business websites. It’s the only instance throughout this study where one result type completely dominates the top ten organic results. This shows that SERP real estate for car dealership businesses is incredibly competitive, at least in the USA.

Do you know why this might be? Let us know on social!

‘Your Money or Your Life’ (YMYL)

‘Your Money or Your Life’ refers to content that provides information that can impact a user’s life, health, and finances, which is why we’ve grouped our attorney, realtor, and tax advisor searches here. The end goal of a user researching these types of local businesses is essentially to instruct a professional who will provide financial, legal, or property advice—pretty life-changing stuff.

Legal and financial advice is not something you want to rush into without plenty of research. Therefore, comparing the experience and reviews of professionals on recognized directories is a ‘must’ in any consumer’s decision-making process.

So, it makes sense that the SERPs for these terms are dominated by directories and business websites rather than informal mentions or discussions, allowing users to do thorough research and compare professionals on trusted directories.

Searches related to attorney and tax advisor businesses (‘attorney,’ ‘best attorney,’ ‘best tax advisor’) generate a particularly large amount of business directory results—in fact, more than half of the top ten organic results for these searches were directories.

The anomaly in this group is that 43% of informational realtor searches are business mentions. As with car dealerships, I would estimate that this finding is pretty unique to the USA because its real estate market is largely fronted by individual realtors, where face, reputation, and personality are key.

SERP for ‘best realtor chicago,’ highlighting multiple business mentions in results

The business mentions recorded tend to be realtor profiles, as users are likely to want to spend time reading up on the professionals themselves. The example below from PropertySpark was a common result across the different US locations used with our search terms, and you’ll note the significant focus on agents’ social media profiles.

Realtor profiles found on PropertySpark

I have a feeling that if we conducted informational searches for a UK equivalent (e.g., ‘best estate agent london’), we would not see such a high level of business mentions!

Entertainment

The groupings below for entertainment-related search terms don’t appear to show a pattern in the types of search results generated. The amount of SERP real estate taken up by each result type is pretty varied, but then again, so are the business types reflected by the search terms. It would be worth researching the types of search results for businesses in a similar niche—for example; a toy store could be compared against other types of children’s retailers.

However, it was very surprising to see that 60% of ‘best betting store’ search results were business mentions. A closer look at ‘betting store’ results highlighted many intricacies around legal betting in different states, which explains why so many local news sites or betting publications surfaced in the SERPs. So, this is likely a very specific occurrence in US-based searches.

Some examples included press releases from online trade publications or articles on local news sites announcing the arrival of new sports books in the respective city. It’s likely that these occurrences would be particularly ‘newsworthy’ where some states have seen the re-introduction of legal gambling as recently as 2018.

A business mention result for ‘best betting store denver’ highlights why a store opening is particularly newsworthy

This raises an interesting consideration for businesses that are held to varying state laws or sit within regulated industries where online advertising can be tricky to navigate. Creating educational and authoritative content that explains these complexities on your website and pitching these topics to relevant publications can be an effective way of building credibility, reinforcing the pillars of E-E-A-T, and possibly supporting your local visibility.

Other Notable Findings

Variety of Directory Results

We’ve touched on the presence of industry-specific directories throughout this study, alluding to a great variety of directories appearing for different searches within the top ten organic results alone. The chart below summarizes which of the study’s search terms generated business directories for more than half of the first ten organic search results.

We’ve collated some examples from our study data below to provide you with an idea of the variety that appeared in our search results—and, hopefully, some inspiration for other places to get your brand or clients listed.

Industry term	Directories Appearing in Top 10 Organic Results
attorney	Avvo, bestlawyers, Expertise, findlaw, justia, Super Lawyers, Yelp
betting store	Gambling.com, Tripadvisor, Facebook, MapQuest, Yelp
car dealership	Expertise, CarFax, Yelp
chiropractor	Expertise, Healthgrades, HealthProfs, WebMD, Yelp. Zocdoc
coffee shop	Tripadvisor, Yelp
day spa	Expertise, Facebook, Tripadvisor, Yelp
dentist	American Dentist Society, DenScore, Expertise, Healthgrades, Opencare, Top Rated Dentist, US News Health, Zocdoc
electrician	Angie's List, Better Business Bureau, Expertise, Nextdoor,, Thumbtack, Yelp
fast food restaurant	Tripadvisor, Wanderlog, Door Dash, Uber Eats, Grub Hub, Yelp
gym	Gymbird, Yelp, ClassPass, Groupon, Tripadvisor, Yellowpages
hair salon	Booksy, Expertise, Tripadvisor, Yelp
hotels	Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, Kayak, Tripadvisor, Trivago
hvac contractor	Expertise, Angie's List, Home Advisor, Yelp
movie theater	Tripadvisor, Foursquare, City Seeker, Yellowpages, Facebook, Yelp
realtor	Expertise, Yelp, Zillow, Fast Expert
storage facility	Expertise, HomeGuide, Neighbor, selfstorage.com, Sparefoot
tax advisor	Bark, Better Business Bureau, Clutch, Expertise, Thumbtack
toy store	Facebook, Yellowpages, Tripadvisor, Yelp
travel agency	Better Business Bureau, Built In, Thumbtack, Yelp, Yellowpages
vet clinic	Expertise, Facebook, Greatvet, Pawlicy Advisor, Yelp

However, despite the variety of directory results appearing in SERPs, we can’t ignore the fact that some—and I’m sure you can guess which ones—dominate the space. That’s right, we’re talking about Yelp and Tripadvisor, of course. We found these long-standing websites appeared for a whopping 28% and 10% of all directory results in this study, respectively.

Directory	Overall % of directory results
1. Yelp	28%
2. Tripadvisor	10%
3. Expertise	8%
4. Angi/Angie's List	3%
4=. Better Business Bureau (BBB)	3%
5. Thumbtack	2%

Opportunities for Securing Business Mentions

Several of the search groups saw business mentions take the largest share of organic search results within their group, winning out over business websites, directories, or forums. So, we pulled these together to examine areas of opportunity for securing business mentions as a local marketing tactic.

We’ve already touched on how niche businesses or those bound by regulations and varying state laws, like betting stores and sports books, can contribute their expertise to third-party sites as a way of boosting visibility.

Similarly, businesses in the hospitality industry, such as coffee shops and restaurants, can seek out relevant lists and publications to contribute to and be included within, whether it’s a popular consumer-facing publication or a trade-specific publication. It won’t be as easy as just asking to be included in a ‘Top 10 Best’ listicle but think about ways that you can be creative in pitching your brand or its team—an interview with a head chef, for example.

