You should always start by claiming your business on Google Places, then work your way down by submitting information to Yahoo Local, YellowPages.com, and maybe even Bing Local. From there, you want to convince search engines that your business exists and is significant to users. To do that, you’ll have to submit to many alternate local directories.

In Chapter 9 of our book, SEO for WordPress, we talk about local listings and their explosive power in the hands of local businesses.

We at TastyPlacement have been scouring local directories to figure out which best factor into local rankings.

That’s something that we talk about in chapter six, the link building chapter, of our SEO for WordPress book.

But which directories are good and which are junk? There are a lot of lists of free article directories out there, but most of those lists are out of date, or they don’t have the needs of SEO in mind. You need directories that won’t give you too much of a hassle. You need a directory that will give you a lot of PR juice through a fair number of dofollow links, and you can’t have them throwing in a lot of editorial back talk.

That’s why the TastyPlacement team has compiled a list of the easiest SEO article directories out there. This is all current information, with the directories listed from most to least suitable. We had to look at over 600 directories to find 80 that are suitable to your needs. We’re posting this resource for free because we feel that you shouldn’t waste your time with article directories that won’t give you dofollow links or will be careless with your valuable content.

So give it a shot and let us know how it works out! We’ll update this post every month, so keep coming back!
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Updated November 2011

[tweetmeme] One of the most notable print ad campaigns of the late summer and fall (and they are sticking to it through early winter, apparently) promotes, well, print ad campaigns. A consortium of magazine publishers including Conde Nast, Hearst, Merideth, Time, and Wenner Media launched their “power of print” campaign in order to shore up eroding confidence in magazines as an advertising medium. The campaign makes no apologies for being reactive to competition from internet-based advertising. One headline whines, “Will the Internet kill magazines? Did instant coffee kill coffee?”

Right.

The desperation doesn’t end there. The campaign’s website pleads, “We hope to dispel many commonly held myths about the state of our industry.” And despite pro-print, blog-based cheerleading (obviously paid commentary) from old school advertising agencies like Bailey Gardner, the weakness of the underlying facts is inescapable. The real facts are that big-money, national branding campaigns as an advertising strategy have given way to the less expensive, action-based advertising offered by pay-per-click, search placement, and social media.

Typically, local business posting will outrank just about any other page on the internet because of the tremendous pagerank power that a site like Yahoo Local or Hotfrog enjoys. And, Google Local’s reach and power is absolutely unparalled-Google puts local results *above* the natural results for thousands of business related search categories in local markets. And then, of course, is the pagerank value that your own site enjoys from the high-powered backlinks that large business directories enjoy.

We recently posted on our review of the 6 Best Free Local Business Directories for Backlinks, Customers & Hits.

In this article, we’ll point to some sure-fire tips and tricks to get every ounce of mileage from a local business directory posting.

Always Assign As Many Categories As Possible

This is paramount. Google local allows you up to 5 categories (and recently began allowing free-form categories). With most local business directories each business category under which you register will create an individual entry on an individual category page. Thus, your entry might appear in 5 different places in a directory. Each page is a backlink for traffic and for pagerank value, and your listing will quite simply be seen more often.

Get Reviews

Reviews from happy customers can help boost your rankings within the local directory. Google local is the greatest example. While their ranking system for local entries is a secret, it obviously favors entries that have received reviews. I’ll bet you’ve done a favor for a client at one time, right? Ask them for a review. Send them a clear and concise email with instructions and a link to write the review. Beside the ranking power within the directories, reviews will increase the conversion power of the local entry; readers are more likely to follow up on your ad if they see a positive review from a member of the community.

Also, positive reviews can offset a present or future negative review. If a negative review does happen, a positive review can soften the blow.

Upload Pictures

The larger local business directories are quite advanced, and most include the ability to upload pictures. Always upload the maximum number of pictures. A full and complete listing is always more likely to rank higher within the directory. And again, viewers are far more likely to act on a complete listing rather than a sparse one.

Complete All Optional Fields

When creating a local business entry, you may have noticed many optional fields such as business hours, payment types accepted, and languages spoken. These fields are optional and most folks just skip them.

You should always fill out every optional field possible. In some directories, the extra fields have the effect of enlarging the directory entry, while omitting it would just display nothing. So, your listing might be 5 or 6 inches tall on a results page, while your competitor-who skipped the optional fields-will have a simple 2 or 3 line entry.

Also, some directories allow (or will allow in the future) users to use the optional fields as search criteria (i.e., the ability to search for companies that accept Google Checkout, etc). Naturally, you’ll want to come up in any such search result.

Two Locations? Make Two Entries

If you have multiple business locations, make separate entries for each location. Then, each location will show up in searches separately (many folks search by zip code). And, each entry will represent a backlink. I have clients with Yahoo Local directory pages with a pagerank of 2 that link back directly to their website; That is a very valueable backlink.

Write a Compelling Business Description With Keywords

This goes without saying, but 75% of folks don’t bother. A compelling business description will convert viewers and draw them to your site. And, if you description is focused on your primary keywords, then your local business entry will likely rank for those keywords.

Good luck!

Craigslist offers little guidance beyond that somewhat cryptic admonition. And don’t bother emailing for guidance–Craigslist remains committed to a “hands off” approach.

Craigslist advises, “You may post to one category and in one city, no more often than about every 48 hours.” You’ll also get this message if you are re-posting a message that is nearly identical to a message already in the system.

Oh well.

Need help with your internet marketing and Craigslist Promotions? If so, reach out to us today.