As we move into January 2025, I realise it’s nearly 10 years since I first published this post.

Back in 2016, it was an instant hit post. It was on page one of Google with no promotion, and in the top three for a while.  Why? There weren’t many good or accurate lists of directories available for small businesses at the time. And listing in directories was an easy way to make a difference to your SEO.

Things are different now.

There are many more directory list posts. It’s harder for this post to rank. And it’s also questionable whether it’s worth the effort. Not just because my business has changed, but because SEO has changed too.

Is it still worth listing in business directories? Yes.

Will you get the same value you used to? No.

When I talk to clients about general SEO now, I’m far more concerned about their Google Business Profile than I am about their directory listings. That’s especially true for local businesses who want to be literally ‘on the map’ in local search results.

Even once you have your Google Business Profile sorted (and that includes updates from you as well as glowing reviews from clients), you still need to approach business directory listing thoughtfully.

Quality beats quantity again and again.

The list of directories is just a starting point. Please remember that as you read the rest of this post. (Which has also been updated, by the way!)

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[Update of original post starts here]

Do you know how many Australian business directories is your website listed in online? Or why it matters? And how to list your site with minimum effort? This post is here to answer all those questions!

2 ways listing in Australian business directories helps your website

There are two advantages to listing your website.

1. You may get some business, or at least some leads and enquiries.
2. It may help your SEO. You get more links into your site. Google – and the other search engines – assess your site as more authoritative, more trusted, and more respected.

Make sure you’re in the RIGHT business directories

1. Start with any directory where you might get traffic, enquiries and business.

There are relatively few of those, for most of us. Local directories, local chambers of commerce and industry associations are usually good bets.

If you’re in a trade, or offer a service related to home maintenance, there are far more options. Some of these offer consumers three quotes for free. If you list, you’ll probably get the opportunity to quote. On the other hand, you usually have to pay per enquiry, and you’ll be competing with others. Only you can decide whether that’s cost-effective for you and your business

2. What about listing in business directories to improve your SEO?

This is more complicated. There are a lot of directories, some of them not very user-friendly, which means you’re not likely to get actual business from them. How do you know which sites are worth adding for SEO alone?

Original long answer – you check the domain rating of each site and start with the ones which have the highest domain rating. Those are the ones the search engines pay the most attention to. A link from a more highly rated site will score you more ‘SEO juice’.

Original short answer – use our list in this post.

2025 long answer – A link from a high authority site is still more valuable, so start with the high authority sites. But don’t feel you need to be in all of them. Look at them. Decide for yourself whether they are relevant.

• Have you ever heard of this site in your real life? We’ve all heard of Yellow Pages, but maybe not of Australia YP. (As far as I’m aware, the two are not related – despite that ‘YP’ in the name!)
• If you have heard of the site, do you trust it?
• Do you have freedom to present your business the way you want to?
• If you want a listing with a link to your website, is there a cost? (Without a link to your website, there’s no SEO value at all.)
• Are your competitors listing on this site?
• What happens if you search ‘sitename reviews’ online? This is a great way to find out what others think of the site.

2025 short answer – Pick a few sites from our list which

• Have high authority
• Are location-specific
• Are industry-specific

Set your listings up with consistent contact details, then focus on other ways to build your SEO and online presence.

Top Australian Business Directories for SEO, updated list for 2025

The top 20 Australian business directories are listed below. If you want a longer list, we found 106 Australian business directories in total. We’ve made the entire list available as a free download.

Directory Name	Moz Ranking	Ahrefs Ranking
https://truelocal.com.au Free listing	82	81
https://yellowpages.com.au Freemium – paid and free listings	57	83
https://www.infobel.com/en/australia Freemium	59	74
https://yelp.com.au/ Free listing	54	78
https://au.showmelocal.com Free listing	51	78
https://whitepages.com.au Free listing	54	73
https://www.2findlocal.com/en/au Free listing	48	78
http://whereis.com Free with data from Yellow Pages	51	74
https://localsearch.com.au Free listing	42	82
https://www.oneflare.com.au/ Free listing	45	76
https://hotfrog.com.au Free listing	49	71
https://wordofmouth.com.au Free listing	40	77
https://au.enrollbusiness.com Free listing	46	71
https://flyingsolo.com.au Paid listings only	49	67
https://startlocal.com.au Freemium – paid and free listings	48	65
http://dlook.com.au Freemium – paid and free listings	39	74
https://serviceseeking.com.au Free listing	38	71
https://businesslistings.net.au Free listing	45	62
https://manlyaustralia.com.au Freemium – paid and free listings	54	48
http://australia.myhuckleberry.com/ Free listing	40	62

What do the numbers in the table mean?