How can I use this information?

The good news is that such diversity in the results shows how each listing or mention ‘type’ has its place in local SEO, and there are plenty of actionable tactics you can adopt in your local marketing strategies accordingly.

The bad news—depending on the type of person you are, I suppose—is that different tactics can mean more work, but at least this study should help you prioritize based on what types of results get the most real estate in your (or your client’s) vertical.

Directories

The business directory landscape is constantly evolving. Given the presence of different business directories within SERPs across this study and the fact that SERP real estate is an incredibly competitive space, your brand quite simply can’t afford to miss out on being listed in the right places.

According to the Business Research Company, a combination of factors, such as digital transformation, increasing consumer demand for digital content, and the growth of digital advertising platforms, has propelled the global directory market in recent years. With this comes a greater need for specialized directories.

They might not be the first sites to cross a user’s mind, compared to key platforms and search engines like Google, Yelp, Apple, and Facebook, but niche and industry-specific directories are important research tools for consumers. And clearly, Google believes they are relevant, too. Some of the examples we recorded in this study include Healthgrades, Thumbtack, BBB, ClassPass, Gymbird, Booksy, CarFax, and DoorDash.

Each trade directory is designed to reflect its niche. You might be aware, for example, that online directories specializing in beauty and wellbeing often use calming hues of blue, green, or pink, place emphasis on high-quality photos of their facilities, and highlight key or popular services. Meanwhile, healthcare or medical directories focus on practitioner profiles, official trust accreditations, and testimonials. SAB directories generally emphasize key contact information and pricing for services you need to get done.

Some of these directories might not be free for businesses to join, but it’s a good idea to do some research and see what sites come up in your search results and where your competitors are to see where your brand could be missing out!

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Business websites

As we’ve seen, business websites are shown for almost half of the first ten organic results (47%). So, if you want your brand to appear in the local pack above organic results, you’ll want to give the business’s website the best possible chance of ranking organically for these kinds of local-intent searches.

It’s certainly not as easy as getting into a business directory, but getting your business website into the top organic rankings starts with nailing the fundamentals of SEO. As a reminder, here are some of the basics to consider:

Defined website structure with a home page, dedicated product or service pages, category, and local pages.
Optimized website content that has been informed by keyword research.
Creating high-quality content that is unique, helpful, and follows E-E-A-T guidelines.
Optimized metadata to boost chances of click-through from SERPs.

Forums

As discussed in our Reddit SERP study, there is little you can do to directly influence your brand’s presence on forums unless you want to come across as inauthentically self-promoting—or worse, spammy.

However, it is a useful reminder to keep an eye on forums for brand mentions if you haven’t been doing so already. In their own way, forum discussions can be a local PR tool if you’re lucky enough to have customers advocating for you! And if you don’t, then there’s another good reason to really hone in on your customer service and retention efforts.

There are also ways of ‘officially’ representing your brand within forums in a way that won’t rub users up the wrong way. Consider creating brand representative accounts and interacting with relevant discussions in an authentic or helpful way. A simple site search can help uncover where people might have questions about your brand or relevant products and services that you offer.

The best way to increase your chances of appearing in forum conversations? Deliver the best service at the most competitive price, and work on your brand to get the exposure and word-of-mouth your business needs.

Brand mentions

Local PR strategies can sometimes fall to the wayside, whether they’re too time-consuming or hard to prove as a good investment of resources. However, the breadth of business mentions in this study’s results highlights how influential they can be in building brand awareness and reaching new audiences.

Here are just some of the examples where business mentions were recorded:

Orlando Weekly	Austin Stays Weird
CBS Sports	Best Coffee Guide
TikTok	Eater
Thrillist	YouTube
Consumer Affairs	USA Today
The Seattle Times	Delta Denta
Charlotte Moms	INDYtoday

In the above examples alone, we can see a variety of official local and nationwide news sites, local blogs, trade publications, lifestyle blogs and publications, and social media.

As with forum mentions, you can’t always directly influence the likelihood of someone featuring your brand in a TikTok, so the best advice for creating brand advocacy is really giving your customers a reason to want to shout about you.

As for local and community PR, there are certainly tactics you can adopt to reach your local news sites, specialty blogs, and trade publications.

Academy Course: How to Master Local Link Building

Conclusion

Of course, the dream scenario is that your business appears in the map pack as the first organic search result, followed by your business listing on multiple authoritative directories, and with glowing reviews and forum testimonials bringing up the rear…

But there really are only so many hours in a day.

That’s why we hope this study has given you food for thought and that the nuances of different business verticals have given you some inspiration for local marketing tactics you can implement that you might not have considered.

If you’re scratching your head trying to figure out which directories might be suitable for you, we have a plethora of citation and listing resources available to help.

Appendix

The table below shows the full breakdown of search result types for each search term. As a reminder, each group of search terms contains 20 different searches, where 20 US cities were used as a suffix for local intent (ie. coffee shop buffalo).

Search term	Business website	Directory	Forum	Mentions
attorney	41%	52%	0%	7%
best attorney	11%	68%	7%	14%
betting store	43%	13%	2%	43%
best betting store	23%	14%	4%	60%
car dealership	100%	0%	0%	0%
best car dealership	63%	23%	12%	2%
chiropractor	87%	12%	0%	2%
best chiropractor	53%	36%	6%	6%
coffee shop	20%	19%	9%	53%
best coffee shop	6%	22%	15%	57%
day spa	55%	16%	9%	21%
best day spa	31%	21%	12%	37%
dentist	88%	3%	0%	9%
best dentist	37%	34%	9%	20%
electrician	59%	35%	2%	4%
best electrician	24%	57%	11%	9%
fast food restaurant	3%	72%	12%	14%
best fast food restaurant	1%	66%	19%	14%
gym	74%	12%	3%	11%
best gym	33%	24%	18%	25%
hair salon	66%	14%	10%	10%
best hair salon	43%	26%	12%	20%
hotels	28%	64%	0%	8%
best hotels	17%	50%	14%	20%
hvac contractor	58%	31%	7%	5%
best hvac contractor	28%	50%	7%	15%
movie theater	82%	13%	0%	5%
best movie theater	19%	35%	20%	27%
realtor	77%	20%	0%	3%
best realtor	16%	34%	7%	43%
storage facility	76%	23%	1%	0%
best storage facility	49%	37%	11%	3%
tax advisor	71%	29%	0%	0%
best tax advisor	42%	52%	5%	1%
toy store	47%	30%	0%	23%
best toy store	27%	34%	15%	25%
travel agency	69%	21%	6%	4%
best travel agency	52%	31%	12%	5%
vet clinic	96%	3%	0%	1%
best vet clinic	63%	23%	10%	4%

The Best Listings Management Solutions Compared

Mike Hawkes — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 13:08:24 +0000

Have you ever thought your local business had just one storefront? Think again. It has dozens.

