UK Business Directory List
All digital marketers know the advantages of listing in local and national business directories. These online portals are a great way of getting your business out there, and letting potential customers know which products you offer, your opening hours and how to get in touch with you. Failing to get your company listed on directory sites could cost you sales. But with so many directories around, which ones should you be contacting first?
Google Business
By far the biggest search engine around is Google, and the very first thing you should do is to make sure you set up your Google Business profile. This is free of charge, and will let customers find you both through search engine queries and through the mapping tool. There are other extra paid-for services offered through Google to maximise your marketing budget but you don’t have to buy these if you don’t want to.
Bing Places
Although Google has something like 93% of the search engine market, it’s still worth seeking out similar listings on the other search engines too, such as Bing. Their Bing Places for Business function does pretty much the same thing as the Google Business listing, and will put your company in front of people who prefer Bing to Google as their search engine.
Customers are increasingly looking on social media for products and services, so setting up a Facebook profile for the business is now an essential part of digital marketing. The key to managing a social media presence is to engage with your customers by posting regular updates and responding quickly to comments and questions. Facebook accounts for businesses are free of charge, with the option of additional advertising should you want to buy it.
Yell
The old Yellow Pages brand has morphed into the 21st century website Yell, which does everything that you’d expect from the old paper directories. Basic business listings on Yell are free, although there is the option to pay extra for a more prominent position on the website or to add more details to your listing. This is what is known as a freemium model and is common to most of the free business directories.
118businessdirectory
We believe that our site provides the one-stop shop for business listings in the UK, offering all the other directories can do, and more. We can provide the personal touch which the bigger multinational brands can’t, and work with you to come up with the best combination of marketing activities for your brand.
Council Directories
Many local councils around the UK have directories of local businesses in their area, and the benefit of being listed on those pages is that the Council website is a trusted brand. The downside to the local Council listings is that the sites are generally low-tech, and although the initial listing is free, there is no option for a more prominent listing, or working with an expert on your social media presence. Only consider a Council listing in addition to other listings too.