Inspecting the Ten Most Relevant Local Business Directories

The power of local online business directories to supply information at the press of a button made them more enticing for consumers to use when looking for a local business. Because of this change in preference among consumers looking for businesses, local online business directories have become very powerful local SEO tools. An online business directory can help all kinds of businesses from beauty shops to construction companies to restaurants to law firms, etc. to entice new costumers to try the service.Recent research revealed that people use online directories when they want information on a local service but they don't know which business to call. It's a fact that if local consumers looking for a business service find you on online business directories you'll get a call or a visit more than 50% of the time. You need to make sure that the local business called is your business number!Many online business directories provide a free listing; it's important to get listed in as many directories as feasible. And although a paid-listing has a greater chance to appear on top of search results, there are techniques you can do to pull your listing up without dishing out money.Top 10 Online Business Directories in UK1. Yell.comThe biggest online business directory with over 6 million users a month, Yell.com allows a free online business listing but the option to customize your listing by adding photos and description don't exist at present. Their paid listing can cost you anywhere between 300 British pounds – 600 British pounds depending on the business category.Recommendation: the free listing is good but spending some money on a paid listing is a good investment because of their large number of users.2. Qype.co.ukQype.com.uk can handle ALL types of businesses directory listings. Qype's users are actively rating and recommending businesses. Getting on the inside of this community offers any business a great opportunity. Qype allows businesses add lots of extra information for free like photos and business description. A full listing with photos and business description coupled with customer reviews can get you to the top of the listings for free. The 50 British pounds a month paid-for business listing Qype offers is also a wise use of your advertising money if you want to boost your leads without doing much of the work on the site.Recommendation: complete your business listing with photos and description; if you have the spare advertising money, don't hesitate to go for a paid listing.3. HotFrogUK.co.ukDespite being a newcomer online directory in the United Kingdom and its unique name, Hotfroguk.co.uk has garnered very good reputation on Google in terms of PR. All listings are free and a business can add lots of extra information that can push your listing up the directory's search results and Google's search engine.Recommendation: don't waste time and list your business now while the site is free.4. Vivastreet.co.ukIf you're looking for online classified ads websites, this site is the right one for you. The site's users can reach more than 1.2 million a month and its Google PR is excellent. The site is very good in promoting events or special offers. Free directory listings don't remain on the site for too long, though, so you need to regularly update your listing. Your listings will provide a Citation in your Google Places listing.Recommendation: advertise your latest deals and local events for free.5. City-visitor.co.ukCity-visitor.co.uk is a well established online directory but its design is aging. The free business listing that they offer is good enough for citation on Google Places. The site's paid-for listings will try hard to persuade you to buy into their directory, but I'm not convinced of the value or return.Recommendation: the free business listing is okay, but you may be wasting money for their paid-for listing.6. FreeIndex.co.ukThe site has all the potential to succeed as online business directory listings site in United Kingdom. FreeIndex only offers free directory listings; they don't buy a list of basic business information. Each business listed on FreeIndex has been added by the business owners themselves which what makes it so influential in Google rankings. FreeIndex also offers a lead-generation service for local businesses.Recommendation: list your business for free but explore the lead generation options as they could prove good at generating new customers.7. Bizwiki & AccessPlaceBizwiki and AccessPlace are two separate free directory listings but they exchange information; if you list on one directory, you're automatically listed on the other! Their combined monthly audience is approximately 700,000, and you can list your business for free and extra information including photos, service description, opening hours etc.Recommendation: go for free listing and generate some positive user reviews to get to the top.8. Yelp.co.ukYelp.co.uk is popular in the U.S. that it's been reported that Google wanted to buy the site for a whopping 500 million USD. They've been in the UK for a couple of years and are rapidly building a loyal audience; they've grown from 100k users to 500k in 12 months! Yelp is known primarily for their restaurant reviews but they cover all business categories. The site puts great importance on good reviews, and to get good reviews means to interact and master how Yelp's online community works.Recommendation: will be a major business directory listings soon so list for free and start generating some user reviews.9. Bview.co.ukBview.co.uk is focused on promoting special offers from local businesses listings—they're not the usual local SEO London online directory. So the point is to list your business for free and advertise your special offer too. The main focus is on London businesses providing them a venue to advertise their local promos, which is distributed to mobile apps and other relevant sites.Recommendation: great lead generator with discount vouchers so list for free, add a voucher and wait for the phone to ring.10. ViewLondon.co.ukViewlondon.co.uk is a directory devoted to lifestyle and entertainment businesses: bars, clubs, pubs, restaurants, venues, etc. They now cover most major cities in the UK and are growing rapidly. You can list your business for free and add lots of extra information. They have several advertising and paid-listing services; they're not cheap but a lot of business owners say that their solution works.Recommendation: if you're an entertainment business owner then list your business for free and consider testing their paid-for options to see what the return is like.Conclusion:Online business directories are an excellent local marketing tool, if used correctly. Business owners should not miss their opportunity to claim their business on these fee online directories, and invest more time (and money) to gain good client reviews to pull your listing on top of free directory listings search queries. If you have some additional marketing money available then you should consider paying for priority listings in the leading directories but make sure you check all possible options available—it's a competitive market!