Business directories come with a number of benefits. One of the benefits is that they give you links that aid in increasing your rank in the major search engines such as Google and Yahoo. The directories also give you increased visibility which aids in increasing your sales and profits.
While the directories come with the above benefits, you need to do a number of things to ensure that you get the most from listing your business:
Get a NAP on your website
Before you submit your business's information to the directories, you should ensure that your website is in order. One of the things that you should do is to ensure that the home page contains the full name of your business, the address and the phone number-usually known as NAP.
According to experts, the NAP can be anywhere on the page; however, you should ensure that it's not embedded in an image. This is because images are usually not indexed by search engines.
As rule of thumb you should ensure that the NAP you use in the directory submissions is identical to that on your website. For SEO purposes, you should put the NAP on every page of your website.
Set an account in each directory
You should visit each directory and aggregator and set an account. To open an account you will be required to fill in the essential information. To make your work easy, you should start filling out the essential NAP. You should also add descriptions about the company and its services.
It's recommended that you use the same username and password in each account; however if you have to use a different username and password, you should ensure that you have a note pad to jot down the information. This is to make it easy for you to remember the information.
Pay attention to the verification process
Most of the sites that you create an account in will send you an email that you should use to activate your account. Once you receive the email you should verify your account immediately. If you choose the phone option, you must be ready immediately to answer your business phone and jot down the PIN.
Check you listings
After verifying your information, you should wait for a few weeks and then take a look at the directory listings and see if your business has been listed. If your business has been listed you should add more information. If your company has not been listed, you should create another account using a different email address.
