If you run a local business and you're wondering whether you should make efforts to list your business on local business directories to get high rankings in organic search results, you have come to the right place. In this article, we will discuss why links from relevant local business directories are a good idea in today’s SEO age even though business directories have been maligned for years when it comes to SEO.

There was a time when links from online business directories used to matter a lot. It was a matter of pride when you were able to obtain links from some of the more popular business directories. However, those days are long gone as search engines have stopped paying attention to these business directories when it comes to organic search results at national and international level.

One of the reasons for downgrading of business directories is once the webmasters figured out that they could make money through listing fees on these business directories, they essentially started selling links in the form of listing fees. They did not pay attention to quality of the listing or quality of the website and anybody who was willing to pay the listing fee, could get listed on the business directory.

Things work differently when it comes to local business directories as listings in these local business directories are typically not spammed, and they usually only list relevant businesses that are based locally. For organic SEO, especially local SEO, listings on these local business directories offer a lot of value. Google pays attention to these listings and you have the potential to obtain high rankings by obtaining many such high-quality links from local business directories.

Having said that, it does not mean that every local business directory that you are able to find online is useful or relevant for organic search rankings. If you plan to use a software to get links from every business directory you could find online, just stop right now. It is not going to pay any dividends. In fact, it might even be viewed negatively by Google and you might lose some traffic due to these spamming efforts. Therefore, you should stay away from automated submission of your website on online business directories.

In order to obtain maximum benefit from online business directories, you need to find business directories that are still considered relevant by search engines such as Google. One of the ways for you to find such directories is by checking the back links of your competition. There are many online tools that allow you to check the back links of your competition.

Make use of backlink checkers to get a list of business directories that are linking to your competitors. Once you have the list of these business directories, submit your information to these business directories and get those links, and you should be able to compete with your competitors in organic search results.

Overall, listing your business on local business directories is extremely valuable, especially for local organic search results. However, not all the links matter. Therefore, you need to find business directories that are considered relevant by Google and other search engines and get links from those business directories in order to obtain high organic rankings for your business.