Being listed is powerful, but the accuracy of your business location listings is even more powerful. Why? Because today’s consumers will form an opinion about a brand before ever walking through the doors.

From browsing online reviews on Yelp, Google, or TripAdvisor to checking in with Siri on where the best pizza is near them. You need to have your business location present on the directories where consumers are searching for products and services near them.

That’s why it’s critical to ensure that your listings are accurate, up-to-date, and full of valuable engaging content and that your brand’s locations are showing up on the platforms that matter most to your customers.

While heavy hitters such as Google My Business, Facebook, Bing, Apple Maps, Yell, Yelp, and TripAdvisor should be the first places you list all your UK business locations on, because each has a high number of UK users searching monthly for products and services near them, don’t overlook all the other platforms and directories where your customers may be searching for you.

That’s why we compiled a list of the top business directories multi-location businesses need to be on for search engine optimization and where consumers are actually looking for products and services near them.

Business Directory List

Google Business Profile

Ask anyone who knows anything about listings, Google Business Profile is ground zero for your brand location’s local citations. While getting listed is your first step, maintaining accurate, up-to-date listings and staying on top of customer reviews is the key to your search ranking and ensuring your business is found in local search.

Why Google Business Profile is a crucial business directory

• The most utilized platform consumers use to search for local products and services

• Your business can be found on Google Maps

• Accuracy can improve your search ranking

• A good review score can improve your search ranking

• Free analytics tools to monitor your activity
  

Facebook

Facebook gives multi-location brands and businesses the opportunity to connect with consumers locally by offering them free business profiles.

Facebook is also recognized as the top platform for B2B and B2C businesses, making it one of the best places to present your company and engage with current and prospective customers through events and promotions.

Why Facebook is a significant business directory

• The site’s domain authority can help you boost your SEO

• 35% of consumers use Facebook reviews to inform their purchasing decisions

• Users can share or interact with your updates meaning that you can potentially reach many customers through word of mouth

Facebook offers analytics for better consumer targeting.

Bing

Many multi-location businesses don’t register on Bing Places for Business, thinking that because Google has such a dominant market share (around 89%), it isn’t required. That said because many businesses ignore Bing is what makes it an ideal opportunity for your business to potentially rank higher.

Why Bing is an important directory

• Bing’s audience tends to be older (mostly 55-64) with more disposable income

• Searches on Bing lead to higher spending of around 25% more

• Putting your business in front of an even larger local audience

Apple

Apple iOS is the most used mobile operating system in the UK. So with Apple Maps being its default map app, it’s one of the most visited sites in the UK. Businesses that register on Apple Maps Connect can include their company’s website URL as well as their Facebook, Twitter, and Yelp profiles.

Why Apple Maps is an important business directory

• The disposable income for Apple iOS users is typically higher than that of Android Users

• Your business can reach iPhone, iPad, and MacBooks users

• Your business can optimize for Siri (voice search)

• Apple Maps is more commonly used by consumers who are looking to purchase from a location right now

Trustpilot

Every month, consumers post more than one million reviews on Trustpilot. This free platform is both user-friendly and offers an easy way for businesses to engage with what their customers are saying about them. Consumers around the world look at the reviews on Trustpilot more than 3 billion times each month.

Why Trustpilot is an important business directory

• More than 60 million reviews of over 300,000 domains
  

• Users can easily compare companies in the UK by category

• The platform is free and open to anyone

Yelp

With 1.2 million unique UK views per month, Yelp has a high domain authority and is one of the most utilized business review sites in the world, boasting over 100 million reviews. Yelp for Business Owners is free to sign up for and also has analytics tools that can help your business to see how many clicks, calls and page visits your Yelp pages are receiving.

Why Yelp is a significant business directory

• 36% of consumers turn to Yelp for online reviews

• Yelp has a high domain authority which will influence your SEO rankings

• Users visit Yelp when they are looking to make a purchase

• Yelp powers the voice search assistant Alexa and Bing.

