Best Directories to Get Listed On?

[Prime85]

Hello,

I'm looking for a list of the best, most trusted, SEO friendly directories to list my company on.

Can you guys please provide some directories that you have seen help increase your rankings and also drive targeted traffic?

No Black Hat directories, only high quality ones.

Thanks!

[SussexChef83]

Hi guys

Really funny to read this! I had some advice from a former compettitor  (he has since sold his cateeing business) his site has little or even no interesting content (a handful of blog posts) but ranks well for all the keywords that we Desire .

I asked him how he did it and he said that he put his site on around 600 directories! He still ranks really highly even though he sold it a year or too ago.

The other thing he mentioned was buying blog posts on other sites about his.

So if I was to Wright some interesting content and get people in the catering industry to link to it. I should over come the directory spamming approach that he has taken? Perhaps a free tool or check list for weddings or something?

his site gastrocatering.com mine is sussexchef.com

[Kara.Wallace]

Again, I personally would suggest the directories listed on GetListed.org. If you haven't gone there yet, here is a list of their suggested directories:

• Google Local Listing
• Bing Business Portal
• Best of the Web (as Robert suggested)
• Hotfrog
• Superpages
• Yellow Pages
• CitySearch
• Yahoo (again what Robert suggested)
• Nokia
• eLocal
• FourSquare
• Yelp
• and a few others

These are all "trusted" and "SEO friendly" in terms of your original question.

Getting listed in these or other directories is not necessarily going to make you rank higher; however, they will hopefully drive some additional traffic to your site.

When you say, "high quality", what are you actually asking? If you are talking about PR and DA or passing link juice or whatever... it is going to depend not only on the directory, but also the page that you are on in that directory - whether Google indexes that page, how many other businesses are on that page linking out (diluting any link juice), etc.

As Nakul stated, you should be listing your business where your customers are. Are your customers going to be searching for you in the Yellow Pages or in a Google/Bing/Yahoo business directory - maybe? Are they going to be searching for you on DirectoryBin or WorldSiteIndex - I guess I'd doubt it.

With the time you are spending researching directories or even getting listed in these directories, you could be spending creating good content that will naturally get linked to and shared on social. My advice - create good, shareable content and engage with whatever "community" your business has. When you have nothing else left to do, then get listed in a few legit business directories.

Mike

[RobertFisher]

Prime85

The only ones I would ever suggest to anyone would be BOTW and the Yahoo directory. Many of the others that are listed on Moz are fine IMO, we just do not use directories that often.

Hope that clarifies,

Best

[Prime85]

Ok... Glad everyone got that out of their system, now back to the main/original question... What are some of the better diretories to get listed in/on...

Please take a look at these two examples and let me know if you think these are "high quality"...

http://www.directorybin.com/

http://www.worldsiteindex.com

Awaiting your feedback, Thanks!

[Digital-Diameter]

Local and / or focused on your industry is best. GetListed.org has a list. I put a number in this blogpost as well as some tips on how to get rolling on citations.

Some are paid, some are not. Remember too, your local chamber of commerce and other business organizations can be highly relevant as well.

[USADigitalTeam]

Hello Keri,

I have deleted the response and hope it goes well with everybody.Good day ! Peter

[KeriMorgret]

Hello Peter,

Welcome to Moz! I see that you have just joined. Q&A is not the place to advertise your business (there's actually no place on Moz for this), and we ask that you refrain from advertising your business in the future.

Regards,

Keri Morgret
On-site Community Manager
Moz

[RobertFisher]

Peter, I have no way of knowing what your intent/meaning is by "pouring out your heart," etc. but,  I can assure you this is not a "heart" issue for me. I spent years in trauma centers and my heart issues are kids that are abused or injured or ill, and animals in the same situation. Beyond that, only the abuse of power or station can ring my bell.

I was frankly stating a point of view. Trust me that my opinion will not keep people from using directories. I did not thumb you down nor did I attach any vitriol to what I wrote.

Best to you and your endeavors,

Robert

[NakulGoyal]

You have gotten some great answers. What I would like to add is, reverse the process of thought a bit by thinking where your customer is. Go list with directories where your customer might be looking for a company like yours. If you are looking to register with any directory, do it for the value of the traffic or exposure that directory might be able to pass on to you and not the SEO/link value. If we do that, you'll get the best ROI and it'll be a safer approach in terms of SEO in 2013. I hope this helps.

[RobertFisher]

Peter,

It appears you are new to Moz and I appreciate your desire to tell about your directory site. This is not really what this forum is for and i would suggest you talk with someone at Moz re how to get the site listed with getlisted, etc.

Personally, I think directories with few exceptions are not good for business. (Yahoo directory, botw, etc. can help a small amount, but with any of these they are more helpful to a brand new site with no links and then they become an albatross.)

We work every day trying to correct all the directories that have come into being with no other purpose than to be a directory. (Not really a blue ocean strategy IMO.) So, businesses feel they have to be in Yelp, YP, CitySearch, etc. and yes, for attorneys, Martindale, etc. But, at the end of the day, the directories really do nothing to improve the business outcomes (unless you are going to tell me about link juice). As it stands now, a search on practically any trade or profession returns over half of the results with directories. Gosh, as a searcher that is what I wanted, to go to search so I could go search a directory.

Please understand it is not about you and you may have a great directory. I work in SEO everyday and my job is to rank my clients, not the directories they are in.

Best,

Robert

[WhiteboardCreations]

Prime85,

All of the previous recommendations are correct and great resources to investigate, however, the real question isn't for a list of directories. The question and my best answer for you are, not ALL directories are appropriate for ALL businesses. Martindale.com is an awesome "directory" to get listed in as a law firm, big or small, although it would not be relevant for a local dentist to be listed as Google wouldn't see the relevance. Find directories which have broken out categories to fit your business/industry/niche... then submit your listing. Use tools to look at the directory site as well to check for PageRank, DA, PA, and if it looks spammy, it may just be spammy and not worth it as a quality profile for a link.

Hope this was a good answer to push you in the direction for finding relevant directories, all local directories, and use tools to look at the site from a search engine perspective to help your link building efforts.

Cheers,
Patrick

[KempRugeLawGroup]

On the off chance you're in the legal industry, http://www.martindale.com/ is good, though they pretend they aren't a directory.

[Kara.Wallace]

You should try and get your business listed in all of the directories listed on https://getlisted.org/

Hope this helps.

Mike

[KevinBudzynski]

I imagine DMOZ is still up there for directories.