How to Improve Your Chances of Getting Your Listing Approved

Every listing submitted to Directory.com.au is reviewed by a real person before it appears in the directory. That's deliberate: it's why the directory stays useful, and why a listing here carries weight. Here is what our moderators actually check — and how to pass review the first time.

1. Use your real, verifiable business details

The fastest path to approval is consistency: the business name, address and phone number on your listing should match what appears on your website and your ABN registration. Listings with PO boxes as their only address, virtual numbers that ring out, or names stuffed with keywords ("Best Cheap Plumber Sydney Emergency 24/7") are declined.

2. Write a genuine description — not an ad

You have up to 350 words. Use them to explain what you do, who you serve and what makes your business different. Write in plain sentences. ALL-CAPS, lists of suburbs, phone numbers repeated through the text and competitor comparisons all read as spam to a moderator.

3. Pick the category that actually fits

Choose the category a customer would look in — not the busiest one. A listing in the wrong category helps nobody and will be moved or declined.

4. Link to a working website

Moderators visit every website submitted. Broken links, parked domains and sites that clearly belong to a different business are the single most common rejection reason.

5. One listing per business

Duplicate submissions — the same business under multiple names or categories — are removed entirely, not merged. If you operate genuinely distinct businesses, list each once.

6. If you're rejected, fix and resubmit

Rejections come with a reason. Edit your listing from your account dashboard and resubmit — corrected listings are reviewed again, usually faster.

Approval takes up to seven business days for free listings; Verified and Featured listings are reviewed with priority. Start your submission here.