TripAdvisor

Created in 2000, TripAdvisor has become a reference for online searches. When people look for recommendations about hotels, travel activities, or restaurants, they most likely end up visiting TripAdvisor. The website is a business directory fueled by reviews and ranking. It is a key platform on which you should list your business if you are in the entertainment, travel, food, and hospitality industries.

Why TripAdvisor is an important directory

• Tripadvisor helps 463 million travelers each month plan their trips

• One billion reviews and opinions were shared on Tripadvisor globally between 2014-2021

• In the UK TripAdvisor is 2.5 times more influential than Google

Waze

Waze is a GPS navigation software used in more than 200 countries and available in 40+ languages. For businesses, it is a powerful tool for local marketing — think advertising to drivers for local businesses as they drive nearby. The platform offers seamless ads, showing either as a pin in a user’s map or as a sponsored search result.

Why Waze is an important directory

• Ads for big companies, as well as small local businesses (Waze Local)

• Reach potential customers exactly at the moment they might be looking for you (sponsored searches) or at the moment they’re near your store (impulse purchases)

• Easy action for users: “drive there” below your listing/ad

• Affordable pricing for small businesses or test runs, with no commitment or subscription

Scoot

Scoot is one of the directories fed by Scoot Network, a leading business directory company, especially in the UK. Around 2-million businesses are registered on Scoot.

Why Scoot is an important directory

• More than just a name and address: galleries, testimonials and reviews, location on a map, special offers, social media profiles, and more

• Scoot Network, the company behind Scoot, also provides business information for other leading directories — Touch Local, The Independent, The Sun, and The Mirror

• A network of 600,000 members

• Free registration

Infobel

The first online telephone directory, way back in the internet dark ages of 1995, the business directory is today used by GPS manufacturers such as Garmin, as well as leading websites like Yahoo!, Bing, Yelp, and Google Maps.

Why Infobel is an important directory

• European company

• Large database (100 million businesses) in over 70 countries

• Categorized listings, which help for search engines to process the information

• Includes operating hours, with holiday and exceptional hour options too

192

A comprehensive directory for the UK with businesses and places. Local retailers can claim their business and create a profile on the directory for higher visibility in the UK.

Why 192 is an important directory

• Comprehensive listings with information such as aerial photos, name, company, and director reports

• Advanced search options for businesses

• Free and simple registration

Central Index

Central Index is a directory native from the UK, with over 2.5 million businesses already listed across the UK, USA, Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia.

Why Central Index is an important directory

• It is the directory that’s behind many UK-based directories

• The platform puts the emphasis on trust by giving business owners full control over their data

• Free registration and categories for listings

The Mirror

The online version of the UK’s second-largest daily newspaper (The Daily Mirror) boasts a readership of almost 1 million readers every day. Once your listings have been uploaded and verified, you can add images, your brand logo, and hours of operation.

Why the Mirror is an important directory

• All your business data is uploaded to the Central Index

• Reaches more 15-34-year-olds than The Guardian

• Free directory

Touch Local

The largest business directory in the UK. Touch Local also includes consumer reviews, a decisive component of purchasing decisions. Businesses listed on this platform can harness the power of reviews to attract new customers.

Why Touch Local is an important directory

• Organizes businesses and information into business categories

• Listings on TouchLocal are also listed on a network of over 400 websites, including Scoot and The Mirror

• Free directory
  

Foursquare

What started as a social platform is now one of the leading business directories worldwide. Users across the world have mapped more than 105 million venues. Over 50 million users are active on the platform.

Why Foursquare is an important directory

• More than 50 million users

• Hyper-local user database and promotion opportunities

• Highly engaged users

• Mobile-first platform
  

Hotfrog

This Australian directory focuses on small businesses and profiles over 69 million businesses, in 38 countries. The platform also allows users to rate businesses and leave reviews.

