When it comes to building a directory for your business, one question often arises: Should you focus on service area businesses or only physical locations? The answer is straightforward—do both! In the tree service industry, for instance, nearly half of the Google Business Profiles (GBPs) lack public street addresses. By limiting your outreach to just physical locations, you could miss out on a significant portion of your potential market.
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Why Target Both Service Area Businesses and Physical Locations?
By including both types of businesses, you increase your exposure. This approach creates a challenge when generating listings, but it’s worth it. Initially, I populate my directory with a few companies from two or three states within the industry. This helps to seed the directory with content, allowing Google to understand what the site is about. However, after the initial seeding, I recommend not adding any more listings unless you receive a positive reply to your cold outreach.
This strategy evolved from my earlier method, where I would scrape contact lists and add them to the directory before reaching out. Many of those listings went unanswered, making the directory less effective. Now, we focus on adding businesses only after they respond positively to our cold emails. This ensures that every company listed has a direct line of communication with us, keeping the directory high-quality and relevant.
Initial Steps to Populate Your Directory
- Start with seed content from a couple of states to make your directory visible to Google.
- Only add businesses that respond positively to your outreach.
- Ensure that the initial listings are optimized for search engines.
Initially, having some content is essential for indexing, but maintaining the quality of your directory is key. This means avoiding the addition of businesses that may have closed or are unreachable.
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Keeping Your Directory Clean and Effective
One of the main benefits of this approach is that it keeps your directory clean. Companies that don’t respond to outreach are less likely to be active, which means they shouldn’t be listed. This method ensures that your directory remains a reliable resource for potential clients.
Conclusion
Ultimately, targeting both service area businesses and physical locations allows you to cast a wider net, maximizing your potential market. By implementing a clean and effective strategy for adding listings, you enhance your directory’s quality and usefulness for users.
FAQs
What should I do if a business doesn’t respond to my cold email?
It’s best to remove them from your directory to maintain its quality. Focus on businesses that engage with you.
How can I ensure my directory is optimized for search engines?
Start by seeding it with relevant content and only add listings that are actively engaging with your outreach efforts.
What are the benefits of including service area businesses in my directory?
Including service area businesses expands your potential market, allowing you to reach customers who may not have a physical address.
For more insights on local SEO strategies, check out The Local SEO Toolkit for agency owners and freelancers and learn how to optimize your directory effectively.