UK business directories worth your time
A short, checked list of the UK business directories and trade sites that matter for local businesses and trades, with what is free, what is paid and who each one suits. Every site was opened on 21 October 2026; the dead and closing ones are listed separately.
- 21 directories, each opened on 21 October 2026
- Free or paid, and who each one suits
- The closing and dead ones, so you skip them
Start with the five essentials, then add the few that suit your trade.
Consistency beats quantity
The listings that matter are the ones customers actually use, carrying the name, address and phone number from your Google Business Profile, letter for letter. That is NAP consistency: your name, address and phone number matching everywhere. Twenty accurate listings beat two hundred scattered ones.
Directories are a small part of local ranking. The 2026 edition of the Local Search Ranking Factors survey asks around 50 local SEO practitioners for their view. In it, citations (mentions of your business details on other sites) score 6% of the weight for the map results. Google Business Profile signals score 32% and reviews 20% (BrightLocal's summary of the survey). It is a survey of opinions, not Google, but it points one way.
Building lots of listings does not help much either. Sterling Sky built 50 citations each for two small businesses: six months later, two of each were still indexed by Google, with "no improvement in their local pack rankings". Their view is that 10 to 20 is "usually the maximum you can get Google to keep indexed" (Sterling Sky, September 2024).
The real cost of a wrong listing is a customer ringing a number you stopped using. Fix those first. Our article on which UK citations actually matter goes through the evidence in full.
The five every local business should claim
Do these first, and do them properly: same trading name, same number, same website, same opening hours. All five are free. Google matters most by a distance; the other four take an hour between them.
Google Business Profile
business.google.com. Free. Suits every local business. Google's own FAQ: "creating a Business Profile and listing your business on Google is free". This is the one that decides the map results. Everything else should copy it.
Bing Places for Business
bing.com/forbusiness. Free. Suits every local business. Bing's page offers listing "for FREE". Puts you on Bing search and Bing Maps. A short job once your Google profile is right.
Apple Business
business.apple.com. Free to set up. Suits businesses with premises customers visit. The old Business Connect address now redirects here. Your Apple Maps place card lives here; trades without premises can still set up their brand.
Facebook Page
facebook.com/business. Free. Suits everyone. Meta: "Setting up a Page is simple and free". Customers check it whether or not you post, so keep the number and hours current.
Yell
business.yell.com. Free profile; paid marketing is separate. Suits trades and local services. The one old UK directory most customers still recognise. The free profile page does not say it includes a link to your website.
General UK directories with a free listing
Each of these was live on 21 October 2026 and offered a free basic listing. They are worth an hour in total, not a monthly fee. If you already have a listing on one, correct it; if you do not, these are the ones to add.
Thomson Local
thomsonlocal.com. Free listing; paid upgrades. Suits trades and local services. Its homepage offers to "Advertise Your Business For FREE". Check for an old listing with a former number before adding a new one.
FreeIndex
freeindex.co.uk. Free; paid Premium. Suits trades and service businesses. A UK directory, based in Bristol, that also posts quote requests from customers. Collects its own reviews.
Yelp
business.yelp.com. Free page; paid ads. Suits shops, salons, cafes and garages more than trades. Yelp: "It's free to be on Yelp". If a listing for you already exists, claim it and correct it.
Brownbook
brownbook.net. Free. Suits any business. A global directory with UK listings, free to add and claim. Long-tail: correct an existing listing, low priority to create one.
Nextdoor
business.nextdoor.com. Free business page; paid ads. Suits trades working in residential areas. Nextdoor says "1 in 4 UK households" are on it. A free page gives neighbours a profile to point to when they recommend you.
Trustpilot
business.trustpilot.com. Free plan; paid plans. Suits businesses that sell online or quote big jobs. The free plan includes 50 review invitations a month. Not a map signal; useful if customers already look you up there.
Trade directories and registers
These fall into two groups. The registers prove you are qualified, and customers check them: if you are on one, make sure your details match your profile. The lead sites are advertising: judge them on cost per job won, not as SEO, and check whether your profile links to your own website at all.
Gas Safe Register
gassaferegister.co.uk. Comes with registration. Suits gas engineers: HSE says a business must be on it to do gas work legally. It is "The Official List of Gas Safe Registered Engineers", so keep your trading name and number current.
NICEIC
niceic.com. Comes with paid certification. Suits electricians and electrical contractors. Its site offers customers a way to "Find a trusted NICEIC tradesperson", so keep your details there matching your profile.