Today’s consumers scour multiple platforms and resources for local business information. They use those platforms to find local businesses that align with their needs. They are more than a discovery medium, however. They’re also used to compare suitable companies like-for-like and tell consumers how they can reach you.

Each listing you create is a conduit to local consumers in your area. It ensures you’re a part of their discovery and assessment process and connects you with a broader pool of prospects than might otherwise be the case.

Keeping your listing information up to date is critical. Handling this task manually can be overwhelming and time-consuming—so much so that it could leave you with little time left to do the other 20 things on your list.

Listings management solutions simplify the process. They save you time and eliminate the headache of manual updates and checking for errors. To help you choose the best local listings management software for your needs, we’re comparing the top players in the market right now.

For each service, we’ll evaluate the features that matter most to you as someone working with local businesses. We’ll look at what each listings management service offers, what it lacks, and how much it costs.

What is a listings management service?

From Google Business Profile (GBP) to Yelp, Facebook to Instagram, Bing Places to Apple Maps, there are multiple places where your business information may appear online. Each listing provides a convenient way for a local consumer to find and connect with you, boosting your lead pipeline, web traffic, and visitor numbers. But it’s only useful when that information is accurate.

While a basic listing will include your business name, address, phone number, and website URL, most listings will also have space for other helpful details.

Depending on the platform, that could mean images and videos showing your premises or your products and services. You may be able to post your opening hours, list accepted payment types, and indicate whether your premises offer on-site parking facilities.

Listings management is a way to keep all this information up to date across all the platforms, maps, and directories where your business information is shared.

According to the Local Business Discovery & Trust Report, 62% of consumers would avoid using a business if they found incorrect information online, so being proactive about managing your listing is essential.

It’s a way to build trust and protect your reputation. Keep things timely, and you’ll lead local search users to your website or your bricks-and-mortar location. However, if you let your information lapse, those same people will probably end up at your competitor’s door.

In practice, listings management is hard to handle manually. It’s time-consuming to log in and out of multiple platforms and frustrating to check the same information dozens of times across numerous listings. If you have multiple locations, each with multiple listings, this becomes a real resource drain.

Information fatigue means it can be hard to spot discrepancies yourself. Even just one digit wrong on your zip code or one address formatted differently from the rest can undermine your listing accuracy and create uncertainty for search engines and local consumers.

This is where the right tools step in. The best local listings management software will automate the process of checking and updating your listing information wherever your business appears online. Changes can be made and rolled out simultaneously rather than individually across all listings for all locations.

Some tools have additional functionality. BrightLocal’s suite of tools includes a GBP Post Scheduler, for example, so you can easily create and share updates to your Google Business Profile listing. Some tools will include review management functionality, while others might also help detect duplicate listings.

Keep in mind listings management isn’t always text-based. Research shows that Business photos taken by customers are particularly important decision-making factors, especially in the hospitality and wellbeing spaces.

How does managing listings differ from building citations?

Citation building is the step before listings management. It’s the act of creating (rather than managing) a business listing. In its most basic form, a local citation is your business NAP (name, address, and phone number), published online.

Some of the same principles of listings management apply to citations. If your core business information changes, you’ll need to take action to update that information in every citation. This often isn’t as easy as it sounds. If your business relocates, you’ll need to update your citations. That could mean changing hundreds of directory listings. Similarly, you’ll need to build new listings if you open a new location.

You can use a local citation builder to build new citations on directories and other sites and fix any inaccuracies in the NAP information. Our comparison of local citation services outlines the pros and cons of each service to help you choose a tool suitable for your needs.

The Best Listings Management Solutions Compared

Click and drag to see all columns.

	BrightLocal	Yext	Semrush	Moz Local	Birdeye	Uberall	Localo
Cost		From $16/month, per platform	From $139.95/month	From $14/month	From $299/month per location	N/A	From $70/month per location
Free trial	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Multiple locations	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Broad network	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
Duplicate detection	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Customizable citations	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Review monitoring included	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Ranking tracker included	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Edit protection	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes

BrightLocal

BrightLocal’s listings management solution takes a comprehensive three-stage approach, covering everything from initial citation creation to ongoing listings management. The trio of tools includes Citation Builder, Active Sync, and GBP Post Scheduler.

Citation Builder makes it easy to build and subsequently manage local citations. It can submit listings to hundreds of local and industry sites, correct inaccurate information at scale to avoid confusion and clean up duplicate listings.

Active Sync allows you to manage your most important business listings from one central dashboard. It covers sites like Google, Facebook, and Apple Maps and syncs any information changes across all listings.

GBP Post Scheduler manages Google Posts. It helps with content creation, offers Post scheduling, and allows Posts to be published to multiple GBP locations simultaneously.

BrightLocal will soon add a GBP photo sync tool to its listings management offering, making it easier to manage those vital images at scale.

How much does BrightLocal cost?

Citation Builder: No recurring fees. $3.20/site or $2/site for bulk orders.
Active Sync: From $8/month, per location with GBP Post Scheduler.
GBP Post Scheduler: From $49/month with the Manage and Grow plans for $8/month, per location with Active Sync.

Is there a free trial?

Yes. You can get a 14-day free trial for Active Sync and GBP Post Scheduler.

Features

Easily build new citations: Submit to hundreds of sites in one go to build new citations quickly.
Control where your information appears: Choose the local business and industry sites that matter most to you.
Own your listings: Unlike some services, BrightLocal doesn’t ‘lease’ your citation to you. You own the listing, and there are no recurring fees.
Cost control: A one-off fee to build citations makes for easy budgeting.
Existing citation cleanup: Update NAP for older listings to eliminate inaccuracies and misinformation.
Duplicate listing suppression: Citation Builder can find and remove duplicate listings that may damage your local search presence.
Fast updates at scale: Update information once from your central dashboard, and BrightLocal will then sync those changes across your business listings.
Protect your listings: Active Sync protects against unauthorized changes by sending an alert when external edits are suggested for your listing.
Streamline Google Post management: With GBP Post Scheduler, you can use AI to speed up Post creation and schedule updates across multiple locations.

