Why Your Shop Needs Local Directories
“Link building” is the practice of creating links to your website around the web. Your website needs link to show search engines that it’s well connected and legitimate. Link building is also a great way to improve SEO and the online presence of your auto repair shop. But did you know that local online directories create links as well? While these “links” aren’t as organic and full of original content as blog posts, when done right they are highly credible and take a lot less time and effort to create and maintain.
Give Your SEO Strategies A Boost
Google and other search engines give a lot of trust to online directories- they’re popular and user-friendly, so there’s less possibility of false content and cheating the search engines than there would be on a regular website. As you may already know about link-building, credibility is everything, so having approved listings on the major directories counts for a lot with the search engines.
Target Local Traffic
Appealing to a local audience online is one of the biggest challenges in internet marketing today, and local directories take care of it for you. When you submit a listing to a local directory, you are verifying that your auto repair shop is in a specific location- any time a user searches for mechanics or auto repair shops in that location, directory listings for that category will most likely be in the search engine results.
Tips for Creating Listings
Be as thorough as possible and fill out all of the information. A half-empty listing isn’t helpful and might even frustrate some people. Though it may seem boring, it’s important to fill out all of the fields with quality information. Some directories allow you to include photos of your business- it’s important to include photos if you have them, because they will make your shop stand out.
Always include updated contact information and link to your shop’s website, if you have one.
The Top Local Directories
In addition to listing on the search engine’s local listings like Google Places, Yahoo Local and Bing Local, don’t leave out these separate local directories:
Yelp (also a top review site)
Get found with CarCareCONNECT! We’ll submit your shop to over 130 local directories so you don’t have to. Local directories submission is a major part of our online marketing strategy- contact us today to get a free consultation.