Directory listings: Yelp, BBB, Angi and your website

A few business directories are worth claiming and keeping correct: your Google Business Profile first, then Apple's and Bing's maps, then the one or two directories your trade's customers actually use, such as Yelp, the BBB or Angi. Beyond that, extra listings add little. What matters most is that every listing you do have shows the same business name, address, phone number and website as your own site.

What a directory listing does for you

A directory listing is a page about your business on someone else's website. It does three useful things:

• People find you there. Some customers start on Yelp or Angi instead of Google, especially for restaurants and home services.
• It tells Google your details are real. When the same name, address and phone appear in many trusted places, Google is more confident about which business is which.
• It links to your website. A customer who finds you on a directory can click through to see your work.

It can also hurt. An old listing with a wrong phone number or a closed address sends customers to a dead end, and conflicting details make it harder for Google to know which version is right.

The listings worth claiming

Not every directory deserves an afternoon. Here is a rough order for a US small business:

1. Google Business Profile. This is the listing that appears in Google Maps and the local results. If you only do one, do this. How your Google Business Profile and website work together covers it.
2. Apple Business Connect. Controls how you appear in Apple Maps, which is the default map on every iPhone. Many owners forget it.
3. Bing Places for Business. Feeds Bing and some other services. You can import your Google profile to save time.
4. Yelp. Important for restaurants, salons, auto repair and many local services. Even if you never claimed it, you may already have a page created by customers.
5. Better Business Bureau (BBB). A basic BBB profile exists for many businesses whether or not they pay. Accreditation is a paid membership, which some customers, often older ones, look for. It is your call whether it is worth it.
6. Your trade's own directories. Angi, HomeAdvisor, Thumbtack and Houzz for home services. Healthgrades or Zocdoc for health practices. Avvo or your state bar for lawyers. The Knot or WeddingWire for wedding businesses. Your local chamber of commerce. Pick the ones your customers mention when you ask how they found you.
7. Facebook and Nextdoor business pages. Not directories in the old sense, but many people look there for a recommendation.

Free listings are enough for most of these. The paid parts, such as Angi leads, Yelp ads or BBB accreditation, are a separate decision. Judge them on whether they bring you work you can trace, not on what they promise.

The listings you can skip

You may get calls or emails offering to put you in hundreds of directories for a fee. Most of those directories have no visitors, and many copy each other. A listing nobody sees does not help you. Some of these services also remove your listings when you stop paying, leaving you worse off.

Also skip:

• Directories that are clearly spammy, full of ads and unrelated businesses.
• Directories in a different country or for a trade that is not yours.
• Any "listing" that asks for payment just to keep your details correct.

Keep your details the same everywhere

The most important thing about directories is boring: consistency. Your business name, address and phone number, often shortened to NAP, should match exactly on your website, your Google profile and every directory. Why name, address and phone must match everywhere goes deeper.

Before you start, write down the one correct version and use it every time:

• Business name exactly as it appears on your sign and your Google profile. Do not add towns or services to it ("Smith Plumbing Denver Water Heaters"). That breaks Google's rules and confuses people.
• Address in one format. Decide between "Suite 4" and "#4", "Street" and "St.", and stick to it.
• Phone number with the same number everywhere. Avoid a different tracking number on each directory unless you know how to set it up so the main number is still listed.
• Website address in one form, ideally the exact address your site ends on, with "https" and with or without "www" as your site uses.
• Hours, including holiday hours if you change them.
• Categories, chosen to match what you actually do.

If you have moved or changed your number, the old details are what to hunt down first. Moving your business and updating Google covers the order.

How to find and fix your listings

Search for your business the way a stranger would, and note every listing that shows up.

1. Search Google for your business name, then your phone number in quotes, then your old phone number and old address if you had any. Each search can uncover listings you did not know existed.
2. For each listing you find, look for a "Claim this business", "Is this your business?" or "Manage this page" link. Claiming usually means verifying by phone, email or a postcard.
3. Once claimed, correct the name, address, phone, website, hours and categories to match your written version.
4. Add photos and a short description where the directory allows it. Write the description fresh for each one rather than pasting the same paragraph everywhere.
5. Keep a simple list: directory, login email, date checked. You will need it the next time anything changes.

Reviews on directories

Reviews on Yelp, the BBB and Angi count as much to the people who read them as Google reviews do. Reply to them the same calm way. One difference worth knowing: Yelp discourages businesses from asking customers for Yelp reviews at all, so on Yelp it is better to simply be listed and let reviews come. For Google, asking is fine, as long as you ask every customer and offer nothing in return.

Link back to your website

Every directory listing should link to your own website, and your website should show the same details. If your site has your old address in the footer, or a phone number no longer in use, fix that first, because it is the one place you fully control. Directories copy from each other and from your site, so a mistake on your own pages spreads.

What to do this week

• Write down your one correct name, address, phone and website.
• Search for your business name and phone number, and list every directory that shows up.
• Claim and correct your Google, Apple and Bing listings first.
• Claim the one or two trade directories your customers actually mention.
• Check that your own website's footer and contact page match your written version exactly.

If your website itself has outdated details or looks older than your listings, you can see your site rebuilt first, with your current details on every page.