The Smarter Way to Manage Listings

Discover a cutting-edge solution for effective listings management

Get Started with Listings Management _{Start Your Free Account}

Yext

Yext’s automated listing management platform allows you to build citations and keep your business information current across multiple online directories and platforms. Because of how its payment model works, you choose which listings you connect and manage via its interface.

Its network includes more than 200 publishers, including Google Business Profile, Facebook, Yelp, and TripAdvisor. A central interface facilitates easy management regardless of the number of listings.

One of Yext’s hallmarks is its ‘Listings Recommendations’ feature. This AI-powered analytical tool provides clear insights into each listing’s performance. It tracks engagement and presents that information in a report format so you can see which listings are driving traffic to your site or generating the most phone calls.

How much does Yext cost?

You’ll pay a fee for each listing platform you connect to Yext. Prices run on a sliding scale. Basic platform management costs start from around $16/month, per platform. Major platforms like Google, Facebook, and Yelp are approximately $36/month, per platform.

Is there a free trial?

No. Yext currently does not offer a free trial but you can request a demo to see the system in action.

Features

Sync listing information to major sites: With Yext, you can sync your business information to more than 200 platforms, including maps and search engines.
AI insights: AI-driven insights provide helpful listing recommendations to optimize your local search performance.
Monitor engagement: Track the number of people who called you from a specific listing or clicked a link to your website.
Customizable reports: You can create custom reports from the central dashboard and share them with other stakeholders as needed.
AI-search: Yext is compatible with new AI search tools such as Google Gemini. It enables those AI-search experiences to find your listing information, boosting visibility.

Things to Consider

It can get expensive: Sliding monthly fees per platform can be costly, especially if you have multiple listings and/or locations. You may find that other options offer better value for money.
You can’t try before you buy: There is no free trial, so you can’t test Yext out before committing. You’ll have to rely on the demo to decide if this is the best listings management tool for your needs.
You rent your listings: If you cancel your Yext subscription, any changes you have made will roll back. This model means you’re effectively renting your listings.
One-size-fits-all: You can’t choose where your listings are built with Yext. As a result, you’ll get the same citations as everyone else using their service.
Fully automated: Yext’s service relies fully on automation. Without that human intervention, you could be missing out on valuable niche listings that are very relevant to your business.
Limited network: Yext has a limited network compared with other tools.

Read more: Yext Vs BrightLocal

Semrush

Semrush will need no introduction to anyone with prior experience running a traditional SEO campaign. It’s a comprehensive suite of more than 50 tools covering everything from keyword research to content marketing.

Listing Management is one of six local SEO tools on offer. You can use it to build citations and manage your business listings. Once you enter a business’s NAP, Semrush will add to a range of citation sites and directories, including Google, Facebook, and Apple Maps. It covers a range of site types, including apps, maps, and aggregators across more than 60 countries.

You can use Listing Management to edit and update your business information in real-time once your listing has been built. There’s also an option to upload multimedia content, including your business logo and images, to sync across your business listings.

Review management is included, but you’ll need to upgrade to the Premium package if you want help creating review responses.

How much does Semrush cost?

You’ll first need to choose a monthly plan. Prices range from $139.95/month to $499.95/month. Listing Management is an additional fee on top of your selected subscription.

The Basic plan, which includes Listing Management and Review Management, costs an additional $20 per month. To unlock additional features such as the ability to track Google Maps rankings, you would need the Premium add-on which is currently priced at $40 per month.

Is there a free trial?

Yes. There’s a seven-day free trial, which includes all Semrush tools.

Features

Information sync: Like most tools you only need to add your NAP once. Semrush will then push that information out to citation sites and other platforms automatically.
Manage dozens of platforms: Manage your business listings on 72 platforms, including Google and Apple Maps, from your central dashboard.
SEO tips: The tool will suggest actions to improve your search visibility.
Manage dupes: Identify and manage duplicate listings to protect your listing accuracy.
Data accuracy: Update your information once, and the changes will be synced across all listings.
Multiple locations: Semrush supports multiple listings across multiple countries, giving you full control over your online presence.
Review monitoring: You can manage consumer reviews from the same dashboard with one-click access to respond to each new review posted.

Things to Consider

You can’t access everything: For advanced features, including detailed analytics and automated review responses, you’ll need the more expensive Premium subscription.
It can be pricey: Semrush is a more expensive option than some of the other tools on this list. You’ll first need to have a monthly subscription and then top up with an add-on to activate Listing Management.
No customization: Semrush will automatically distribute your business information to its network of 70+ directories. You can’t select where your information appears.
You may miss out on certain opportunities: Because there’s a default list for each country, you may be missing out on more specialist listings that fall under niche categories.

Moz Local

Moz Local is another option for managing local business listings. It can be used to create and manage local business listings in the USA, Canada, and the UK.

As with the other tools we’re comparing, all management activity is handled from a central dashboard.

Business information is updated once and then is synced across the web to search engines, social networks, apps, and directories.

There’s a helpful automated duplication tool that finds and deletes duplicate listings, and profile optimization suggestions indicate where additional data or photos would be beneficial.

Moz Local also offers review management functionality. You can monitor and respond to reviews directly from the Moz dashboard and receive an alert when a new review is published.

Finally, you can publish new updates and offers to Google Business and Facebook as well as share updates, offers, and question-and-answer features to other sites.

How much does Moz Local cost?

Moz Local is priced from $14/month per location for the Lite package up to $33/month per location for the Elite option. The Lite package offers basic listings management and review monitoring. The $20/month per location Preferred package gives the option to respond to reviews and post to social media, while the Elite option unlocks additional directory listings.

Is there a free trial?

No.

Features

Central data management: All business information is managed from a central dashboard.
Duplicate listings: An automated scan identifies and deletes duplicate listings.
Monitor Visibility: Moz Local’s Search Visibility Score helps you to understand how visible your business listings are in search results.
Profile completeness: See what additional data and images are required to complete your business listings.
Reputation management: Receive an alert when a new review is published to manage your online reputation.
Local Listings Score: Moz Local allows you to quickly check the accuracy of your business information across all online listings.

