When starting a new Chamber marketing is a top priority. Getting listed in a national Chamber of Commerce Directory such as USChamberDirectory.com will give you an online presence for out of state visitors. However, local map and directory listings will help people near and far find your business. Which one should you have? Both of course. Just as a new business would want to gain as much online exposure as possible so should a Chamber of Commerce.
In fact, a Chamber of Commerce Directory can only improve your credibility in search engines as a Chamber, while local citations will give you regional relevance. Both are required to be successful online. This is important because most people are not going to have a Chamber phone number saved in their cell phone or have a website URL memorized. They are just going to search it on Google, Yelp, or a Chamber of Commerce Directory.
Another benefit of a Chamber of Commerce Directory is the actual like to your website. Directories typically carry a lot of link juice for SEO purposes. In addition, there is the relevance factor that is also a key factor and differentiates from a standard business directory. While a standard business directory also carries weight as a link, it may only be relevant by a generalizes category. One example of this is "professional services", it may be the most appropriate category but won't display the niche relevance required by search engines. To get listed in a niche-specific directory you may have to do some searching and research, there also may be a fee associated with a "do follow" link.