• Moz is one of the top SEO companies in the world. Moz Domain Authority is a score they calculate for every website (on a 100-point scale) that predicts how well it will rank on search engines. The DA includes factors such as the number of links to your site; the number of domains linking to your site, how trustworthy your site seems and so on. More details here.
• Ahrefs is another well-known provider of web analytics services. It is generally considered to have the largest backlink database available. (Backlinks are links from other sites to yours.) The Ahrefs Domain Ranking (DR) is based on the number and quality of backlinks to a site. More details here.

One other reminder

• A directory listing will only improve your SEO if it includes a link to your website. Sometimes, that link is the difference between a free listing and a paid listing. Check carefully!

This list of online business directories is just a starting point

Targeted online business directories are more likely to generate leads than some of those at the bottom of our long SEO list. They never hurt your SEO either!

Some directory options to consider which are might not be on our list:

• Chambers of Commerce
• Your local council and other nearby councils
• Industry associations
• Industry-specific directories
• Location-specific directories. You may not have noticed, but  https://manlyaustralia.com.au squeaked into the top 40 Australian business directories. That’s impressive for such a local site! There are many other such local directories, so try to find the ones for you.

How to find smaller, targeted directories

A simple way to do this is to use Google. Search for terms such as

• [industry/location keyword] directory
• [industry/location keyword] add business
• [industry/location keyword] business listing

So for example a lawyer in Bathurst might search for

• legal services directory
• central west directory
• central NSW directory
• legal services add business

…and so on. Be sure to check out every directory you find and assess its value before listing!

Decide which directories to list in and how to do it

Start at the top of this list and work down.  Most businesses can benefit from listing with major directories like YellowPages, WhitePages, TrueLocal and Whereis. Yelp is skewed towards food and entertainment for consumers – I sell to businesses, so I don’t bother listing there. Also, be wary of the Australian ‘subsites’ of global directory sites. Their rating is probably based on authority elsewhere, not in Australia.

If you don’t know a directory on the list, check it out before you submit your business. Look for

• industry fit
• clarity about costs
• your minimum commitment to get an SEO link back

Remember, there is no need to list on every single directory. A more ‘balanced’ (varied) link profile will work better for you. Consider other opportunities. (Comment on forums or on relevant blog posts. Write guest posts. Give testimonials to suppliers as long as they link to your site.)

Prepare before submitting listings

The directory submission process is often very manual. Every directory has a different process and guidelines, but mostly they want the same information. Google also likes you to have consistent information across the web, so make sure you do. Here’s a checklist of what to do before you start submitting to relevant Australian business directories.

Here’s our preparation checklist:

• Decide on the exact name you will use. (For example, will you include the ‘Pty Ltd’?)
• Be sure you have consistent contact details. Consistent NAP (name, address, phone) information seems to lead to higher Google rankings.
  • For phone numbers, include an area code. Be consistent about the format. ’02’ is fine. ‘+61 2’ is fine. ‘+612’ is fine. But pick one and stick to it.
  • What about web address? Will you include a ‘www.’ or not?
  • For street addresses, decide whether you want to include a suite number, floor number etc.
• If you don’t have a tag line, consider preparing one, or at least thinking of a one-liner which describes what you do and who you do it for.
• Have your logo file ready to upload. Jpeg is the commonest format. You may need a couple of different sizes. You may also want a square version and a rectangular version since sites have different requirements.
• If it’s appropriate for your business, have some images you can upload to show what you do.
• Have your ABN handy too.
• You might want to use a different email address to use for all the submissions, so you won’t get clutter in your inbox and miss actual emails.
• book a time to talk Be aware you may also get sales calls from directories who want you to upgrade to a paid listing.

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More than 1500 words and over 100 listings later, I think I’m done!

If you’re doing all this yourself, best of luck.

If you find errors in our latest list, please let me know.

If you’d like to chat about SEO more generally, especially on-page SEO, I’m happy to share my thoughts and ideas. Book in a time to talk, and we will!