According to a study by Birdseye, approximately 46% of all Google searches are seeking local information. With this, the importance of online presence for small businesses cannot be overstated. But many small businesses remain underrepresented online, thus missing out on the golden opportunity of tapping into the vast pool of prospective clients.

How Do Business Directories Help with Online Presence? 

Your listing in the business directory acts as an online profile for your business. This profile gives a brief introduction of what your business is about and creates that initial curiosity for the site visitor to know more. With a carefully crafted business listing, you can pull in customers who are looking for products/services similar to yours without spending much. The major benefits of having business listings for your small business include:

• Increased online visibility
• Building credibility and trust
• Improved search engine rankings 
• Helps get local customers
• Creates solid backlinks
• Helps with creating brand awareness
• Cost-effective marketing

Creating Listings in Online Business Directories 

Now that we have established that small business listings are essential for an effective marketing strategy, you will have to look into the details. Business listings come in two types – free business listings and paid business listings. For a business owner who is new to the online marketing platform, this might get confusing, and thus, we are here to explain it to you. Look through the pros and cons of both types and decide on the one that will be the best choice for your business.

Free Business Listings

If you are just starting with business listings, then you need to create a Google Business Profile (GBP) listing right away. This puts you on the map of businesses having an online presence. Then, you can move on to the other popular free business directories and create profiles for your business. 

This is hardly a hectic job since most of these directories just want you to fill in the basic information about your business, like the name, services offered, address, contact information, and more.

Take your time to create these listings and make sure that the information you provide is accurate. Also, being consistent about the information that you provide across different business directory listings is important. For example, providing working hours as 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM in one listing as opposed to 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM in another listing would create a discrepancy that the search engine would recognise, which would later lead to discrediting your business’s authenticity.

Here are some of the pros and cons of having a free business listing.

Pros

1. It is Free: People who are starting a business might be in a tight financial situation. Free business listings help you rank better without spending money separately for marketing.

2. Easy to Set-Up: Free small business listings require only basic information like business address, phone number, email address, and such. You can easily set them up without anyone’s help. Businesses with single employees can profit a great deal from free business listings.

3. Added Visibility: Having small business listings helps a great deal with SEO, and with the right strategy, you can rank higher. Added visibility to potential customers can mean increased leads and eventually increased revenue.

Cons

1. It Is Free: This might seem like a contradiction, but it is a reality. Free business listings attract more business owners, and so free directories are often swamped with listings. When you go with free business listings, your business becomes a needle in the haystack.

2. Spammers: Most free business directories use settings that accept automatic submissions of business listings. This means that the free business directories might have spambot-created accounts unless the said directory vets each listing daily.

3. Reputation: Most free business directories have a cheap and unreliable look since they operate on limited funds. They might also be riddled with low-quality links and ads. Thus, before you choose a free business directory, make sure to check its reputation in the online community.

---

Read Also: Why Is It Important to Add Your Business to Local Directories?

---

Paid Business Listings

You have now covered all the free and popular business directories. If you want to take your business to the next level, then a paid business listing is the right choice. Look through the pros and cons of the paid small business listings before you make the decision.

Pros

1. Better Features

As mentioned before, free business directories come with basic features that allow businesses to just offer a glimpse of their potential. But paid business directories offer a slew of features that could help better present your business to potential customers. 

For example, with a LocalBizNetwork listing, you can add custom artwork, get a do-follow link to your website, share custom videos, and more for just a small fee. You can also avail a featured listing that comes with other features like posting unlimited articles, offers/specials, managing on-page SEO, and more, along with other basic features. There are other variations of listings, too, that you can check out here.

2. A Possible Alternative to a Website

Small businesses often suffer from a lack of a grand budget in the initial stages. Creating and managing a website costs a substantial amount that many small business owners cannot afford. In that case, paid business directories might be the most affordable option.

You get to market your product/service at an affordable cost without burning money on the creation and maintenance of the website. Research the best and most affordable paid business listing sites and choose the ones that offer the best features. With an LBN business listing, you can post unlimited articles, videos, and even manage SEO at a fraction of that cost.

If you are a fresh entrepreneur with a tiny budget for marketing, paid business directories are the way to go!

3. Greater Credibility and Customer Trust

The more detailed and accurate the information you provide about your products or services in a business directory, the more trustworthy your business appears to potential customers. A well-optimized listing — with photos, descriptions, contact details, and reviews — reinforces your reliability. And guess what? Search engines love that. Better trust means better engagement, which translates into improved SERP (search engine results page) rankings and, ultimately, increased revenue.

4. Reduced Spam, Higher Authenticity

Free directories can often be flooded with spammy or bot-created listings, which dilute the credibility of the platform. Paid business directories, on the other hand, tend to have stricter listing standards. Since business owners are investing money, they’re more likely to provide accurate, high-quality information. This makes these directories more authentic and valuable to users — and to search engines.

5. Stronger Online Reputation

When you’re listed on reputable paid directories, your business is associated with platforms that are already seen as trustworthy and authoritative. This not only boosts your SEO but also enhances your overall brand perception. Think of it like being in good company — your small business benefits from the credibility and visibility of the directories themselves, which often have high domain authority and loyal user bases.

Cons

1. More Time to Create Listing: The increased number of features in paid business listings requires more of your time to set up the listing. Thus, taking some time to update information in your listing regularly becomes an added responsibility. Maintaining the listing is also an essential factor for staying on top of the marketing game.

2. It Is Not Free: Paid business listings will require an added budget. But if you compare it to the cost of building and maintaining a website, paid business listings are far more practical. 
 For example, creating a website from scratch and maintaining it can cost up to $1000 or more, depending on your design. But at LocalBizNetwork, we offer paid business listings at just $99 (per year), or you can just choose the basic listing at $99 (one-time). The difference is noticeable. 

LocalBizNetwork

LocalBizNetwork LLC was formed in 1999, and for over 20+ years, we have been helping small business owners gain credibility and better visibility in the online marketing platform. To know more about the plans offered by us, visit us at https://www.localbiznetwork.com/add-biz.php.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a business directory listing? 

A business directory listing is an online profile where businesses share details like services, contact info, and location to increase visibility. 

Why should small businesses choose paid directories? 

Paid listings offer premium features, more credibility, and better SEO benefits compared to free directories. 

Can paid listings help businesses without a website? 

Yes, paid listings can act as a cost-effective alternative to a website by showcasing business info, videos, articles, and contact details. 

Are paid business directories better for SEO? 

Absolutely. Paid directories often provide do-follow backlinks, enhanced profiles, and keyword-rich listings that improve search rankings. 

What are the advantages of using LocalBizNetwork for listings? 

LocalBizNetwork offers affordable paid listings with features like unlimited articles, custom videos, on-page SEO tools, and high domain authority.