Things to Consider

It’s limited: If you’re a multinational company, Moz Local may not be the right fit as it only supports listings management in the USA, UK, and Canada.
It isn’t as comprehensive as others: In comparison with some of the other best local business listing management tools, Moz Local lacks functionality. You need to upgrade your subscription to access additional local SEO tools, such as the ability to respond to reviews or track your local search rankings.
Recurring billing: You must maintain your subscription to renew your listings, which means you’re tied into the billing cycle.
Small network: Moz Local submits to a limited number of sites, which can stunt your citation building progress. Limited coverage means you’ll miss out on a range of location- and industry-specific sites.

Read more: Moz Local Vs BrightLocal

Birdeye

Birdeye is an AI-powered social media and reputation management tool for local businesses. A single dashboard powers listings management, review management, and social media post creation and scheduling.

Listings management is heavily automated, with helpful support from AI for those who want to share the workload.

You can build and maintain listings across major platforms, including Google, Facebook, and Apple Business Connect, plus industry-specific directories.

Birdeye also facilitates image uploads and appointment request links to enhance your listings and grow consumer engagement.

If you want to go deeper, a scan tool compares your listings to industry benchmarks. That insight can then be used to spot performance gaps and opportunities for improvement. Analytics track listing performance, with metrics like site traffic, inbound calls, and keyword rankings monitored in real time.

How much does Birdeye cost?

There are three pricing tiers, ranging from $299/month per location to $449/month per location. Each option includes listing management, but you’ll need one of the bigger packages for features like webchat and social media scheduling. The bigger packages often come with custom prices for listings, or you need to request a quote.

Is there a free trial?

No. There’s a free 30-day trial of the social media tool, but this doesn’t include listings management.

Things to Consider

Auto-verify: Get your Google listing live within a few days with Birdeye’s auto-verification.
Error reports: Automated error reports flag up inaccuracies across your business listings and directory inserts.
Benchmarking: Compare your listings with the competition to identify performance gaps and areas for improvement.
AI assistance: An AI writing tool generates optimized business descriptions that can be used across your listings.
Listing scan: Scan your listings with just one click to see how your business appears across the web.
Automatic updates: Any changes you make to your business information in the Birdeye dashboard are automatically rolled out across the web, making light work of keeping your listings up to date.
Limited network: Birdeye’s network is smaller than some of the other tools on this list. That means your business could miss out on lots of valuable niche and location-specific listings that could benefit your local presence.
No free trial: No free trial means you can’t get a feel for the platform before you commit to using it. You’ll have to rely on the video demo to decide if it suits your style of working.
It’s pricey: The Birdeye subscription costs are some of the most expensive of all the listings management tools we’ve reviewed.
Set-up fee: There’s a fairly hefty set-up fee on top of the monthly subscription cost if you opt for any of their other services, so you need to be 100% certain Birdeye is the tool for you before you get started.
Other limitations: a lack of white-label support and basic auditing.

Read more: Birdeye Vs BrightLocal

Uberall

Uberall’s AI-powered listings management software connects with more than 125 directories to manage your online presence. Its niche is multi-location businesses, and its network includes major sites like Google, Facebook, and Yelp, along with Apple Maps and other listing sites. It also connects with Alexa and similar voice assistants.

There are a range of Google Business Profile features, including profile protection to defend your listing against ‘suggested edits’ from the search results page and recommended actions to update your listings.

A content collection feature makes adding rich media content, including images and videos, quick, easy, and convenient. Simply upload once and push out across all locations.

How much does Uberall cost?

Uberall will provide a quote after a consultation about your goals. However, their listings generally start from about $8.95 per month per location.

Is there a free trial?

No free trial is currently available.

Things to Consider

Multi-location friendly: Uberall is designed for multi-location businesses.
Centralized data: You can manage all your listing information for multiple locations from one centralized dashboard.
Google Business Profile management: This syncs up with GBP and offers a range of tools to make managing your local pack listings easier.
Protect your listings: Profile protection helps protect your listing from edits and other unauthorized changes. It also helps to keep your business information consistent and accurate across your listings.
Duplication checks: Uberall checks for duplicates and ensures you have just one verified listing per location.
Recommended actions: Get suggestions to improve your multi-location listings for greater accuracy and effectiveness.
Performance insights: See how your listings are performing versus others in your area.
Claim profiles in bulk: Managing franchise or multi-location business listings can be time-consuming. Uberall allows you to claim listings in bulk to save time.
Lack of flexibility: While AI can speed up some tasks, it can also be limiting in other areas as there is very little flexibility.
Limited network: Uberall’s network lacks the industry- and location-specific sites that could benefit your multi-location business.
No free trial: With no free trial, you’ll need to make a financial commitment before you can explore the platform.
Limited functionality: Not all packages include all the functionality you need to truly take control of your local business listings. The starter package, for example, doesn’t include reputation management tools.

Localo

Localo was previously Surfer Local. It’s best known as a Google Business Profile management tool. It uses AI to power its functionality, so you can expect a high degree of automation.

Unlike the other top business listing management tools we’ve included in this guide, Localo focuses exclusively on GBP, so it isn’t a good choice if you want to build citations and manage your listings across other platforms from one centralized dashboard.

How much does Localo cost?

Plans start from around $70/month per location.

Is there a free trial?

There’s a free version of the tool which offers limited functionality.

Things to Consider

Comprehensive Google Business Profile tools: Uberall is primarily a GBP management tool, so it has extensive functionality in this area.
Some free functionality: There’s a free option if you aren’t looking to take out a subscription.
Check listing visibility: You can monitor your business’s visibility and track keyword rankings. You can also keep tabs on rivals with competitor visibility checks and get suggested keywords to boost your visibility.
Profile audits: The higher-priced plans include a Google Business Profile audit to identify missed opportunities to rank higher in the local pack (paid plans only).
Post scheduling: Google Business Posts allow you to share updates, events, and offers with search users. You can use Localo to schedule your Posts to keep your listing active and your audience engaged (paid plans only).
Business description support: If you find inspiration hard to come by, an AI writing assistant can craft an optimized business description for you. You can use this on your Google Business Profile and across business listings managed elsewhere (paid plans only).
Measure impact: Localo analytics can help you measure the impact of your Google Business profile. You can also monitor metrics such as calls and messages, profile views, and website visitors (paid plans only).
Photo planner: Schedule photo updates to automate new image uploads to your GBP listing (paid plans only).
Limited reach: Localo is dedicated to Google Business Profile management, so it doesn’t offer the same reach and functionality as the other tools on this list.
No citation building: You can’t use Localo to build new citations or update existing citations en masse. You’ll need to use another tool alongside Localo to complete those tasks.
Other major sites aren’t supported: While most tools will include Facebook, Yelp, Bing, and Apple Maps, Localo doesn’t support these. You’ll need another tool to manage listings outside of Google, including on the other big three platforms.
No centralized dashboard: As mentioned, Localo specializes in Google Business Profile. Changes you make to your Google Business Profile won’t be synced to your other business listings across the web. You’ll need to update them manually to ensure consistency or pay for another tool to sit alongside Localo.
Missed opportunities: You can’t use Localo to create listings on the location-specific, or industry-specific directories that could drive more traffic to your business. This could be a missed opportunity and leave the door open for your competitors.

Conclusion

There’s a lot to consider when choosing the right listings management solution. The reality is that your choice may well depend on your situation. If you’re managing listings for hundreds of locations, for instance, some of these services could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars. Similarly, some of the tools require you to sign up for other services you may already be managing elsewhere.

We’ve tried to remain unbiased, as we represent one of the tools mentioned above. We want to provide the most up-to-date and accurate information possible to help you make a decision.

So, if you spot anything out of order in the information, or are aware of anything that needs updating, please do send us an email and we’ll look to get it updated as soon as possible.

How to Add or Claim Your Yell.com Listing

Rada Daktina — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 11:18:21 +0000

Welcome to this comprehensive guide on how to create and manage your business listing on Yell.com. This guide will walk you through the steps of account creation, adding a new business listing, and claiming an existing listing. Whether you’re a new user or looking to optimize your current listing, follow these easy instructions to ensure your business is accurately represented and visible on Yell.com.

Account Creation

Step 1: Go to https://www.yell.com/ and click ‘Log in’ at the top right corner:

Step 2: Select the ‘Sign Up’ tab on the right and create your account:

Step 3: Check your inbox for the verification email and follow the instructions. If you didn’t receive the email, log in to your account and click “Verify” to resend it:

Adding a Brand New Listing

Step 1: Use the search bar to check if your business is already listed.

Step 2: If your business is not listed, scroll to the bottom of the page and click ‘Add Business’ or ‘Get a free listing’ in the top bar:

Note: When adding a business via the button at the bottom of the page, make sure you select the first option that says, ‘I manage this business, and I’d like to create a listing.’ This way, you will own the listing. The second option will allow you to suggest a business place to Yell.com, but you will not own it.

Step 3: Fill in the form with your business details and click ‘Continue’:

Step 4: Select your address from the suggested addresses under the drop-down menu, or if it is not there, click ‘Add manually’ and fill in the form:

Step 5: Add your business website URL (optional):

Step 6: Add your business category. You will need to select one of the suggested options, as unique categories aren’t accepted:

Step 7: You will be redirected to the main dashboard. Here, you will see the banner notifying you that your listing is pending verification. There is nothing you need to do about this—Yell.com moderators will review the listing and email you when it is published.

You will also see several sections where you can add additional information about your business, such as logos, images, opening hours, descriptions, etc.

Claiming an Existing Listing

Step 1: While logged in to your account, go to https://www.yell.com/ and search for your business:

Step 2: Find your business in the search results and click on ‘More Info’:

Step 3: Scroll to the bottom of the page and click ‘Claim Business’:

Step 4: In the new pop-up that will appear, click on ‘Manage this business’:

Step 5: In the next overview page, click ‘Claim this business’:

Step 6: You will then be redirected to the main dashboard, where you can add more information about your business or correct any outdated details.

How to Add or Claim Your A Greater Town Listing

Rada Daktina — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 09:31:06 +0000

Adding your business to agreatertown.com is a great way to increase visibility, reach new customers, and establish your online presence. It usually forms part of a broader citation-building campaign, whether you’re doing that manually or with a citation-building service.

This comprehensive guide is for anyone doing it themselves, and it will walk you through the simple process of adding your business to the platform. From signing up to publishing your listing, we’ll cover every step in detail so you can get started quickly and easily.

How to Add a Listing

1. Go to agreatertown.com and click ‘Sign Up’ in the right-hand corner. Alternatively, you can head straight to https://agreatertown.com/user/register_prompt/free_pass:

2. Fill in the required information and click ‘Join’ to create your account (make sure to check all tickboxes before you proceed):

3. You will see the message below on your screen. Head to your inbox and complete the email verification. If the email does not arrive from the first attempt, you can request another one by clicking the ‘Click here to resend a link’ message:

4. Once you verify the email, you will be redirected to your account dashboard, specifically to the ‘My posts’ section. The site calls any addition to their directory a post, so don’t be alarmed. To start adding the listing, click ‘Add New Post’:

5. The first step is adding the ‘Post Title’, which in this case will be the business name:

6. The next step is adding the business category. Add your category and click ‘Search category’. If no exact matches are found, you will see the message below. In this case, you can contact the site’s support team for help:

You may need to try a variation of different categories and/or keywords to get a list of suitable suggestions. Once you see that, choose the best option that fits your business:

9. The next step is adding the town your business is located in. You must follow the instructions listed precisely. You must enter the town + state or zip code combination for US locations. If your business is outside the US, you must enter the country’s name or the country’s name followed by ‘UN.’

Example:

Australia, UN
United Kingdom, UN
Canada, UN

10. The fourth step is adding a logo. This is important and mandatory. If you skip this step, your listing will remain private, and others won’t see it until you add a logo. This can be an official logo or an image/thumbnail from your website, GBP, or social media. Simply add the file and click ‘Upload Image’:

11. The next page is where you can add rich content for your listing. Click on ‘Add link’ to add the website URL:

You will see two fields for this. The top field is for the actual URL, and the bottom field is for the anchor text:

This option lets you add your main website URL and social media links. Remember to use anchor text and save the links one by one.

The ‘Add Text’ will allow you to add the business description.
The ‘Add Images’ allows you to upload photos of your business.
The ‘Add Map’ option allows you to add the full business address.

12. Once you have added all relevant information, you can use the buttons at the top of the page to preview, delete, or publish your listing. Click ‘Publish Your Post’ at the top of the page, and you are all set:

Get Citations Done Fast... and Own Your Listings Forever

No recurring fees. Complete Control. Super-low cost.

