Listdom Business Data lets you review updated business details for existing directory listings and choose which changes to save. You can fill missing contact information, check a changed address, or refresh a previously linked record without replacing every field your team has edited.
The important decision happens before you apply anything: is this the right business, and is each proposed value appropriate for your directory? A record can have the correct brand name and still describe the wrong branch. This guide explains how to separate business matching, paid data retrieval, and selective updates into a manageable maintenance workflow.
Choose between enriching and refreshing
Open Listdom → Import / Export → Business Data. This workspace supports different tasks for existing listings:
| Your starting point | Use | Main decision |
|---|---|---|
| An existing listing without a saved Business Data link | Enrich Listings | Which business record belongs to this listing? |
| A listing already linked to a business record | Refresh Listings | Which current details should change? |
| A linked listing that appears to represent the wrong business | Match this listing again | Does another match describe the correct branch? |
Enrichment gives an existing record a business match and lets you review available details. Refresh retrieves details through an existing link. Neither means that Listdom continuously synchronizes every field in the background. You initiate the maintenance operation and decide what to apply.
If you need more listings, start with a plan for your first 100 directory listings. Then import new businesses as drafts so you can review the records before they go live.
Set a review rule before selecting a batch
Decide what counts as an acceptable correction. A new website address may be straightforward; a business reported as closed may need owner confirmation. Your team should know which values it can change from a business record and which require another source.
For example, a local food guide might accept an official branch phone number after checking the branch identity, but retain an editor’s category choice until someone reviews its fit. Write that distinction down. It prevents two administrators from applying different policies to similar records.
The broader directory data-quality workflow helps establish ownership, review frequency, and correction procedures. Here, keep the first maintenance batch small enough that you can inspect every match and reopened listing. A hundred selectable records is a technical limit, not a recommendation for your first review.
Connect the site and separate estimates from charges
Use Listdom → Webilia Connect to connect your website to its Webilia account. Business Data usage draws on separate Webilia Credits. It is not included simply because an unrelated paid add-on is active, and buying credits does not change your plugin’s feature license.
In the Business Data workspace, select the listings you intend to maintain. Selections can remain as you move through result pages; Select all applies to the current page. Check the overall selection rather than assuming the visible page is the entire operation. A maintenance selection can contain up to 100 listings.
Choose Estimate credits for that selection. Treat the estimate as information about the proposed retrieval, not as a payment or saved update. If you change the selected records, estimate again. Do not calculate maintenance costs from an import-search rate: maintenance has its own usage calculation.
Fetch Business Data and review retrieves the records and consumes the applicable usage. Saving selected fields is a later decision. You may pay for a retrieval and then correctly choose to skip a poor match; skipping does not turn the retrieval into a free preview. The Webilia Credits page explains the separate usage balance.
Confirm the business before comparing its fields
For an unlinked listing, begin with enough identifying information to find a useful candidate. A clear business name together with an address or coordinates is more dependable than a generic name alone. Correct obviously incomplete identifying information before starting a larger enrichment batch.
In the review, inspect Business match. Compare branch address, location, and identity before using an attractive-looking phone number or website. Consider this hypothetical example:
| Directory listing | Candidate | Review decision |
|---|---|---|
| Cedar Café, Riverside Road | Cedar Café, Riverside Road | Continue comparing fields |
| Cedar Café, Riverside Road | Cedar Café, Central Station | Reject the branch match |
| Cedar Café, Riverside Road | Cedar Catering, Industrial Estate | Reject the business identity |
The same brand does not establish the same branch. A central booking number may be shared, while an address and operating status are branch-specific. When the available candidates do not establish a reliable identity, choose Skip this listing rather than forcing a match to complete the batch.
If a previously linked listing looks wrong, investigate the link itself. Match this listing again is useful when the existing association no longer represents the intended business. Repeatedly refreshing an incorrect association only gives you newer information about the wrong place.
Review current and proposed values field by field
The comparison presents your listing’s current values and the retrieved Business Data values, with Apply selections controlling what will be written. Review those selections even when empty fields are already selected for convenience.
Available details can include phone, email, website, address, coordinates, social links, categories, brand, and operating status. Not every business record supplies every field. A blank or uncertain source value is not a reason to discard a useful editorial value.
Here is an illustrative review policy for a neighborhood guide:
| Field | Current listing | Retrieved detail | Sensible next action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone | Empty | Branch number | Confirm the branch, then select Apply |
| Website | Owner-confirmed branch page | Generic brand homepage | Keep the more useful current page |
| Address | Old street address | Different street address | Check whether the branch moved before applying |
| Category | Carefully curated local category | Broader provider category | Keep or remap after editorial review |
| Operating status | Open | Reported closed | Investigate and decide the publication response |
These are editorial examples, not universal acceptance rules. A directory whose owners maintain their own contact information may need a different process from an administrator-maintained city guide. What matters is that a fresh source value is a proposal to assess, not automatic proof that your current value is wrong.
