A Comprehensive Guide on Local Listings and their ranking factors.

What is a Business local listing, and why is it important for SEO?

Local Business listing is a way of marketing your products and services by listing your business on online business directories.

The business directory is just like a telephone directory where it allows business to list their business based on industry type, location, category.

Users can find the location of a business near to them by going through these business directories.

Example: Google my business, bing places, etc.

Key Elements of a Local Business Listing

Check the specific set of fields that are asked while listing your business on local business listing sites.

1. Official Business name/title
2. Business Address
3. Contact details
4. Website Home Page URL
5. Business Category
6. Description (summary of your business that should include the products and services you provide)
7. Tagline if any
8. Social Media profiles Pages
9. Images (products, services)
10. Additional media
11. Alternate phone numbers
12. Fax number
13. Certifications
14. Brands carried
15. Payment forms accepted
16. Attributes

Local Business Listing-Specific Ranking Factors:

• No of citations – structured or unstructured citations connected to your business.
• Accuracy and consistency of NAP(Business Name, Address, contact details) across all the local business listing sites.
• Ranking also depends on the quality of the domains where your citations are listed that includes both structured and unstructured citations.
• Distance
• Relevance
• Prominence

Free Local Business Listing Submission Sites (2023)