Directory listings are a great way to improve your SEO and enable people to find your business.

What is a relatively painless task to complete, can work wonders on your Google ranking. Google likes when your website links to other quality websites, such as a Localist page, and as such boosts your ranking.

A few things to keep in mind when creating your directory listing:

• Make sure everything you write is correct. If you forget a number in your phone number, how will customers contact you?

• Put your physical address before your P.O. Box address

• If a map shows your location, make sure the map marker is visible and in the right place

• Include your open hours

• Add an email address that is the best for someone contacting you, and will be checked regularly.

• Add pictures of your shop, or products to stand out

• Make sure you add your logo to the listing
  
  

Reviews are available on most listings. These can be both a blessing and sometimes a bit of trouble. Reviews can be great at boosting your listing in the directory and in search engines. With Google, just 10 reviews that improve the rank of your listing in search results. However, if a customer had a bad experience and gives you a bad review, it can be hard or impossible to remove. In this case, make sure your next customer who reviews your business had a more positive experience, and try to make that negative an anomaly.

Consistency is important across your directory listings. If one listing says one phone number, but another says something different, not only will this hinder your customers reaching you, but can also affect your ranking in Google. So make sure you have someone on your team who will systematically go through your listings every 3-6 months to check they are all correct.

When it comes to directory listings, the more quality directories you are in, the better. That way you have made sure no matter where your customer looks, you are most likely in there.

Directories I would recommend:

• Localist
• Google Places
• Yellow
• Hot Frog
• Finda
• Yelp
• No Cowboys -Best for Tradespeople
• Foursquare -Best for hospitality, retail, entertainment