Business directories are websites or apps that contain the name, address, contact information, and other essential details of businesses. They are like phonebooks for businesses. And these businesses are grouped according to their categories. Examples of business directories are yellow pages (e.g. Ghana Yellow Pages), Google My Business, Bing Places, and Yahoo! Local. Online business directories are part of digital marketing.
Basically, business directories increase the chances of customers finding your business online. Eighty percent (80%) of customers search online to learn about goods or services and the business they would want to buy from before they actually make a purchase. In this case, having a good online presence will help your business drive more sales.
Improves Your Online Presence
An online business directory helps you to appear easily on search engines such as Google, Bing, Duckduckgo, and so on. You will not have to do SEO work. They will all be done for you. Your part is to list your business on the online business directory. And their website’s SEO will do the rest for you. A good online business directory usually appears on the first page of search results and is usually at the top. And that is how they can help you have a better presence online.
As you can see, whenever you search for the term “yellow pages Ghana” in Google or Bing, Ghana Yellow Pages is always on the first page. And it is normally among the top five results. This means we can help you with SEO and make you more visible online.
Cost Effective for Businesses Without Websites
So you have a business but you need more customers. And you cannot afford to hire a web designer to build a website for your company. So you are relying on social media accounts and other means to create and maintain an online presence for your business. That is good, but you need to add an online business directory to your digital marketing strategy. With little or no fees, and as said earlier, you can enjoy the SEO of the online business directory and rank higher on Google. This will help attract customers who are searching for businesses like yours online. Ghana Yellow Pages has a Free Package with which you can list your business at no cost.
Perfect Partner To Company Website
The fact that you have a company website doesn’t mean you don’t need to list your business in an online business directory. Even though you may have a company website, you still need an online business directory for two reasons: First, online business directories usually have higher traffic than company websites. Second, they can make your company website rank higher than that of your competitors by providing it with backlinks.
It is a fact that on average, an online business directory has more traffic than a normal company website. This means the probability that a business directory will rank higher (in Google and other search engines) than your own website is very high. It is good to have your own website. But you should use online business directories in addition.
The other benefit is that when you add your company website to an online business directory, it increases the number of backlinks your website has. The more backlinks your own website has, the more credible Google will see it. This will help your own website to do well in search engines than that of your competitors. Although it cannot overtake an online business directory’s traffic, your company’s website will do better than that of your competitors.
Provides Information in a Snapshot
Business directories basically present your business’ name, goods and services, location, contact, and other key information to a prospective customer in an easy-to-find way. What the prospective client wants to know about your business is shown to them in a snapshot. This reduces the stress of having to comb the internet for your information. This means that you should ensure your phone details and every other information on the online business directory is correct. So that customers can call your business when they need to.
Increases Local Visibility
With online business directories whenever people search for anything plus the phrase “near me” (e.g. bakeries near me, remedial schools near me) your business can pop up. And this will help the prospective customer visit your physical location. This is only possible when the online business directory is integrated with a map.
Fortunately for you, Ghana Yellow Pages has a map that shows where the businesses listed on our website are. Hence when you switch your device’s location on, you can easily find the businesses close to you that you are interested in.
Gets You Seen Easily
If your business is not popular, chances are that prospective customers will not be searching for your business’s name on Google or whatever search engine they use. But most importantly, customers use your business’ goods, services, or even categories to search (e.g. dentists in Kumasi, restaurants in Tamale) for businesses. In that way, with the information you have provided in your description in the business directory, your business can also show up in search results when it contains the same or similar words. Therefore, it is important to have accurate and complete information about your business in the description. Read this How To Describe Your Business To Get More Customers to learn how to write a good description for your business.
Good Publicity For Your Brand
When people search for other businesses in your niche in an online directory, they may find your business listed as alternatives to the businesses they are looking for. In this manner, they notice your brand and the category of business you are into. Then they add you to the list of options for that good or service. This brand awareness is accidental but good for your business.
Customer Feedback
Online business directories are great sources of customer feedback. Reviews and ratings are examples of such feedback. People will do business with you based on recommendations. Reviews and ratings help prospective buyers to make decisions as to which business to patronize.
Moreover, some online business directories have their own chat features within the website. This is such that customers and business owners can communicate with themselves without leaving the website or app. Thankfully, Ghana Yellow Pages has this feature. You can use it to converse with your buyers (and even with us). Just be sure to be checking in to see whether you have any new messages so you can promptly respond to them.
Final Thoughts
As a best practice, you should endeavour to list your business in more than one online business directory. I will recommend that you list your business on every online directory that appears on the first page of search results. When you enter the phrase “yellow pages Ghana” and/or “business directory Ghana” into Google, note all the websites that appear on the first page and list your business there. It will help your business’s online credibility. With websites like Ghana Yellow Pages you can post your business for free; hence, not worrying about costs.
Social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok, and so on) are good places to add your business. Some of them give the option of creating pages for your business. However, you should list your business on business directories in addition to your social media accounts. The reason is simple: Omni channel. In marketing, Omnichannel is whereby your business is everywhere. Everywhere is different from most places. If your business is in most places you are practising multichannel. However, Omni-channel is better than multi-channel. Every platform has its advantages. So don’t limit yourself to some and leave others.
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