25 free business listing websites every small or local business should be on (Updated for 2022!)
Customer relationships thrive when local businesses and consumers are connected through data and technology.
More than ever, free business listing sites like Yelp, Facebook, and Google My Business are how customers find your company. Basically, the web has become a goldmine of free advertising and exposure for small business owners thanks to these dozens of business listing sites.
Want to manage all your reviews on sites like Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Facebook from one place? Learn how when you sign up for Womply Free!
To help business owners such as yourself, we’ve compiled a list of over 25 free online communities, directories, and any free business listing sites where you should have a profile. Read the short descriptions below each site and decide which platforms you want to be listed on.
Remember: the more you choose, the greater your online footprint and the easier it is for customers to find your business and spend money with you. In fact, Womply research shows that businesses that claim their free listings on multiple sites earn up to 78% more money. Enjoy!
(More than) 25 free business listing sites for your local business
1. Yelp
The third most popular review website on the web, Yelp is used daily by millions searching for local small businesses, especially restaurants.
Guide: How to claim your business on Yelp
2. Google My Business
Shoppers use the most popular search engine for information about and directions to local stores. For everything. It’s the main street of the web. According to Google, 50% of all the mobile consumers who use Google for local searches in a day visit the businesses they search.
Guide: How to claim your Google My Business listing
Go deeper: Rank higher on Google local by optimizing your Google my Business listing
3. Facebook
More than 1 out of 7 people on the planet are on Facebook, and they’re actively checking out the 65 million plus local business pages listed on the biggest social network ever. Creating a Facebook presence for your business takes five steps. Read our step-by-step guide: How to create and claim your Facebook business page.
4. TripAdvisor
Another top five review website, TripAdvisor’s 415 million monthly users have smoke coming from their keyboards — over 535 million reviews have been published on the site. Your small business, especially if it’s in the hospitality space, is missing out on a windfall of digital awareness and feedback if you’re not on TripAdvisor.
Guide: How to claim your business listing on TripAdvisor
5. Twitter
Why is this on our list, you might wonder? True, Twitter might not “sell” your customers to come into your shop, but it surfaces to the top in searches and presents one of the easiest and fastest ways for customers to reach out to you. It’s also a location-based tool that lets you search for customers in your area.
Learn how to create a business Twitter account.
6. Instagram
A recent study shows 82% of customers research before they come into the store to buy. Today, especially if you’re marketing to younger demographics, photography-based Instagram is a visual invitation to come in and see for oneself.
Guide: How to create an Instagram account for your business
7. YouTube
Some people don’t have time to read reviews, scroll through a website, or comb through social media posts. A video is easy. Just hit play. A YouTube video (even just one) is a solid small business marketing vehicle to reach over 30 million customers who are watching almost 5 billion YouTube videos a day.
8. Foursquare
Foursquare has a passionate following of 55 million monthly local small business fans. They check-in, share where they are, and leave tips for others to follow. Without a filled-in profile on Foursquare, SMB owners are missing out on helpful user-generated information about their business.
Learn how to list or claim your business on Foursquare.
9. LinkedIn
It might seem like LinkedIn only matters for national or global brands, but a local business can show researching consumers more of who they are, from owners to employees. Use LinkedIn to present yourself as a reputable, well-connected owner with years of relevant experience, especially for finance-based businesses.
Read our step-by-step guide: How to create a business LinkedIn account
10. Yahoo
We know Google reigns supreme in search, but Yahoo is still used by 1 billion potential small business customers people every month. Why? For some, it’s preference. For others, especially Firefox web browsers, it’s the default on their machine. Similar to Google My Business, Yahoo partners with Yext (below) to display local small business listings in search results.
Create and claim your Yahoo business listing.
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11. Bing
With slightly more users than Yahoo, Bing is Microsoft’s search engine. Bing Places for Business is where small business owners can access their local listings. Every Microsoft computer’s default web browser is Internet Explorer and searches with Bing, so it’s worth your time to set up your business information for Skype, Office, Xbox, and Surface tablet users.
Follow our step-by-step guide to create and claim your Bing business listing.
12. Angie’s List
Originally created to review local contractors, the online directory has grown to be a go-to repository for crowd-sourced online reviews. It’s free for small business owners to register on Angie’s List (follow our how-to guide to create and claim your Angie’s List business listing). If you offer home services, Angie’s List is highly recommended to reach local customers.
13. YP.com
According to the digitally re-invented Yellow Pages’ website, 60 million people still search for businesses on its directory. It’s free to claim your business’s “yp Profile.”
14. Zomato
Formerly UrbanSpoon, Zomato helps users hunt for the perfect restaurant. Unlike Yelp, which curates all local businesses, Zomato is hyperfocused on restaurants only. Follow our guide to claim or add your restaurant on Zomato. Once verified, your listing will start appearing on Zomato searches!
15. Better Business Bureau (BBB)
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has been vouching for marketplace trust since 1912. It’s the number one website for reporting scams and other quackery. It’s free to have your business listed in the nonprofit organization’s database. Simply search for your business and if it’s not there, follow these steps to add your business to BBB. Highly recommended for local law firms.
16. Womply Storefront
With Womply Storefront, even the smallest local business can have a helpful, functional website for free. Building and maintaining a traditional website is simply too much for many small business owners to deal with. This is one reason a Womply Storefront can be such an amazing benefit.
