14 Best UK Business Directories for Local SEO NAP Citations

Local link building with quality business directories is one of the best and easiest ways to build an initial foundation for a new website – it provides Google with the signals it needs to discover and understand a legitimate business entity.

They can also assist with Local Map Pack listings on Google.

Business directories don’t directly influence rankings, meaning they by themselves won’t help you to rank for specific competitive keywords in Google Search.

Indirectly, however, some high-quality business directories pass equity (or PageRank) which will flow into your domain to build up a little authority. Whether Google like to admit it or not, this can positively influence rankings across the domain.

What are NAP Citations?

NAP is an acronym for Name, Address, Phone Number.

A NAP citation is, in basic terms, a mention of this key business information on another website (including business directories). It’s important to ensure that they’re kept up to date and consistent across all websites where they appear.

Google uses NAP citations to confirm your business information, so if they’re not up to date or there aren’t many of them, it can negatively affect your business online.

Business directories are the easiest way to build NAP citations.

How to Check Your NAP Citations Online

To check the consistency of your existing NAP citations without checking directories one-by-one, you can use a handy tool by Yell called Connect Scan. It performs checks across the biggest, most important directories in the UK.

If you notice any inconsistencies in your business information on any other directories returned by the scanner, spend time updating them. Any missing, submit them.

Business Directory Link Building

Benefits of building links with local business directories:

• Build NAP citations, confirming business information to Google
• Build foundation backlinks to your website for authority and indexing
• Influence position within Google’s Local Map Pack results
• Build and control brand image and reputation in Google’s Search Results

I submit to business directories as part of my SEO work.

As part of my role as a Senior SEO I often oversee SEO campaigns for clients where link building is a part of the monthly SEO activity, especially for new websites or those with a thin link profile – starting with business directories for NAP citations.

NOTE: Make sure you’re using consistent business information for all of the directories you submit to, with the same formatting where possible.

Here are the business directories you should prioritise in the UK:

• Central Index
• Apple Business Connect
• Hotfrog
• Yell
• Yelp
• Foursquare
• My Local Services
• Scoot
• Brownbook
• 118 Business Directory
• Free Index
• Cylex UK
• Thomson Local
• Mister What

There are hundreds of other UK directories you can submit to, but these are the ones you should always start with as they’re the best.

I’ll explain the deeper benefits from some noteworthy ones below.

Noteworthy Directories from The List

Central Index

Central Index is perhaps the single biggest and most important business directory in the UK, as it’s also a data aggregator for hundreds of smaller directories.

When you submit your business information on Central Index it will not only appear on their website, but it will also be fed into hundreds of smaller local and newspaper-hosted directories. That’s a lot of instant citations for Google’s viewing pleasure.

Apple Business Connect

If you register your business via Apple’s Business Connect service then you can get your business listed on Apple Maps and other services. A top quality citation.