Get Started with Citation Builder _{Start Your Free Account}

How to Claim an Existing Listing

1. Use the search bar at the top left corner of the page to look for a specific business:

2. If you find the existing listing, click on it and scroll to the bottom of the page until you see the ‘Is this your business? Claim this post.’ message:

3. If someone has already claimed the listing, you will have several options. To either log in (if it is your listing), reset the password, or contact the support for help with access (do remember to include the link to the listing you are trying to reclaim):

Notes:

The customer support at agreatertown.com is very responsive and helpful, so don’t hesitate to ask them for help.
When you look at the list of search results, you can see who created the listing/post:

You can click on the name and see all listings added to the site by that person/company and also the option to contact them directly:

How to Add or Claim Your Best of the Web Listing

Rada Daktina — Wed, 15 May 2024 09:49:27 +0000

Whether you’re a small local business or a global enterprise, having a strong online presence can significantly impact your visibility, credibility, and, ultimately, your bottom line. One effective way to boost your online presence is by leveraging directories, and one of the most reputable and influential directories out there is Best of the Web (BOTW). In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through the process of adding or claiming your Best of the Web listing, helping you harness the full potential of this valuable resource for your business.

How to Add a Listing

1. Go to https://botw.org/

2. Click either ‘Get Listed Today’ in the top right corner or the ‘Add Your Listing Today’ button in the center of the screen:

3. Fill in the required details to create the account. Make sure to agree to the T&Cs and to check the captcha box:

4. Next, verify your email address (this can also be done later in the process) by clicking the verification link that will be emailed to you.

5. Now, search for your business to see whether it is listed on the site. Type the name of your business, and you will see suitable options/suggestions appear in the drop-down menu. If your business is listed there, click to select it. If none of these are correct matches – click the yellow ‘None of these are correct’ button:

6. If you select your business from the options shown, you will see a new page where some fields are auto-populated with information the site holds about your business. If you click the yellow button – you will be redirected to the same page, but it will be blank, so you will need to add basic NAP data for your business:

7. For the next step, fill in your business categories, services, and business description:

8. After that, select a suitable Botw.org listing plan. You will see three options with a detailed price description and what it covers. The chosen plan can be paid either monthly or annually.

There is also a free option; however, if you choose that – your listing will not display the link to your website. To select that, you need to scroll to the bottom of the page and click the ‘No thanks!’ message:

9. You will get another pop-up with the discount offer. You can either accept that or click the message below:

10. The final stage is phone verification. You have the choice of receiving a phone call or text message – switch the toggle to select the preferred option, then enter the code you will receive to the field on your screen:

11. If you are having issues with verifications, you can contact the site’s support for help by clicking the ‘Contact us’ message on the verification page.

12. Now, you can go back to the main dashboard, where you can manage existing listings, add more new listings, and manage reviews and payments:

Get Citations Done Fast... and Own Your Listings Forever

No recurring fees. Complete Control. Super-low cost.

Get Started with Citation Builder _{Start Your Free Account}

How to Claim an Existing Listing

1. Go to https://botw.org/ and search for your business.

2. The available listing will have an ‘Unclaimed’ badge:

3. Click on the listing or the ‘View Profile’ button.

4. Click ‘Claim now’:

5. If you are not signed in to your account, you must log in. If you have been logged in from the start – you will be redirected to the dashboard page, where you will be presented with several verification options: call, text message, email, postcard, or by reaching out to the support team:

6. Select the preferred method and follow the instructions on the screen.

7. If you do not see the claim option, contact the site’s support team and request assistance.

Using a Service

If all that seems a bit much, you can use a citation building service like BrightLocal. Citation Builder lets you build all the listings you need to improve your online visibility. Create a custom campaign and get listed where you want to get listed, including Best of the Web and hundreds of other sites. Save valuable time and let BrightLocal do all the hard work for you.

How to Add or Claim Your Just Landed Listing

Rada Daktina — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 17:58:14 +0000

Just Landed is a well-known and long-running site designed to help people move to new countries. It contains a variety of resources aimed at assisting people who are taking their first steps into a new area. These include country guides, job boards, and even a thriving expatriate community.

A key element of Just Landed is its directory, which is an extensive directory aimed at helping people find businesses that will be useful to them when they move. The global directory is an important listing for many businesses to claim and, in this guide, we’re going to talk you through how you can do just that.

Just Landed is useful whether you’re simply building local citations or just want to get found by new customers.

Before you get started

An official business email is mandatory for all submissions to this directory:
The email domain must match the domain of the official business website, so Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, etc. emails will not be accepted.
One location only is allowed per email address.
If you have multiple branches to list under the same email, it’s best to contact the site’s support, as an additional fee/subscription may be required.
Start the process with account creation.
Just Landed’s moderators only approve listings submitted from verified accounts. In addition, account verification links expire very quickly, so it’s best to complete this step first, especially if you do not plan to complete the whole submission process immediately.

Account Creation and verification

Go to https://www.justlanded.com/ and click “Sign Up” at the top right corner of the page.
Add your email and preferred password and click “Sign Up.” Make sure you check the box to confirm you accept the terms and conditions:

Note: “Sign up with Google” will only work if your Google account is created using your business email address, not Gmail.
You will now see your main dashboard with a message saying you need to verify your account.
Head to your email inbox and find the email from Just Landed.
Click the “Verify Now” button or copy the link and paste it into your browser:
All done! Now, you can proceed with adding your listing.

Adding a New Listing

Go to https://www.justlanded.com/ and log in using your credentials.
Select your country and state using the top left menu.
Now, there are two options you can use:
1. Click on “List a Company” on the main screen:
2. Then click “Get listed Now” that you will see on the screen:
3. Select “Directory” from the top menu and click the “List a company” button on the top right.
Fill in the details required to create the business account and indicate whether this is an account for an individual, company, or other under the “Account type” drop-down:

Note: If the email address that you used for registration does not match the business website domain, you will see the following message and won’t be able to proceed further:

In this case, select “Change email” from the menu on the left to update your details:
When you set up your business account, go to the directory or click “List a company” again and add your business details, then once done. Click post:
That’s it—you’re done! You will see the message confirming that it requires the moderator’s review. Once it has been reviewed, you should receive a notification that the listing has gone live.

What to do if the listing already exists

If you see your business listed on justlanded.com but don’t have logins (or have never created one), contact the site’s support.

As we already know, all listings are linked to the business email that matches the website domain. That means someone within the business created the existing record. The site’s support team may ask you to prove your relationship to the business and then help you gain access to the listing.

