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
69
National IYP
2
69
National IYP
3
63
National IYP
4
57
National IYP
5
51
Job Search
6
45
Home Improvement & Health
7
43
National IYP
8
43
National IYP
9
39
National IYP
10
32
National IYP
11
30
Job Search
12
30
Video
13
29
Home Improvement & Services
14
25
National IYP
15
22
National IYP
16
18
Travel
17
16
Job Search
18
15
National IYP
19
15
Home Improvement & Services
20
13
Home Improvement & Services
21
12
Wikipedia
22
12
National IYP
23
11
National IYP
24
11
National IYP
25
10
Job Search
26
9
National IYP
27
9
Job Search
28
8
Home Improvement & Services
29
7
Weddings
30
7
Travel
31
6
Job Search
32
6
Travel
33
6
Health
34
6
Weddings
35
6
Job Search
36
5
Government
37
5
National IYP
38
5
National IYP
39
5
Real Estate
40
5
Health
41
4
Travel/Food
42
4
Restaurants
43
4
National IYP
44
4
National IYP
45
3
Real Estate
46
3
Health
47
3
Restaurants
48
3
Restaurants
49
3
Home Improvement & Services
50
3
Retailer
51
3
Home Improvement & Services
52
3
Job Search
53
3
Real Estate
54
3
Autos
55
3
Travel
56
2
Insurance
57
2
Health
58
https://freeclinicdirectory.org
2
Health
59
2
Events
60
2
B2B Services
61
2
Health
62
2
National IYP
63
2
School Directory
64
2
Education
65
2
Health
66
2
Retailer
67
2
Car Rental
68
2
National IYP
69
2
Financial
70
2
Beauty & Health
71
2
Travel
72
2
Pet Friendly Travel
73
2
Insurance
74
2
Baby Sitters
75
2
Senior Living
76
2
Restaurants/Food
77
2
Music Clubs
78
2
Contractors
79
2
Insurance Agency
80
2
Local Events
81
2
Local Event Planning
82
2
Financial Planner Directory
83
2
Medical Clinic Directory
84
2
School Directory
85
2
Real Estate
86
2
Hotels
87
2
Travel
88
2
Lawyers
89
2
Social Media
90
2
Family Planning Centers
91
2
Travel
92
2
Real Estate
93
2
Forum
94
2
Travel
95
2
Music Clubs
96
2
Urgent Care Centers
97
2
News Site
98
2
Restaurants
99
https://top10weddingvendors.com
2
Weddings
100
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.
