15 FREE Business Directories In Nigeria

Nigeria is ranked as the 31st-largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP and holds the title of the largest economy in Africa. Nigeria generates an annual GDP of close to 450 billion US Dollars, backed by a population of 213 million which is still growing. The Nigerian economy has done remarkably well considering the problems the country faces due to poor infrastructure, energy shortages, high inflation and government restrictions on trade.

The county's economy relies heavily on an informal sector which is more than ten times the size of the formal sector. If we look at Nigerian business formation, there were 980 000 registered companies registered in Nigeria as of December 2022; however, according to Statista, there are 40 million micro-enterprises in operation in the country.

Considering the sheer volume of small businesses in Nigeria, it's surprising that many have yet to embrace online marketing to promote their operations. It could be due to the perception that there is a high barrier to entry to promoting yourself online. Online marketing is a competitive landscape that involves setting up a website, social media profiles, method of content, outreach marketing, PR and, of course, search engine marketing.

But it doesn't have to be done all at once and can be rolled out gradually as you grow your business. Suppose you are planning the foundational phase of your online presence in Nigeria once you've created a website and social media presence. Your next step should be local SEO, which means building up map listings and citation listings.

Add your business to Nigerian-based business directories.

If you're keen to start building citations and links to your business in Nigeria, we suggest starting with the following websites. You can either list your business on all of them or pick the ones you feel would provide the most benefit in terms of reach.

Please note that when listing your business on various sites, it's important to ensure information consistency. Place accurate details like name, phone number, and address for users to search and reach you, along with the correct branding to showcase consistency which breeds trust.

Have your citations built for you.

Alternatively, you can reach out to our team, and we can list your business across all these directories, with you retaining ownership rights to all the accounts.

This way, you're not held captive and can update them yourself or with your internal marketing team, and customer service can respond to reviews on directory sites if and when needed.

Protip for improving local search results

Once you've completed listing your business on all the relevant local directories in Nigeria, ensure that you've also claimed other free Internet real estate in the form of map listings. These map listings can include Google My Business and Bing Places, which should cover the majority of search volume.

Still, you can add your business to alternative mapping services like Apple Maps, Petal Search Maps and even Openstreet, which search engines use to validate their online information when serving local search results.

If you need help setting up your map listings or would like us to review them from an optimisation standpoint, you can also reach out to our team, and we'll be happy to assist you.

Tell us your advertising story.

Have you struggled to get your business noticed online? Are there any sites you feel should be added to the list? How have you been using them? Share your tips with us in the comments section below.

Contact us

If you would like us to set up your business digital ads or want to know more about digital marketing for your business, then don’t be shy. We’re happy to assist. Simply contact us

Are you looking to promote your business?

Nigerian business owners can create their free business listings on nichemarket. The more information you provide about your business, the easier it will be for your customers to find you online. Registering with nichemarket is easy; all you will need to do is head over to our sign-up form and follow the instructions.

If you require a more detailed guide on creating your profile or listing, we highly recommend you check out the following articles. 

• How to create a nichemarketer profile 
• How to create a nichemarket business listing 

Recommended reading

If you enjoyed this post and have a little extra time to dive deeper down the rabbit hole, why not check out the following posts on online directories.

• Why nichemarket is the best place to list your local Business
• 10 Off-Site SEO Strategies Your Business Is Ignoring
• Why Your Local Business Cannot Be Found Online
• 42 FREE Business Directories In South Africa
• 12 FREE Business Directories In Namibia
• 27 FREE Business Directories In The UAE

Tags: Business Directory, SEO, Search Engine Optimisation, Link Building, Local SEO