NAPIT
napit.org.uk. Comes with paid membership. Suits electricians, plumbers, heating and renewables installers. Its site has a public "Find a tradesperson" search, so check how your business appears in it.
TrustMark
trustmark.org.uk. Through a paid scheme provider. Suits home improvement trades. Registered businesses get a free business portal to upload a biography, logo and photos of finished work.
Federation of Master Builders
fmb.org.uk. Paid membership, with inspection. Suits builders and building firms. Members have their work inspected and appear in its "Find a Builder" search.
Which? Trusted Traders
trustedtraders.which.co.uk. Paid: assessment fee plus membership. Suits established trades who want an independent endorsement. Traders are assessed before they are listed, and the fees are published on its join page.
Checkatrade
join.checkatrade.com. Paid membership, 12-month plans. Suits trades who want leads. Consumer brand recognition is strong. Treat it as advertising and track the cost of each job won.
TrustATrader
trustatrader.com. Paid membership, limited per area. Suits trades who want leads. It says it charges no commission on leads; the price is not published on the homepage, so ask before you sign.
MyBuilder
mybuilder.com. Free to join; you pay to win work. Suits builders and trades who quote. Its homepage says "Tradespeople join for free". Your reviews stay on MyBuilder, so treat it as advertising.
Bark
bark.com. Free to join and review leads; paid to respond. Suits service businesses of most kinds. Bark says it takes no commission. Track what each won job costs in credits.
Directories to skip
Old lists of UK directories go stale fast. These were checked on 21 October 2026. Do not spend time on any of them.
- Scoot (scoot.co.uk) and Touch Local (touchlocal.com): closed or closing in October 2026. On 21 October both homepages said the site "will be winding down in October 2026, after which this site and its listings will no longer be available".
- Rated People: in liquidation since 16 September 2026, so not a live platform.
- BT Phone Book (thephonebook.bt.com) and CityLocal (citylocal.co.uk): no DNS record, so neither site loads. Both still appear on popular citation lists.
- Paid "submit to 500 directories" packages: most of those listings never stay in Google's index, as the Sterling Sky test above shows.
How to list once and get it right
Write your details down once, then copy and paste them into every listing. Typing them fresh each time is how a plumber ends up as three slightly different businesses.
- Use the exact name on your Google profile. If that is "Smith Plumbing & Heating", do not use "Smith Plumbing Ltd" on Yell.
- Use one phone number everywhere. The one that rings when you are on a job, not an old landline.
- Address or service area to match your profile. If you hide your address on Google because you work from home, do not publish it on directories either. Most let you show the town only.
- Same website address, same opening hours. Then add the details to your website footer, and mark them up with our local business schema generator.
- Keep the logins. A simple list of site, email and password saves hours the day you move or change number.
- Search your business name in quotes on Google every few months. The directory listings that turn up are the ones customers find, and the ones worth correcting. Our NAP consistency audit walks through it.
Common questions
What are the best free business directories in the UK?
Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business, a Facebook Page and Yell's free profile. After those, Thomson Local, FreeIndex, Yelp and Nextdoor all offered free listings when we checked on 21 October 2026.
How many directories should my business be listed on?
Somewhere around 10 to 20 accurate listings is plenty for most local businesses. Sterling Sky's testing found Google rarely keeps more than that indexed, and building 50 at once did not improve map rankings.
Do business directories help SEO?
A little. In the 2026 ranking factors survey, citations scored 6% of the weight for map results against 32% for the Google Business Profile itself. Accurate listings help customers find the right number; they do not replace a strong profile and reviews.
What is NAP consistency?
Your business name, address and phone number being identical everywhere they appear online: your Google profile, your website and every directory. A different phone number or trading name is what causes trouble.
Is Yell still free?
Yes. On 21 October 2026 Yell offered a free business profile, separate from its paid marketing packages. Its page does not say the free profile shows a link to your website.
Are Checkatrade and MyBuilder good for SEO?
Not much. They are lead platforms, so judge them on what each job won costs you, like any other advert. Our article on UK citations looks at how each one treats the link to your website.
I work from home. Should I put my address on directories?
Only if it is on your Google profile. If you hide your address on Google because customers never visit, show only your town or area on directories so the two agree, and so your home address is not published.
Is Scoot still worth a listing?
No. Scoot and Touch Local are closed or closing in October 2026: on 21 October both said their sites and listings would no longer be available after the wind-down. Spend the time on the live directories above.
Want the reviews to look after themselves?
We run Google Business Profiles for UK trades: the reviews, the replies, the posts and the pages that get you on the map. Local SEO and Google Business Profile work is paid on results, with nothing upfront.