Online business directories listings are an important element in a marketing strategy to make it easier for people to find your business on the internet. These directories directly impact your website domain popularity by increasing backlinks to your site, which in turn places you higher in search engine results and gets your business better online exposure.
Online Business Directories & Linking Strategies
This link building strategy is most effective when your business is placed in established and quality online business directories. Utilizing popular directories is the first step to improving online visibility, but your efforts should not stop there. Industry specific listings (and there are hundreds to choose from) assist those who already know they are seeking your product or service. Local directories help those in your city, region, or state find you with a location based search. General listing sites which allow you to add a business type or category are also a necessity, as they promote the key words associated with your industry.
Research is required to insure proper placement of your company information and website links. You need to determine if:
a) Is there traffic filtering through the directory?
b) Are there category choices relevant to your business?
c) Is the directory found on Google and Bing?
d) Are there guidelines for what types of businesses allowed to be listed?
In order to drive potential customers to your business through a link building strategy, they must be able to find your website easily with a professional presentation. Follow up to make sure your postings appear in a timely manner, monitor them periodically, and make changes as directories increase the fields displayed.
To show natural link growth to the search engines, directory listings should be introduced a few at a time along with building links in other ways. An organic link building profile consists of various types of links: blogs, other businesses, social sites, media, etc. Directories should not be your entire backlink strategy, but rather a base to build upon.
The time taking to research directories and enter your submissions will pay off in the long run by increasing search engine optimization (SEO) for your website and providing backlinks for your potential clients to follow. Remember - online business directories cannot be ignored and area critical part of local SEO in 2014.