When a business is starting out, it needs valuable publicity and to form relationships, so every little marketing opportunity taken or passed up can make or break the new venture. Getting the company name into a business directory is an important step in spreading the word that a business is open, here to stay and will provide the local area with top-notch products and services. A local listing helps, especially these days, when all eco-friendly citizens are encouraged to buy and sell in their locale. It also shows the community that the business is serving its own people and wants to be considered part of the neighborhood.

Business directories also show the industry that it has a new member. When the business wants recommendations from the local small business association or the Better Business Bureau, they need to be listed in a directory that shows they can serve the local customers. When customers are looking up a number for their favorite provider, they may be open to using a new company to serve their needs, especially if a new business listing gives a quick deal for first time callers or visitors. Also, a business needs to be visible for people new to the neighborhood or town, or for someone from out of town, who will generally look in a business directory to find what they need.

For online purposes, business directories serve a valuable marketing need. People do online searches for businesses in certain areas for research, statistics, information, price comparisons and national studies. They go straight to the entries in the part of the business directory that has what they need, and are most likely to only feature the ones they require for their purposes.

A small business, especially a new one, needs to be in any kind of national study, both for obvious publicity reasons on a larger scale, and for the benefits that could come from a study. Some studies are done to find small businesses across the country to be potential recipients of local or national funds, or even tax breaks. Being involved could lead to being the subject of a focus segment or article that goes in to great detail, with a profile and interviews that will push online and in person sales through the roof. All of this is at no cost to the business owner, except the original directory listing fee, which will be well worth it for this kind of magnifying glass on the business.

For Google and other large search engines, finding a small, local, or highly specified business can be very difficult. Large national retailers or businesses with branches nationwide can advertise and publicize their services on a grand level and have people manage their social media accounts, like Twitter and Facebook. Small businesses have a better chance of getting into search engines by maximizing their keyword density and putting a listing in every business directory they can afford. A large number of different sources of keywords in close proximity to the business' name will increase the profitability of searches. It is completely logical. The more times a name occurs on different sites, the more searchable it is. So, the more searchable it is, the more Google will feature it as a result.

Being listed in business directories will help the venture get more 'backlinks' too, which is also a calculation tool used by search engines. One of the best ways to position backlinks is to be in a directory that is aimed only at the industry the business is in and not just in general business directories. As a professional and segmented listing, it is weighed even more heavily by the search engines and the industry competitors. Once a business is listed with their more established competitors, they gain an amount of respect equal to an accepted member of the business community.