Getting your business’ Name, Address, Phone number (NAP), and any other details into a business listing can not only improve local SEO for a web presence but it just might be found by that random searching buyer. NAP, including hours of operation, information is routinely cross-referenced by search engine algorithms; for instance, it will compare listings against a website’s information. A search engine will look to see that a business has local on and off-website information consistency.

And while there are as many as 200 ranking signals for a web presence and its target keywords, according to ‘Moz research’ – listing directories and citations are ranking factors that matter competitively for the local business.

The Top Local Business Directories ( 18 ) 

1. Google My Business – Simply the most visible listing information, bar none and by far
2. Bing Places – A lot of people use MSFT devices and they are being pushed towards Bing Search, Bing Images, and Bing listings
3. Facebook – FB business pages are a lot of things, including important contact information and website back-links
4. Apple Maps/ Siri, unless you register directly which can be a headache, draws on a few databases including its own Apple Maps, also Google for the lion’s share, and Bing for image-related search data
5. Amazon/ Alexa – not so much a directory and really for when folks use an Alexa device, but Alexa draws upon its own and also Bing search results, but is believed to trail in terms of its’ local search results
6. Yahoo – still relevant!
7. Yelp – they developed a bad rap for using bad reviews as a sales tool “quid pro quo” if you will, but ‘bad rap’ and all and they still matter
8. Yellow Pages
9. Chamber Of Commerce
10. HotFrog
11. Superpages
12. MerchantCircle
13. Better Business Bureau
14. Nextdoor
15. eLocal
16. DexKnows
17. Alignable
18. Local.com

Concerns With Business Directories

1. Some directories will already have the business listing in their database, but whether or not  it does – it will still require registration, then some form of verification process to get in control of the listing…  and that can take a lot of valuable time;
2. There are so many local business directories, their value with ‘people that search’ is often nil’ or irrelevant;
3. There are so many directories that search engines may not value their content and/or its’ backlinks;
4. Very few directories get meaningful traffic, so it is hard to know which directories truly matter or how much;
5. The directory business model is typically to sell upgrades & advertising, potentially leaving a free registered listing in an obscure place or, worse, at the mercy of the directories advertising sales objectives;
6. It is difficult to know which directory will value the listing content and which will abuse it as an opportunity to redirect visitors to their advertisers’ AND 
7. In order for folks to give you a review, they will be forced to register personal accounts … discouraging many.