I have a special page called “Local Listings REALLY Simplified” that sums up the benefits to the public and businesses. I believe understanding the big picture is useful to motivating people to take action. The page is linked from this comment to make it easy to locate.

That page includes links to a comprehensive form I created that businesses can use to collect all the information they’ll need to create their local listings. Some of those sites will time-out while you’re filling in the forms so it is important to have it handy.

It is also a great idea to copy and paste the descriptions you use before you hit submit- just in case you need to enter them again! I highly recommend using a different variation of your information on each site for maximum effectiveness. Include as many of your major keyword phrases as possible. Precisely where you put the information is going to vary by site as they have different fields and field lengths.

That page also links to other pages with links to all the free Local Listing Directories I had come across at the time I created those pages. I’ll be updating that information once I confirm whether the sites I’ve found since that time have fees or not.