New: Citation Builder Launching in 10 New Countries

Mike Hawkes — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 12:48:49 +0000

Since we launched Citation Builder back in 2009, it’s gone from strength to strength. When BrightLocal first started building citations, things were a little different. We only built them on a certain number of sites and in a handful of locations.

Over the years, our pool of sites has evolved, and so has where we offer the service. Until now, we’ve offered these services in ten different countries. And now we’re doubling this. From today, September 5th, we can happily say we’re offering Citation Builder in ten more countries, bringing the total to 20.

Citation Builder is now available in these additional countries:

Austria
Belgium
France
Greece
Italy
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey

Get Building

Listings are still an important foundational step for businesses across the globe. Google uses listings to help create an accurate perception of a business. Not only that, but our Local Business Discovery and Trust Report 2023 found that 62% of consumers would be turned away from a business if they found incorrect information online.

Citation Builder is your key to correct and reliable accuracy across all your listings. Build with confidence.

How will this work?

It will work like any other Citation Builder purchase. You just need to follow the same steps as normal. Simply add the location information for the business in one of these new countries, select what you want to build, and we’ll get going.

We’ll build citations on an existing network of selected international citation sites. There will also be a number of country variant listing sites available in each of these countries.

Get Citations Done Fast... and Own Your Listings Forever

No recurring fees. Complete Control. Super-low cost.

_{Start Your Free Account}

The cost of building citations in these countries is exactly the same as it is in all our other countries. This means it will still cost the low price of $3.20 per citation. If you use credits, the cost remains the same as before.

What about aggregators?

You can submit to two of our popular local data aggregators, too. Each country can use the Foursquare and GPS Network to build citations through those aggregators.

As always, some of the sites we build citations on require verification, and all the information you need to help with can be found on our Help Center.

Is this changing anything else about the Citation Building service?

Adding these countries is just that, an addition. There’s no change to any of our other Citation Builder services because of this update. So don’t worry. We’ll keep offering the best possible local listing services at affordable prices.

Let’s Get Building

We can’t wait to start building citations in this new set of countries and carry on listing your businesses in the ones we already do. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact customer support.

Citation Builder is here to help you build the listings you need, now in more places than ever before.

Citation Sites for 100 USA Cities

Rada Daktina — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 07:00:20 +0000

Building and cleaning up local business citations is an essential, ‘table stakes’ task for any business that wants to rank well in local search.

It’s easy to find out which citations have the highest authority, but authority isn’t everything. Local and industry relevance is also very important, but finding these types of citations is time-consuming and repetitive.

To help make the process of finding business listings in USA cities easier, we’ve taken the time to heavily research the market and compile an exhaustive list of local business listing sites for 100 of the largest cities in the USA.

How did we find 500+ citation sites?

Using a variety of sources, including our own citation databases, manual research, and existing online resources, we have compiled this list and manually reviewed each site.

However, we’ve only included sites that:

allow a listing for any type of business (rather than a niche industry)
are unique to that US city, so they are proper local directories (no Yelp’s, Yahoo’s, CitySearch’s or statewide directories in this list).

All citation sites are listed under their relevant city section and each listing contains the following information:

Site name
Domain Authority*
Is it a free/paid/reciprocal listing?
What is the listing page URL/contact form (where available)?

*Domain Authority was recorded using Moz’s Link Explorer tool, which fluctuates over time.

How do I find the city I want?

Click on the ‘Article Contents’ dropdown in the top left (or click the arrow in the top-left on mobile) to see, and navigate to, the full list of cities.

31% of top 10 organic results for the average local search are business directories

Enhance your visibility today

Top Free USA Business Directories

Rada Daktina — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 08:00:42 +0000

Growing your online visibility via a local business directory listing (also known as citation building) is integral to your local marketing strategy.

Using business directory listings—like the ones below—will help to increase search rankings, build trust and authority with search engines, and give potential customers a greater chance of finding you online.

There’s a wealth of free business directory lists out there (many of which we’ve published ourselves), but we’re confident that this list of the top 50 is the very best place to start if you’re looking for free citations in the USA. If you simply want the best business directories in the USA, regardless of cost, we have you covered there too.

How do I get my business listed on free citation sites in the USA?

We’ve included links to each US business directory so you can go straight to it, create an account, and build your free US business listing. This usually takes around 15-20 mins to do per site.

Alternatively, you can build local citations the easy way by letting our citation specialists do the hard work for you. It’s super easy to do. Rather than spending hours going onto each site yourself, you create a free Citation Builder account instead. From here you select the sites you want to get listed on and our team will take care of the rest.

31% of top 10 organic results for the average local search are business directories

Enhance your visibility today

Top 50 Free Business Listing Directories for the USA

The following free local US business directories have been selected based on Domain Authority (DA).

Business Directory	Domain Authority
Google Business Profile	100
Apple Business Connect	99
LinkedIn	99
Facebook	94
WebMD	94
Instagram	93
LII (Legal Information Institute)	93
TripAdvisor	93
Bing Maps	93
Yelp	93
Trustpilot	92
BBB (Better Business Bureaus)	91
Foursquare	91
Patch	90
Justia	90
OpenStreetMap	89
Zillow	89
FindLaw	88
Houzz	86
Here	86
Listly	83
Nextdoor	83
AAO	82
Hostelworld	81
TomTom	81
Manta	80
HomeAdvisor	78
Care	77
Angi	76
Merchant Circle	76
Archinect	76
Porch	76
RateBeer	76
Apsense	75
Avvo	74
Just Landed	74
Insurance Journal	73
US Legal	72
WeddingWire	72
BatchGeo	70
Company	70
Best Plumbers	70
HappyCow	70
Healthgrades	69
Kompass	69
Ailoq	68
Lodging World	68
ProvenExpert	66
HG.org	66
YPLocal	55

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Top Citation Sites by US State

Rada Daktina — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 07:34:23 +0000

Anyone who owns or works with a local business will know the foundational importance of building quality citations on business listings sites and directories. This resource is for you if you’re looking to improve the online visibility of a local business across the US state you operate in.

450+ top local citation sites and business listings by US state

Our Citations Team has gathered over 450 different business listings sites and directories that focus wholly on businesses within each of the US states. The next time you’re looking for a state-wide business listing site or directory to submit your or your client’s business to, head back to this page.

31% of top 10 organic results for the average local search are business directories

Enhance your visibility today