As a local business, attracting new customers can be a huge challenge. Checking the yellow pages to find local business is slowly fading. People are turning to the internet in order to find trusted business recommendations. One way local businesses can get into the notice of potential customers by including their businesses in online directories. Adding your business to their list of online directory is easy, but if you are listing your business in just 2-3 directories then you will be missing a huge opportunity being found by searchers online.

Every individual directory in which you list your business is another chance to be found online, so try to enlist your business on every directory.  The following are some of the websites on which your business must be listed on:

1. Google my business

This directory helps businesses connect directly with their customers for free, whether they are searching for you on Maps, Google+ or Search. With this customers can find you no matter what device you are using. Through this you can provide the right information to your customers at the right time, such as phone numbers they can call to, your business operating hours, directions to your business in Maps. This will help you build a loyal fan base. Your customers can show their appreciation with reviews and ratings, re-share your Google+ posts across the web.

2. Bing places for business

Bing is the 2^nd  best search engine on the web. If people are not Googling for something, then maybe they searching for your business on bing. Through bing you can quickly, easily and register your business for free. You can add many business locations at one time and include content in your businesses such as videos, photos and a lot more. This will help you get customers online, and make them discover your business. Through this business directory you can show the right info to your customers. You can help your customers find your business on all of their devices.

3. Yelp

This is a popular social review site where customers post a review about your business. You can create a profile for your business, help customers find you. You can direct your loyal customers to your site to leave good reviews for your business.  Every business owner can set up a free account on Yelp and post photos and contact their customers. Customers can access this directory through any device.  You can respond to reviews as the business owner and you can also measure the visitor activity on your page. Whether you are a local business or an international one, Yelp works well for all businesses. If you are looking to enter into the advertising world which works through the word of mouth, then Yelp is the best choice for you. Business owners can create deals for their regular consumers, send messages to them privately or publicly and check out the business trends in its reporting tool.

4. Yahoo localworks

You can do more for your business listing with Yahoo Localworks. Through this you can list your business on more than 50 sites. You can create a profile for your business. You can push new info to all the directories so that your listing will stay updated. With your business listed on over 50 sites, you can tap into a network of one fifty million local searched monthly. Listing your business here is free and you can include your business info such as company description, photos etc for $9.95 per month. If you want more exposure you can list your business on more than 40 directory listing for $29.99 per month.

5. MOGUL

This is a platform for female business owners to showcase their products and connect with other business owners. Mogul reaches over 18 M people every week, providing business owners a great way to reach customers they might not reach to on other platforms. Here female business owners can showcase their product and get valuable feedback from other members. Mogul is regularly visited by over 196 countries and 24,000 countries globally.

6. Merchant circle

This online directory helps small and local businesses to connect with their local consumers, and other small businesses located locally. This site provides free tools for marketing, helping them build their businesses. By joining Merchant Circle businesses can get in front of millions of visitors per month for free. Businesses can get massive exposure, get geographically localizes to their target audience, advertise for boosting their listing and be a host to a business blog on their site. This is the chance for businesses to get in front of the customers and control what the customers see. Businesses can own their own page, respond to the reviews, update their photos and blog and control what the customers can see about their business.

7. Yellow pages

Here you can search over 20 million business listing as fast as you can tap. It is the online model of a present day phone book, apart from your business listing in a organized directory, this will offer ads, lead generation and options for online payment. You can receive millions of searches every day.

8. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great way to network with other business owners and find good workers. This also helps customers learn more about businesses. You must first add a logo and info about your business, then you can begin posting your business updates and link to content you create. Businesses can leverage LinkedIn for building a great reputation and driving new business relationships. When you create a page, it will attract followers, and you can post your company updates for driving customer engagement. Use this to build a brand which will connect you with the right people and a strong band will help you find and be found by customers.

9. Foursquare

This is another good directory on which you must list your business. Listing your business on FourSquare will help customers find you. You just have to claim your listing on Foursquare, verify your identity as the business owner and start. Your business info will show up in search results, which boosts your online presence. More than 50 M people use this directory for discovering great businesses and share with other what they love.  There are already 2 M businesses listed on Foursquare. Promote your business with a platform designed for attracting customers locally.

10. Facebook

This is the king of all social media, but this social networking site can be eqaully good for those who want to promote their business. Businesses can use social media as marketing tool for businesses, the tools such as links, helpful articles etc for creating a business page are available. When you have a facebook page for your business you can start building your followers. You can also place ads and pay to boost your post visibility.