Top 5 UK Business Directories

Image Credit: london canary wharf by night
Getting listed in business directories along with Google and Yahoo! Local is a great way to let the search engines know exactly where you are and what you do. I submit my clients to business directories all of the time and this site is listed tons of them, so I know which ones offer value, here are the top 5 UK ones:
1/ When I 1st launched this site and I didn’t have any rankings the UK Small Business Directory was a god send, the owner TJ was kind enough to put my site on some special pages and for a long time it was my no.1 source of traffic and enquiries. The directory is well organised and really well optimised, if you search for a directory in just about any county on Google you will see the directory on the 1st page. You can get a listing in the directory for free, simply click on the register details page and follow instructions.
2/Biz-Dir Business Directory was launched in 2006, I listed this site in it soon after and since then I have had about 50 or so visitors from my biz page which is not bad considering a listing only costs $35. The directory covers most of the popular online business related categories so there is probably going to be somewhere relevant for you to submit your site to. Simply navigate to the correct category and hit the submit button to get started.
3/ The Internet Business Directory doesn’t send as much traffic as the 1st two but it is still a great directory, the categories are organised by topic, country and county and every website gets a good 3 or 4 listings, for instance this site is listed in internet services UK, England and Lancashire. Submitting to the directory is easy, click on the relevant category, navigate to your county and then click the submit button, providing your site meets the guidelines you get a lifetime listing for just £14.95.
4/ Now 2 Business is the oldest of the 5 and has been around ever since 2001, it has everything I look for in a directory, age, strict guidelines and good rankings. If I have a client who sells office supplies and I can get them listed on a page that ranks high for office supplies directory, then of course I am going to do it. There are a number of inclusion options. free, reciprocal and express listings are available, click on the free submission page to get started.
5/ B2B Index has a good category structure and ranks great in the search engines for some really competitive phrases such as business to business and business directory, it’s not even that far off for some of the category names such as web design. You have to link back from one of your web pages to get a listing, navigate to the right category and click the add site button to get started.
All of these directories are hosted in the UK, have search engine friendly category structures and provide direct links that can help you with your search engine optimisation efforts.
Posted in Link Building News By David Eaves a UK search engine optimisation specialist.
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November 22nd, 2007 38 Comments
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November 23rd, 2007 at 10:09 am
Cheers mate, local information like this is invaluable, especially for co.uk sites.
November 23rd, 2007 at 12:21 pm
HI,
This is the top 5 directory that is known to everybody. Do u have any good no of uk business directory.
i have made a blog where i want to write down every resouces from where the people can get the data.
http://link-building-campaigns.blogspot.com/
please help me
regards
aisha
November 25th, 2007 at 10:15 am
all good stuff. i generally look for local directories too and have found some business associations (Business Link and Chamber of Commerce) usually have some spin off sites with directories and would you believe it, guest books that are worth some linkage! – Google appears to be taking the international away from search results so thinking forward local is the way to go unfortunately
November 25th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Best 5 UK Business Directories…
Getting listed in business directories is a great way to let the search engines know exactly where you are and what you do, good quality UK ones are few and far between, here are the top 5….
November 25th, 2007 at 11:58 pm
Hi Mark, the Chamber of Commerce and local Government ones can be excellent if you get the SEO friendly ones. I just managed to snag one from my local Uni which was pretty cool:
http://www.infolab21.lancs.ac.uk/business/associate_company_scheme/index.php?company=105
November 27th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
[...] However, if you’re in the UK at least, Dave has set up a list of some of the best UK web directories. [...]
November 29th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
that is very nice, once your site in those directories, you will have traffic from uk.. good
December 1st, 2007 at 11:43 am
Great list, I was already listed in 4 of them, so nice to add one more quality directory
December 5th, 2007 at 9:37 am
I’d like to add an unsung hero into the list here: Locanto. Its hardly ever used in the UK but it gives a lot of control over the HTML which means you can get your listing to rank quite highly if you know what you’re doing. Your listing gets its own page, so you’re more or less in control of your own SEO if you list on here.
December 20th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Cheers Mate, very useful
July 25th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Excellent, I’ll use these directories for my existing clients. The Small UK business directory is a great site and I’ve spoken to the guy who runs this site on the phone. He is nice and very helpful.
August 5th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Its very helpful to promote sites in uk directories. Generally i would go for free directories because of google penalty but still its nice to have such popular directories which will give benefit only. I am stumbling this page here http://lindsayhogan.stumbleupon.com/ so that my whole SEO Group can share your unique post.
August 7th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
What about Touchlocal?!!
August 12th, 2008 at 12:11 am
Hi Richard, I only link to SEO friendly directories.
September 11th, 2008 at 6:38 am
linchpin, lynchpin, split pin, spring pin, dowel pin, bent arm pin, wire lock pin, double loop pin, hair pin cotter, cotter pin, s hook, table lock pin, circlips, grease nipple, keys, washers, rivets, steelballs, nut bolts, manufacturer, exporter, supplier, india, windsor exports, auto parts, auto spare parts
September 14th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
This is a good list of directories although I am not sure about the third one in the list. We are generally listed under company formation and this one does not seem to have any such category. I can wholly recommend the othe4rs which we have used and are very satisfied with.
September 29th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Thanks for the list of directories. Can you please provide me some more directories which are best and free.
October 8th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Hi, try http://info.vilesilencer.com and http://www.directorycritic.com
October 12th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Thanks for list of UK Directories
November 9th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Does one need to provide a reciprocal link to get listed, and are they all free?
November 10th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
@Lou B2B Index and Free Index ask for a link back, Platinax or Internet Business now charges a small review fee and the other two are free. They are all worth doing.
November 12th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Thanks.
Lucy
November 19th, 2008 at 9:36 am
These directories have helped our business develope and are also a great resource for our online business selling cleaning cloths and cleaning wipes.
Many Thanks.
November 26th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Great list,
thanks
November 29th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Thanks for the UK list. I am on UK Small Business Directory and Free Index and found them both to be extremely helpful and efficient. I will now try the others. Thanks again.
Julia
Bare Naked Lady UK Ltd.
December 12th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Thank you for the list. I am looking forward to UK-based articles and website submission directories and am compiling as much information as possible. Thanks again, God Bless!
December 19th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Nice piece of work. I also love your website style by the way, impressed!
People are often fooled by web directories, they seem to forget their are two main types. The baulk standard web directory which serves no real purpose and a business directory which can, if done correctly offer real advantages.
January 5th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
David,
How did you come across the option to add your link to the Lancaster University website?
Cheers,
Wes
February 4th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Thanks very much for your list of directories. im currently in contact with a few seo companies and have been told Im not yet listed in some of the most important directories but wont of course tell me which ones until I pay them!
February 16th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
As far as directories go the business type are the ones most useful. Thanks for getting the list together
February 17th, 2009 at 8:41 am
I was really in a need fo to find such business directories. Thank You so much for providing valuable directory list.
February 24th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Thanks for the info, some great advice. I have submitted my company http://www.vanillaelectronics.com to the main directories and will see what happens!
March 24th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Thank you so much for the list. I am busy listing the company with them all. Is this list still the most current? How can I get links to our site?
March 30th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Thanks for the information. Great stuff.
April 29th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Thanks for list!
May 24th, 2009 at 5:35 am
Thanks SEOCo, good advice and I will submit to the directories now2business, biz-dir and internet business directory that I hadnt come across before and put The Seo Company on my new best-friend list.
June 10th, 2009 at 1:48 am
I have just set up a UK Business Directory which is offering free links.
June 10th, 2009 at 1:49 am
Visit http://www.sleepyfrog.com/directory