The phone directory might be largely a door stop these days, but your Yellow Pages is still a great place to list your business online.
Phone and business directories used to be expensive, to make and distribute, there were few choices, and you paid for it.
Today, you often list for free, the choice is abundant, potentially confusing and possibly a risk to your SEO (Search Engine Optimization or Search Ranking).
The internet allows anyone with enough knowledge to setup an online directory that you can list on. At first it might seem like a great idea to be on all of them.
But are they hurting your SEO, by association? Being listed on some directories that practice bad SEO, could potentially hurt your ranking by being listed on them.
Recommendations
We recommend you list on directories that have good online practice like the local Yellow pages, and others that have stood the test of time like Finda. There are also other smaller boutique and local directories that search engines like and are worth being listed on if you fit their niche, like Neighbourly.
If you have a business with a physical address, make sure you are listed on Google Maps, as that is a powerful tool for users and your businesses search visibility. More on that another time.