Why Hotfrog is an important directory

• 1.6 million users make more than 372,000 inquiries every month

• More than 66 million businesses are featured in 36 countries

• Large user base

• Free listing

• Free promotional content

• Small Business Hub: an educational platform for small business owners

Cylex

Cylex is an online business directory with more than 1 million unique users and a network of over 35 online business directories.

Why Cylex is an important directory

• Cylex offers a quote option where users can ask for a quote from several businesses

• 8 million companies listed in the UK

• Includes consumer reviews which is a powerful tool for businesses to rank better and attract new customers

My Local Services

This is a local business directory for the US and UK markets focused on small businesses. The platform offers a directory as well as customer reviews.

Why My Local Services an important UK directory

• Free directory for UK businesses

• Users can contact businesses and retailers directly from the directory

• Business forum to discuss and ask questions as a business

• The listing process is quick

Brownbook

A free business directory that works like a wiki, meaning that the content is generated by the community of users. A Global Business Listing Database, Brownbook boasts more than 35 million businesses listed in over 200 countries.

Why Brownbook is an important directory

• Business information can be downloaded directly to the user’s phone contacts

• Easy editing of the business information on the platform

• Once listings are claimed you can enrich your content with photos and reviews

TomTom

TomTom started as an in-car GPS system people used to get from point A to B, long before local SEO was a thing (it was created in 1991). Similarly to Waze, the amazing added value of TomTom today is its user database, millions of drivers who operate this navigation system, and who are most probably driving towards a shop to run some errands or to look for a product or service.

Why TomTom is an important directory

• Add your listing to a worldwide, and UK-focused, huge database of users

• Possibility to create your company profile if it is not already in the GPS database

• Trillions of data points

• Hundreds of millions of daily users

Yellbo

Yellbo is a local directory that is very easy to use. Users type in the name of the organization or business they’re looking for, and the city in which they’re looking. The results show on a map, which adds convenience to the users.

Why Yellbo is an important directory

• Straightforward design for users

• Very easy for users to read business information

• Minimal design and information, which is helpful for customers who are looking for basic information about a business: contact information, location on the map and opening hours.
  

Tupalo

Tupalo is a European company that offers a business directory used by more than 3 million monthly users. It is a business directory with customer reviews and ratings. After uploading their listing, businesses can then start receiving customer reviews, which will then help with their SEO ranking, and can be used as a great source of insight to improve their operations and better serve their customers.

Why Tupalo is an important directory

• User-generated content (reviews and rankings)

• Includes information about accepted payment methods

• Free listing registration with basic information about your business: name, address, phone number, link to website, and picture

Opendi

An initially German company, Opendi is an international directory operating over 29 countries with more than 20 million business pages, and offering client reviews too.

Why Opendi is an important directory

• Listings in the main cities in the UK — London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester

• More than 1.7 million businesses are listed in the UK

• Over 50 thousands reviews

• Over 7 million searches every month in the UK

Yalwa

A global business directory where users can find local businesses, rate them, and share them with their community. The directory covers over 12 categories including finance, food and drink, public services, and automotive.

Why Yalwa is an important directory

• Millions of business listings worldwide

• Possibilities to boost your listing with premium features (ads, sponsored content, etc.)

Navmii

Navmi is a free and voice-driven navigation tool powered by data generated by a community of 850,000 users. The company creates and updates maps, and works with prestigious clients such as Jaguar or Shell. Navmii has a business directory for local businesses throughout the world.

Why Navmii is an important directory

• A navigation system, which means that users who look for your business in this directory will be very likely to be on their way to buy your products or services

• Mobile-first

• 2.5 million downloads in 187 countries

Getting your business locations listed on these 25 directories is a great first step toward establishing an effective online presence locally.

However, getting your information on all 25 accurately and consistently is easier said than done — especially when you manage multiple business locations.

The first step of course is to analyze your locations to find out if they are listed correctly on these 25 directories.

Alternatively, if you would like to learn more about how you can manage your listings more consistently and accurately across all 25 directories, we are here to help.