Just as there are many search engines besides Google (Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Zuula, etc.) there are many local search directories and databases besides Google Local including Local Promote.

Since a business can not control which search engine or directory their potential clients will use it makes sense for them to get listed in as many of them as possible if they wish to maximize their traffic and sales.
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I suspect most Local Search directories are intended for U.S. businesses so they may not accept phone numbers or addresses in the formats used in other countries. If a business receives calls from the U.S. they may want to acquire a U.S. based phone number.

There are at least two ways to do that. One is to pay for a virtual office and another is to acquire a U.S. based phone number. There are many companies that provide these services and I am sure prices vary widely. Here are a few:

http://www.actsupport.com/phonesupport.htm

http://www.voipvoip.com/virtual-number/how-works-pricing.html

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/free-stuff/932082/
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Thank you for taking the time to share what you know with us. I especially appreciate it when someone shares what is working for them. Some will not take action until they are sure it will work – and hearing from businesses that are having success improves the potential that they will act.

You are absolutely right that search engines including Google weight old links heavily in their algorithms. All other things being equal they will favor the older Web sites and links over the newer ones. Longevity is a good way to improve search engine position.

I see that Yell.com is UK specific. The various incarnations of the Yellow Pages keep changing here as well. Even though I almost always use online directories today I still recommend keeping a printed one around. Some don’t seem to realize the power could go off or batteries in your PDA, blackberry, etc. might be dead.

I suspect that many directories are US centric and have not yet investigated which accept non-U.S. businesses. I know that many will not have fields that accept addresses and phone numbers as they are formatted differently in various countries.

You may want to check out the business communities like Yelp and Merchant Circle as some are reporting excellent results from using them. I am always researching and working on organizing processes for managing and tracking various strategies so I do hope you’ll become a regular here.

Check your Twitter account to see what else I do with the Twitter ID field in the comments here.
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Well it’s been quite a roller coaster ride here in the UK wedding business but I’m seeing plenty of light as well. Budgets are down but enthusiasm is still sky high.

I’m photographing 2 weddings this weekend. The camera bags are packed and ready to go.

There are absolutely stacks of free directories here. The cumulative effect is really worth the effort. I also notice a strange effect. Some of the ones I signed up to several years ago give me quite a tidy back link, even though they are quite small sites, so I guess Google likes old links? Maybe? I didn’t really think about my long-term strategy back then in 2001 but I do now. Back then Google was no more important than any directory and if people wanted to know my website address, I wrote it down for them on a bit of paper ? I was on a lot of directories and when Google came to dominate I was at top spot on my key words. It all seemed so easy. Then I got caught napping, whilst the World changed.

The one that really used to work was Yellow Pages. It’s rebranded as Yell.com but I still have printed ads in the old directories that people keep forever. Unfortunately I am still getting bombarded with calls from retirees who still use a 2004 directory and want old pictures retouched and reprinted. As I had a good ad’ back in the day, they call me, assuming that a wedding photographer can sort them out. I can, I find out where they live and direct them to their nearest professional lab but it’s a freebie of course.
I’ve had some trouble signing up to some American directories. My telephone number and my postcode are both too long, so I don’t get past the initial stages of registration. My postcode is NG8 5FG and my telephone number is UK (+44) but just starting here: (0115) 8770609. It’s a bit too long for the data fields in some places.

I’ve been finding Freeindex pretty useful . And local classifieds, such as Gumtree and certain newspaper classifieds, such as the Sun.

Tell us about Friendster. Why do you use it? What has it done for you either personally or for business?
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