Over 500,000 local businesses already have Storefront pages, and if your business isn’t included, you can just sign up for Womply Free, confirm your Google page, and Womply will build your Storefront page for you automatically!
Your Womply Storefront page has a high-end look and feel, a great user experience, and will list your business’s location, contact information, hours of operation, any details you want included… even your Yelp, Google, and Facebook reviews. All automatically, and all for free, with premium features available as well.
17. GlassDoor
Sometimes customers want to know how an employer treats its employees. Any type of research in this area will lead curious customers to GlassDoor, the number one review site for companies and employees. With over 700,000 companies reviewed over 33 million times, GlassDoor is another stop local business owners should know about. Recommended for larger corporations. Companies are registered only when employees submit a review.
18. BizJournals.com
The nationwide local business publication also offers a searchable directory of local private businesses. It serves 43 major markets in the US, each with its own website and tailored news. Bizjournals populates its company profiles from business data company Owler.
19. Chamber lists
An extremely valuable local resource that is often overlooked is your city’s Chamber of Commerce. A hub for events, news, and networking, the Chamber’s website keeps a list of local businesses and members. It might be worth your time to get in front of the right local officials at the Chamber and participate in the free small business services. They exist for owners — the initiators of local commerce — to thrive.
20. Whitepages
With over 5 billion records, Whitepages is an enormous database of global people and businesses. One unique feature of Whitepages is its APIs, which allow businesses to buy and use the company’s extensive data to build their own software. This means a WP listing shows up not only on whitepages.com but also across all of their API customers’ sites as well. Whitepages uses Yext to create listings.
21. Alignable
A new player to the industry, venture-backed startup Alignable claims to be the number one source of referrals for local small businesses, with over 22,000 communities networked on its platform. It’s free and easy to connect on Alignable once you create your Alignable business listing, and start receiving referrals from other local small business owners.
22. Manta
An established online listing community, Manta sees 1,000 companies join its small business directory every day. This site is recommended not only because it’s easy to add your company profile to Manta, but also because its time-tested presence carries considerable SEO benefits.
23. Yext
It seems like we’ve been waiting for this one, no? Yext is a one-and-done effort to get your company listed across almost every small business site mentioned in this article. As a one-stop shop, Yext lets you fill out the information for your business and voilà, you’ll be found “everywhere.” See how your company appears in Yext right now.
Go deeper: How to use Yext to improve your online business listings
24. CitySearch
CitySearch helps you find local business in your neighborhood. With a voting system, award badges, and special deals, CitySearch prioritizes fun. Locals recommend anything from restaurants to attorney offices to hair salons. Bolster your presence on the platform by adding your business to CitySearch’s database.
25. MerchantCircle
Finally, MerchantCircle allows consumers to search for local merchants by category. According to its website, the directory has over 2 million merchants on its site with over 100 million consumers visiting each month. Claim your business listing on MerchantCircle.
That’s 25 free business listings, but we’ve got more good stuff for you, so let’s keep going!
26. EZ Local
Claim your free listing on EZ Local. Build up your business’s online presence and check out some of the other features that this web directory site offers: social media management, custom web design, and more. Do a quick search first to see if your business already exists at ezlocal.com.
27. CitySquares
CitySquares was created to help consumers find local businesses in their neighborhoods. Businesses can create a free profile on the platform in order to reach more potential customers. Get started at citysquares.com.
28. Hotfrog
Hotfrog touts itself as the freshest local business directory in the United States. Consumers are able to search for businesses by city to find the most relevant places near them. You can easily add your business for free to their online directory in order to increase your online visibility. Hotfrog also has a blog to help keep you up to date on marketing best practices.
29. ShowMeLocal
ShowMeLocal houses over 22 million businesses in its online directory, and it also allows users to review your business. The more opportunity for customer reviews, the better your online reputation can become. Visit showmelocal.com to add your business for free.
30. Brownbook.net
BrownBook.net allows your business to create an enhanced online profile with videos, images, logos, an about us section, and much more. Over 40 million businesses currently have profiles in BrownBook.net’s online directory, and that is always growing. Don’t miss out on this opportunity.
31. Cylex
Cylex offers free and premium listings in their online directory with the primary goal of connecting consumers to businesses. With over 1 million unique daily users on their site, this is a great opportunity to list your business and grow your online reach. Get started at cylex.us.com.
32. Apple Maps
While Android dominates the market with an 87% market share, iOS holds around 13% of that market share which is still over a billion users. The primary map app on iOS devices is Apple Maps, another free directory in which you can and should make sure your business is listed. You will need an Apple ID to create or edit your Apple Maps listing, but that’s free to create too if you don’t already have one. Get started at mapsconnect.apple.com.
You’ve claimed your profile on multiple business listing sites. Now what?
Once you’ve claimed your local business listing on as many free business listing sites as possible, what’s next? First, make sure you add as much information about your business as possible to each profile you’ve claimed. The more “alive” your listing looks, the more inviting your business becomes to curious customers. For sites that include reviews, make sure you reply to every review your business gets.
You might also like: 25 free local advertising ideas for small business
If all of this starts to feel overwhelming, don’t worry. The right reputation management software solution can help you save time and manage your business listings. For example, Womply’s software allows you to view and reply to reviews from multiple free business listing sites in one place, without having to jump from one site to another. This helps you not only save time, but also makes it far easier for you to stay on top of your latest reviews. Plus, recent research from Womply shows that businesses that regularly respond to their online business reviews earn up to 49% more revenue!
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