Address and coordinates deserve a joint check. Updating a street address while retaining an incompatible map location can make directions confusing. Inspect the saved public listing after a location change rather than judging the result only from the comparison screen.
Use shared rules deliberately
For a batch, Shared refresh rule → Review fields individually keeps the decisions explicit. It is a useful starting point when records have different levels of editorial care.
Select empty fields across batch can help when you are filling omissions. You still need to confirm business identity and check the proposed values. Empty does not mean safe: a wrong branch’s phone number remains wrong even when the current field is blank.
Select chosen field types across batch is useful when your task is narrowly defined, such as reviewing websites across a collection. Understand what the selection does: it can select replacements in fields that already contain values. It is not merely a filter that hides irrelevant fields.
After changing a shared rule, inspect several affected listings, including one with existing editorial data. If you cannot explain what will happen to that record, return to individual field review before applying the batch. Broad rules save repetitive clicks only when the underlying decisions are already sound.
Apply changes, then inspect the actual listing
Choose Apply selected changes after reviewing the matches and selected values. Read the outcome rather than treating a finished operation as proof that every selected listing changed. Skipped records and records with no accepted differences need separate interpretation.
Reopen a changed listing in WordPress. Confirm the fields that were supposed to change, then inspect the public page for contact links, maps, categories, and status wording. Check an important field that you intended to preserve as well. That verifies both halves of selective maintenance: accepting the correction and retaining the useful existing content.
A reported closure does not automatically unpublish or delete the listing. Decide how your directory handles closed businesses, whether visitors need an explanatory notice, and whether an owner should be contacted. Keeping a useful historical page and removing an unsuitable active result are different editorial choices.
Once a business association is saved, later work can use Refresh Listings. Preserve a brief team note for consequential corrections, especially branch moves or identity changes. The operational history is useful, but it does not replace the reasoning behind an editorial decision.
Handle skipped or interrupted work without guessing
Locked or ineligible listings may be skipped. A business association may also conflict with another listing. Review the specific outcome before retrying. Changing the selection repeatedly will not solve a record that first needs an identity or editing conflict resolved.
If work is interrupted, use Resume remaining batches when offered. Recognized results from the earlier paid retrieval may be recoverable without charging for those results again. That recovery is not an unlimited guarantee: if the saved retrieval has expired, follow the message and reassess the cost of fetching fresh data.
Use History to review recent maintenance operations; it retains the latest 50 such operations. Recent search history is a separate feature with its own limit and retention period. Do not assume a search entry proves that a particular field was applied to an existing listing.
For exact maintenance controls and recovery details, keep the Business Data enrichment and refresh guide available while processing the first batch.
Turn refreshes into a useful maintenance routine
Prioritize records whose inaccuracies would cause a visitor to fail: wrong branch contact information, outdated addresses, or misleading operating status. Then work through less urgent omissions. A scheduled review process is more useful than repeatedly refreshing the largest possible selection without a clear acceptance rule.
Current, coherent business facts also matter when search systems or AI assistants interpret a directory. A machine-readable record containing an old address still communicates an old address. Improving the underlying facts makes your directory a better source, but refreshing data does not guarantee a ranking, citation, or recommendation.
Start with one reviewed group, confirm the saved results, and refine your policy before expanding. The goal is a directory people can act on with confidence, with each accepted correction traceable to a considered decision.
FAQ
What is the difference between Enrich Listings and Refresh Listings?
Enrichment helps match an existing unlinked listing to a business record and review its details. Refresh uses a saved business association to retrieve current details. If the association is wrong, match the listing again before accepting more changes.
Will refreshing overwrite all my edited listing fields?
You choose which fields to apply. Review the Apply selections and any shared rule carefully, because selecting field types across a batch can select replacements for existing values.
Does estimating credits update or charge for the listings?
No. The estimate describes proposed usage. Fetching Business Data is the paid retrieval step; applying selected field changes happens afterward.
What should I do if the correct business is unclear?
Skip the listing and investigate its name, branch address, and other identifying details. A plausible-looking result is not enough to establish the right business association.
Does a closed-business result remove my listing automatically?
No. Review the status and decide how your directory should handle it. Updating business details and changing publication status are separate decisions.
Can I recover an interrupted refresh?
Use Resume remaining batches when available. Recognized earlier results may be restored, but expired retrievals can require fresh data. Read the recovery message before repeating a paid fetch.
