Our list of the Top 100 Online Business Listing Sites and Directories is back and bigger than ever (okay, not really, we just said that for emphasis)!

Do You Remember Our Top 100 Online Business Directories Blog?

If you don’t remember or didn’t read the Top 100 Online Business Directories, where have you been? Just kidding, it’s ok, we’ll catch you up to speed. We crunched the numbers, dug into the data and uncovered the 100 best business listing directories for local businesses to be listed on for both visibility purposes and of course local citation benefits. It took a long time to compile all that data, and we wanted to save you that time. The data from this study was originally published as a downloadable table.

The table is great, it's the meat. But much like meat and potatoes, it is indeed better with the potatoes (the profiles of the top 100 candidates) to complement it. So, our readers spoke and we listened: originally published on our blog, we’ve turned the Top 100 into a downloadable ebook for your reading leisure!

Changes/Updates to the Top 100 Online Business Directories List

Since the original release of the Top 100 Online Business Directories, we’ve made a few changes, because what is data if it is not accurate? While YP.com was on the list at #40, Yellowpages.com was not. Both directories receive different volumes of web traffic and should be treated as separate entities. So that being said, Yellowpages.com actually ranks in at #15, moving the current #15 (OpenTable) and the rest down leaving YP.com at #41. This unfortunately knocks Tupalo off our 100 list down to number 101 in our Honorable Mentions section (but still ranked highly in our hearts). All that being said, the table has been updated to reflect these updates.

Why Did You Try To Rank Local Business Listing Sites and Directories?

Backed By Tons of Research and Data

No matter what sector of business or department, companies need numbers to benchmark their performance and see where they want to go. We believe that more data and clarity in the listings space was long overdue. There have been a few “Top Directories Lists” on the internet that tell readers to list on a bunch of sites. Unfortunately, many of these blog lists become outdated and there has been little attempt to rank these sites with numerical evidence as to why they are the better local directories by quality of traffic or local citation strength.

Which local directories make the most sense in terms of listing ROI for a business to invest the time and effort in adding/claiming a local business listing on? We all know the big ones are important—Google, Bing, Facebook—but then what? For agencies, which listing sites are the cream of the crop that they should be offering in their business listing services or packages?

No More Guesswork With Business Listings Sites

To the detriment of many small businesses with limited budgets and little time to spare, they have paid for local business listings on online directories or listing services to manage their listings on multiple sites. Unfortunately, local business often receive little insight into their return on investment in terms of site traffic, bounce rates, percentage of local customers, etc. While compiling the research for the Top 100 Online Business Directories, there were countless stories and cases of small, medium and large-sized business owners who had been promised the world— i.e. top page SEO results—by business listing sites and directories that, frankly, can’t offer that with a simple link back to their site. Now, using the Top 100 as a guide, businesses and agencies can make listing management decisions based on fact rather than guesswork.

The Local Business Listing Space Can Be Confusing

The top 100 list of local business directories project grew from a blog post to a new industry standard, because the business listing and directory sector of the digital marketing landscape is fragmented, saturated and confusing. This eBook can help businesses and agencies alike piece together these questions with the information in the table. Finally, some numbers that provide answers as to where a business should spend their marketing dollars to list on the local directories that make the most sense in terms of local US traffic, domain authority (backlink power) and cost to list on said local directory.

Local Business Listings Are Still Important in Today’s SERP-ciety

Businesses have long been told to get their businesses listed correctly online, and digital agencies are often told that listings are an important digital marketing tool or service they should offer. Spoiler alert: accurate local business listings haven’t lost importance folks. Are listings still important in today’s times of SEO and SERP? Should a business just focus their digital marketing spend on SEO and forget about listings? (Answer: both are important, and accurate listings actually helps with SERP!). Another spoiler alert: What has changed is that it’s actually quality over quantity of listing sites that businesses should be concerned with.

Yes, having the right information listed will help customers find a business online. But just how many visitors do online local business listing directories get anyhow? It surely can’t be that many, can it? How do businesses know where they should concentrate their listing efforts when there are literally hundreds upon hundreds of business listing sites and local directories out there? That’s a great question. Where should a business even start? Is it worth it to manage their directory listings in-house or purchase a listing management service from a provider? These are all very great and valid questions!

An Inaccurate Business Listing is Like Free Candy for Competitors

Well friends, the proof is in the pudding (or table), as some would say. This top 100 list proves just how many local US visitors go to each business listing site a month, how much time consumers spend on each local directory or business listing site, and how many pages consumers view on a local business directory site before bouncing out. Why is all of this important? Well, for one it shows just how many potential customers a business is losing just by not being listed on certain high volume and high domain authority local business listing sites. Why are they losing business? Well, if a customer cannot find a business nowadays, they will pick the next closest alternative. Really, not having a listing accurate and available only gives that business’s potential sale to their competitor.

What Does the Future Hold for The Top Local Business Listing Sites?

The Top 100 list will only get better, this being the first of many annual editions to come of the top IYPs and directories in the US. We hope you are as eager as we are for next year’s edition! Will there be a big shift in the top directories? Are there any big newcomers on the scene? Tune in to find out!

Oh, and go ahead and read the Top 100, we dare you 🙂