Listings or your own site?

By Rahul Sharma, founder of Seospidy. Published 1 November 2026.

What listings do well

Directories and marketplaces are where many buyers start. IndiaMART is where businesses look for suppliers, Justdial is where people look for a local service, and your Google Business Profile is what appears on the map. They cost little or nothing to start, and they bring enquiries from day one. If you're not listed on the ones that matter for your trade, do that before anything else.

What they don't do

• The enquiry often isn't only yours. On paid lead plans, the same buyer's requirement can reach several suppliers within minutes, and you end up competing on price.
• You don't control the page. Layout, competitors' ads beside your listing, and what's shown first are the platform's decisions.
• It's hard to explain anything complicated. A listing holds a few photos and a paragraph. If your product needs specifications, sizes, certifications or a price list, there's nowhere to put them.
• Searches for your name land somewhere else. When a buyer googles your business after a call, a directory page with three competitors beside it is a weak first impression.

When you need your own site

• Buyers ask for a catalogue, a price list or specifications before they order
• You're paying for leads that turn out to be shared and price-shopped
• Customers search for your business name and don't find you
• You sell to other cities or countries, where trust has to be earned without a visit
• You want to run Google Ads, which need a page to send people to

When you probably don't (yet)

If you're a new local service with a few customers a week, a complete Google Business Profile with photos, services, hours and reviews may be all you need for now. Spend the money on getting that right first.

Use both

The strongest setup we see is both together: listings and a Business Profile that link to your own site, where the full catalogue, prices and contact details live. Every listing then sends trust to a page you own.

What a first site costs

Our Basic plan is ₹4,999 for up to five pages: home, products or services, about, contact and one more. Domain and hosting are billed at cost. It's enough to learn whether your own site brings enquiries, and it can grow into the 15-page plan or a catalogue later. See the plans.