Summary
1. The role of online directories in Local SEO
Online directories list important business information, such as your name, address, phone number (NAP), and website. Examples include Google Business Profile, Facebook, Bing Places, or industry-specific directories. These platforms help increase visibility and provide potential customers with key details about your business.
From a local SEO perspective, consistency across online directories acts as a trust signal to Google. While duplicate content is typically bad for SEO, having consistent business details across multiple directories builds credibility and trustworthiness. This improves local search rankings and increases your chances of appearing in the Google Local Pack.
Conversely, outdated or inconsistent information can lead to customer confusion, lost leads, and lower rankings. rankingCoach simplifies this process by allowing you to manage, synchronize and monitor your listings from a central dashboard, so your business information is always up-to-date and consistent.
2. How to manually check and manage your listings with rankingCoach FREE
With a rankingCoach FREE subscription, you can synchronize your Google Business Profile and Facebook Business Page, ensuring they display the correct information. However, automatic synchronization with other directories is not available.
Go to “Online Presence” and then “Listings and Publishing” in your dashboard to start the Google Business Profile and Facebook sync process and check the status of your directories:
Listed - Your business is listed correctly in the directory, meaning your listing matches your business profile in rankingCoach and appears up-to-date.
Incomplete - The directory listing is outdated, missing key details, or does not match the business profile in rankingCoach. In some cases, rankingCoach provides specific details on what information is missing or incorrect.
Not Listed - No listing was detected for your business in this directory.
If your business is incomplete or missing, manual updates are required. This can be time-consuming, especially if details like your address or phone number change frequently. Upgrading to rankingCoach 360 automates the entire process, ensuring that business information remains consistent across all platforms with minimal effort.
To assist rankingCoach FREE users with manual directory registrations, step-by-step tutorial videos are available in the “SEO” → “Tasks” → “Local Marketing” section.
3. How to synchronize your business with online directories using rankingCoach 360
With rankingCoach 360, you can automatically synchronize your business profile across multiple directories, increasing your visibility with just one click. Once you have set up your business profile (read “A complete guide to setting up your business profile in rankingCoach” for more information), go to “Online Presence” and then “Listings and Publishing” in your dashboard to start the synchronization process.
Important: A phone number is required to start the process. However, providing more complete information in your profile significantly improves the effectiveness of your listings.
1. Synchronize your Google Business Profile: This important step ensures that your business appears correctly in Google Search and Maps. You can choose to sync images and your logo. If you haven't connected or created a profile yet, read our detailed guide.
2. Synchronize your Facebook Business Page: Maintain accurate information on your Facebook Business Page to increase social media visibility. You can choose to sync images and your logo. If you haven't connected your account yet, see this guide.
3. Synchronize online directory listings: Enable the synchronization with all available online directories in your country. This process can take up to 48 hours. The status of each directory is displayed below the overview.
Once synchronization is activated, each directory will display a status:
Published - Your business profile is published and displayed correctly in the directory. Click “View Listing” to review your live listing.
Publishing - The listing is being published; some directories take longer to update than others.
No Access - The directory may not be available for your business type, location, or category, or a third party may be blocking access. Contact rankingCoach support if you believe this status is incorrect.
Action Required - Some business details need to be resynchronized or you need to adjust your business profile before the listing can be published.
With rankingCoach 360, you have complete control over your directory listings, ensuring that your business information remains accurate and consistent across all platforms - without the hassle of manually updating each listing.
4. Common synchronization errors and how to resolve them
While rankingCoach simplifies directory management, some errors can occur. Here are some common issues and solutions:
Listings blocked by a third party: If you've previously used another listing management platform, they may still control your listings. Contact your previous provider to unlock them, as they could still be claimed by the provider. If you're unsure about a previous provider, contact rankingCoach support who can help. It could also be that the error is from you having deleted a previous rankingCoach project.
Limited directories for businesses without a physical address: Some directories may not be available for businesses without a physical location. See our article “How to set up your business address and type correctly in rankingCoach” for more information.
Incorrect business category: Choosing the wrong business category during onboarding can cause synchronization issues. Ensure your choice accurately reflects whether you operate with or without a physical location. See our article “How to choose the right business category for your business profile” for more information.
Managing online directory listings is crucial for local SEO. rankingCoach streamlines this process, ensuring consistency and accuracy across platforms. Whether you use rankingCoach FREE for monitoring or rankingCoach 360 for automated synchronization, maintaining accurate directory information strengthens your online presence and boosts your search rankings.
Contact our support team if you have any questions or encounter any issues. We're here to help!
Any questions about other topics? Explore more articles here: