September 24, 2026 · Method
We list Narrows Web Co. on Google, Bing, Apple Maps, Yelp, Clutch and more. Here is what each kind of listing does for you, which ones link back, and why we traded a link for a spot on DesignRush.
A listing on a directory can do three different jobs, and most do one or two of them.
It puts you where buyers look. Clutch lists web designers. Yelp and Thumbtack list plumbers and other trades. Buyers use these sites to compare who is listed. Some, like Thumbtack and Bark, send you leads directly and charge you per lead.
It confirms who you are. Your name, address and phone show the same way on Google, Bing, Apple Maps and the rest, so anyone looking you up, a customer or a search engine, finds one business rather than three slightly different ones.
It can give you a link. Google's own help page says being well known depends partly on “how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have.”
A link can carry a tag, rel="nofollow", that asks Google not to count it as a vote for the site it points at. Google calls that a hint rather than a strict rule. The link still works for anyone who clicks it.
We checked four directories on September 24, 2026: our own listings on Clutch, Yelp and Appsli, and DesignRush's pages for companies it lists, since our profile there is not live yet. Clutch, Yelp and DesignRush tag their links to the businesses they list nofollow. Appsli does not. That is normal, and it is what Google asks of sites that list other businesses.
So list for the first two. A link that counts is a bonus.
DesignRush offered us a top spot on their list of web designers in Washington for sixty days, if we linked to them with the words “As seen on DesignRush.” A top spot on a Washington list puts us in front of people comparing web designers, and it is one more listing to point to alongside our reviews. That is the first job on the list above, and it was worth a link.
We tagged ours nofollow, the same way they tag theirs. Google's spam policy asks for nofollow or sponsored on any link given in exchange for something, and a listing counts. We used nofollow. Here it is: As seen on DesignRush. Appsli links to us without the tag, so our Appsli badges link to them without it too. Our DesignRush profile is not live yet. We will note it here when it is.
Open the directory in Chrome and go to the page of a business already listed there. Right-click its “Visit website” button and choose Inspect. The line that lights up is the link. If it says nofollow, that directory's link asks Google not to count it. If there is no rel, or it only says noopener (a browser security setting, nothing to do with ranking), Google is free to count it.
The confirming job only works if every listing says the same thing. Pick one spelling of your name, one form of your address and one phone number, and use them everywhere. We checked our own address against the postal service this week, fixed the listing that had it wrong, and are bringing the rest onto one spelling.
And keep asking for reviews. Google says it plainly: “More reviews and positive ratings can help your business's local ranking.”
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