The Most Important Local Business Directories for SEO

Three+ years ago, when I put together The Most Important Local Business Directories For SEO, I looked at which directories ranked the best in Compete.com which was a proxy for which ones had the best SEO. There have been a lot of ups and downs in the local directory world since, thanks mostly to Google and a number of start-ups who have done well with SEO (e.g. Thumbtack), so I figured it was time to update the list. This time instead of using Compete, I opted for combing through WhiteSpark's lists of top citation websites and finding which directories appeared most often as a good proxy for SEO strength in 2016.

I attempted to categorize them so you could easily find the best ones for you business. Here's how they broke down:

• National IYP – 22%
• Travel – 10%
• Health – 9%
• Job Search – 8%
• Food/Restaurants – 7%
• Home Improvement – 7%
• Weddings – 3%
• Automotive – 2%

Interestingly, there were several non-traditional directories in this list. For example JCPenney's store locator is one of the top citation sources. Given how Google is continuing to move towards favoring "brands" in the SERPs, I would expect to see more non-directory brands make this list next year.

So now without further ado, I am pleased to present the new top 100 online local directories for SEO:
#
Citation Source
# of Times Seen
Directory Type
1
www.yellowpages.com
69
National IYP
2
www.yelp.com
69
National IYP
3
www.facebook.com
63
National IYP
4
www.manta.com
57
National IYP
5
www.indeed.com
51
Job Search
6
www.angieslist.com
45
Home Improvement & Health
7
www.mapquest.com
43
National IYP
8
www.superpages.com
43
National IYP
9
www.bbb.org
39
National IYP
10
local.yahoo.com
32
National IYP
11
www.linkedin.com
30
Job Search
12
www.youtube.com
30
Video
13
www.thumbtack.com
29
Home Improvement & Services
14
www.yellowbook.com
25
National IYP
15
www.groupon.com
22
National IYP
16
www.tripadvisor.com
18
Travel
17
https://jobs.monster.com
16
Job Search
18
https://foursquare.com
15
National IYP
19
www.homeadvisor.com
15
Home Improvement & Services
20
https://porch.com
13
Home Improvement & Services
21
https://en.wikipedia.org
12
Wikipedia
22
www.bizjournals.com
12
National IYP
23
www.whitepages.com
11
National IYP
24
https://threebestrated.com
11
National IYP
25
www.glassdoor.com
10
Job Search
26
www.dexknows.com
9
National IYP
27
www.simplyhired.com
9
Job Search
28
www.houzz.com
8
Home Improvement & Services
29
www.weddingwire.com
7
Weddings
30
www.10best.com
7
Travel
31
www.careerbuilder.com
6
Job Search
32
www.expedia.com
6
Travel
33
www.healthgrades.com
6
Health
34
www.theknot.com
6
Weddings
35
https://www1.salary.com
6
Job Search
36
https://local.dmv.org
5
Government
37
www.livingsocial.com
5
National IYP
38
www.whodoyou.com
5
National IYP
39
www.zillow.com
5
Real Estate
40
www.zocdoc.com
5
Health
41
www.thrillist.com
4
Travel/Food
42
www.zomato.com
4
Restaurants
43
www.city-data.com
4
National IYP
44
www.mystore411.com
4
National IYP
45
www.trulia.com
3
Real Estate
46
www.wellness.com
3
Health
47
www.allmenus.com
3
Restaurants
48
www.findmeglutenfree.com
3
Restaurants
49
www.fixr.com
3
Home Improvement & Services
50
www.grainger.com
3
Retailer
51
www.interias.com
3
Home Improvement & Services
52
www.looksharp.com
3
Job Search
53
www.loopnet.com
3
Real Estate
54
www.thebluebook.com
3
Autos
55
www.virtualtourist.com
3
Travel
56
https://agency.nationwide.com
2
Insurance
57
https://doctor.webmd.com
2
Health
58
https://freeclinicdirectory.org
2
Health
59
https://eventful.com
2
Events
60
www.thomasnet.com
2
B2B Services
61
https://health.usnews.com
2
Health
62
https://local.intuit.com
2
National IYP
63
https://k12.niche.com
2
School Directory
64
www.schooldigger.com
2
Education
65
www.vitals.com
2
Health
66
https://stores.jcpenney.com
2
Retailer
67
https://locations.budget.com
2
Car Rental
68
www.allonesearch.com
2
National IYP
69
www.ameripriseadvisors.com
2
Financial
70
www.beautyseeker.com
2
Beauty & Health
71
www.booking.com
2
Travel
72
www.bringfido.com
2
Pet Friendly Travel
73
www.calculateme.com
2
Insurance
74
www.care.com
2
Baby Sitters
75
www.caring.com
2
Senior Living
76
www.chowhound.com
2
Restaurants/Food
77
www.clubplanet.com
2
Music Clubs
78
www.concretenetwork.com
2
Contractors
79
www.erieinsurance.com
2
Insurance Agency
80
www.eventbrite.com
2
Local Events
81
www.eventective.com
2
Local Event Planning
82
www.feeonlynetwork.com
2
Financial Planner Directory
83
www.freeclinics.com
2
Medical Clinic Directory
84
www.greatschools.org
2
School Directory
85
www.homes.com
2
Real Estate
86
www.hotels.com
2
Hotels
87
www.kayak.com
2
Travel
88
www.legalconsumer.com
2
Lawyers
89
www.pinterest.com
2
Social Media
90
www.plannedparenthood.org
2
Family Planning Centers
91
www.priceline.com
2
Travel
92
www.realtor.com
2
Real Estate
93
www.reddit.com
2
Forum
94
www.travelocity.com
2
Travel
95
www.tuscl.net
2
Music Clubs
96
www.urgentcarelocations.com
2
Urgent Care Centers
97
www.usnews.com
2
News Site
98
www.zagat.com
2
Restaurants
99
https://top10weddingvendors.com
2
Weddings
100
https://usplaces.com
2
National IYP

Andrew Shotland is the proprietor of Local SEO Guide, a SEO consultancy focused on enterprise search engine optimization for local media properties and multi-location businesses. He also has a blog about Apple Maps.