Justdial, IndiaMART and Sulekha Listing Tips That Work

By Neha·Published October 19, 2026

Most Indian businesses already have a Justdial page, often one they never made. It was created from public data, it shows an old phone number, and the enquiries it gets go nowhere. The same is true on IndiaMART and Sulekha, where half-filled profiles sit at the bottom of every category.

These Justdial listing tips, and the matching ones for IndiaMART and Sulekha, are about fixing that for free before you spend a rupee on a paid plan.

Short answer: Claim your listing, use your real business name, pick the most specific category, add real photos, hours and services, and copy your name, address and phone exactly as they appear on your Google Business Profile. Reply to reviews and answer enquiries within minutes. Justdial suits local shops and services, IndiaMART suits manufacturers and wholesalers, and Sulekha suits home and personal services. Pay only once the free listing is complete.

Which directory suits which business?

Pick the directory where your customers actually search, not all of them at once. Each of the three has a different kind of buyer.

A dental clinic in Indore belongs on Justdial first. A steel fabrication unit in Rajkot belongs on IndiaMART. A painting contractor in Hyderabad can use both Justdial and Sulekha, because people find home services on both.

If you are not sure which other sites matter for your trade, the Business Listing Tracker is a checklist of 47 Indian and global listing sites filtered by business type. It links to each site and tracks which listings are live, but it does not create them for you. You still sign up on each site yourself, so the login stays with you.

How do you claim and complete your listing?

Search for your business on the directory first. If a page already exists, claim it rather than making a second one, because duplicates split your reviews and confuse customers. Claiming usually means verifying with an OTP or a call to the business phone.

Once you can log in, fill in everything the profile offers. A complete listing is the single biggest free improvement:

1. Business name. Exactly what is on your signboard and GST certificate. "Sharma Dental Clinic", not "Sharma Dental Best Dentist Indore Vijay Nagar".
2. Category. The most specific one that fits, plus related extra categories if the directory allows them.
3. Address and pin code. Complete, with the map pin dragged to your real entrance.
4. Phone and WhatsApp. A number someone actually answers during working hours.
5. Hours. Every day, including your weekly holiday.
6. Services or products. A clear list, with prices where you are comfortable sharing them.
7. Description. Two or three plain sentences: what you do, for whom, in which area.
8. Photos. Real ones, covered in the next section.

The Directory Listing Scorecard turns this into 21 yes-or-no questions. You open your listing in another tab, answer what you see, and get a score out of 100 with fixes in order of importance. It does not read the directory for you, so nothing you enter leaves your browser.

Why do categories matter so much?

The category decides which searches you appear in. Get it wrong and you are either invisible or flooded with enquiries you cannot serve.

On Justdial, a physiotherapist listed only under "Hospitals" competes with large hospitals and misses people searching for physiotherapy at home. On IndiaMART, the product category decides which buyer requirements reach you, so a packaging box maker listed under a broad "Packaging Material" heading gets fewer relevant requests than one listed under "Corrugated Boxes". On Sulekha, the service category decides which job requests you are matched to.

A simple way to choose: search the directory the way a customer would, for example "AC repair in Wakad, Pune". Look at which categories the top listings use. Pick the most specific one that truly describes you, and add the broader ones as extras.

Keep your main category in line with your main category on Google. They do not need identical wording, since each site has its own list, but a bakery should not be a "Caterer" on one site and a "Sweet Shop" on another unless it really is both.

What photos and reviews should a listing have?

Photos and reviews are what a stranger uses to decide between you and the next listing. A profile with no photos and three old reviews looks closed, even when it is not.

Photos that help:

• The shop front or office entrance, so people recognise it when they arrive.
• The inside of the shop, clinic or workshop, clean and well lit.
• Your actual products, work samples or before-and-after jobs.
• On IndiaMART, a clear photo for each product, on a plain background, with the product filling most of the frame.

Avoid stock photos and images with heavy text on them. Customers can tell, and it makes the rest of the listing feel less trustworthy.

Reviews: ask happy customers to review you on the directory where they found you, just as you would on Google. Reply to every review, including the bad ones, calmly and briefly. The same rules apply as for Google reviews: no fake reviews, no paying for them, no reviews from staff or family. Our guide on how to get more Google reviews covers how to ask without breaking rules, and most of it works on directories too.

Why must your name, address and phone match Google?

Because customers and Google both compare them. When your Justdial page says one phone number and your Google listing says another, customers call the wrong one, and Google becomes less sure the two listings describe the same business.

This idea has a name in local search: NAP, which stands for Name, Address and Phone. Small formatting differences such as "Rd" and "Road" matter little. A different phone digit, an old address or a wrong pin code matters a lot.

Here is the habit that works:

1. Treat your Google Business Profile as the master copy.
2. Write your name, address and phone once, in one exact format.
3. Copy that same text into Justdial, IndiaMART, Sulekha, Facebook and your website.
4. When anything changes, such as a new number or a shop move, update every listing in the same week.

The NAP Consistency Checker makes step 3 easy to verify. Paste the name, address and phone from each listing and it shows which ones disagree and the single version to use everywhere. It only compares what you paste. It does not look anything up on Google or the directories.

If your shop does not appear on Maps at all, fix that first. Our guide on why a business is not showing on Google Maps walks through the usual causes.

How fast should you answer directory enquiries?

As fast as you can, ideally within minutes during working hours. Directories often pass the same enquiry to several businesses, and the customer usually goes with whoever calls back first.

Practical ways to keep up:

• Turn on notifications in the directory's own app on the phone of whoever handles enquiries.
• Save a reply template for the questions you get every day: price range, area served, timings.
• Add a WhatsApp number if the directory allows it, so customers can message outside working hours. A WhatsApp link with a ready message makes it easy for them to start the chat.
• Answer every call on the listed number, or forward it to someone who will.

On IndiaMART, buyers also post requirements called BuyLeads, which sellers can view and respond to. Paid sellers get a fixed number of BuyLeads each week, so reacting to the relevant ones quickly is part of getting value from a plan.

Free vs paid: what do the paid plans actually buy?

All three directories let you list for free. The paid plans mainly buy more visibility inside that directory and more enquiries, not a different kind of listing. A paid plan on a half-filled profile is mostly wasted money.

Here is what each one charges for, as of October 2026:

IndiaMART is the only one of the three that publishes prices. Its paid services help page lists the Mini Dynamic Catalog at ₹40,000 for one year, TrustSEAL Pro at ₹60,000 and Maximiser Pro at ₹85,000, with IM Star Pro and IM Leader Pro priced on request. Its BuyLead allocation page shows how many BuyLeads per week each plan gets, from 7 on the monthly Mini Dynamic Catalog to 40 on IM Leader Pro. Check the page again before you pay, and ask whether GST is extra, because plan names and prices change.

Before buying any paid plan, ask three questions:

1. How many enquiries did my free listing get last month? If the answer is almost none, fix the listing first.
2. What is one new customer worth to me? If a plan costs ₹40,000 a year and one order earns you ₹5,000 profit, you need at least eight extra orders a year just to break even.
3. Is the pressure real? Do not buy because a sales call says your free listing will disappear or drop. Ask for that in writing.

Frequently asked questions

Is a Justdial listing free?

Yes. You can list or claim your business on Justdial without paying. The free listing shows your name, address, phone, hours, photos and reviews. Paid packages buy higher placement inside Justdial search and more enquiries, and they are priced by a sales executive based on your city and category. Complete the free listing first, then judge whether a paid package is worth it from the enquiries it brings.

Which is better for my business, Justdial or IndiaMART?

It depends on who your buyers are. Justdial is built for local consumers looking for a nearby shop or service, so it suits clinics, salons, restaurants and repair services. IndiaMART is built for business buyers looking for suppliers and bulk quotes, so it suits manufacturers, wholesalers and traders. Some businesses, such as a furniture maker that sells to homes and offices, can benefit from both.

Do directory listings help my Google ranking?

They help in two indirect ways. Directory pages often appear on Google for local searches, which gives you a second chance to be found. And when your name, address and phone match across well-known directories and your Google Business Profile, Google can be more confident your business is real and where you say it is. They will not replace a complete, active Google listing.

Should I add keywords to my business name on Justdial?

No. A name like "Sharma Dental Best Dentist Indore" looks like an advert, does not match your signboard and does not match your Google listing. That mismatch works against you. Keep the name exactly as it appears on your signboard and documents, and put your services and area in the category, services list and description instead.

Why do I get calls from Justdial salespeople after listing?

Directories earn most of their money from paid plans, so sales calls after you list or claim a page are common. Listen if you are curious, but do not decide on the call. Ask for the plan details, price and any promises in writing, compare them with the enquiries your free listing already brings, and only then decide.