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The Value of Online Business Directory in Promoting a Business

The great thing about local business directories is that it compiles essential details into one comprehensive business phone number resource book. For years, people were psyched into consulting the business directories when they failed to remember the office number of a company or the flower delivery shop. As living evidence to the pervasiveness and widespread usefulness of business directories is the popularity of the brand name Yellow Pages.

But now that internet and all things online are the fad, even business directories have to follow the trend. At the moment, there are many websites which are dedicated to the purpose of compiling contact information about businesses .i.e German Company Directory Listing. Basically, online local business directories Listing operate in the same way. The only difference lies on what medium is used and the ease to browse online business directories because of the search bar function which automatically searches the database for possible matches to your query.

Given the value of German Company Directory Listing in reminding people business phone numbers just in case they are needed, businesses must make sure that their business will be registered in various business directories. If a local, statewide business directory is available where your business operates then register your business in that business directory. Also, is applicable, get registered on a national business directory.

Benefit of Online Directories

All search engine optimization (SEO) experts will tell you that in order to have your websites appear highly in search engine results pages (SERPs), you need 'link' juice. Lots of link juice. This means you need as many high-quality backlinks pointing to your pages as possible.

There are many ways in which you can drive traffic to your websites, such as buying a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising package, posting free classified adverts... or making sure that your pages appear high up in search engine results pages (SERPs). Almost anyone will agree that the highest quality, most profitable traffic your website can receive comes from ordinary, every day searches - this is called organic traffic.

Why is organic traffic so important and profitable? Well, people arriving on your sites after searching for a keyword or keyword phrase are obviously already interested in the topic your page is about. If you're selling a product or service related to that search, organic traffic is worth it's weight in gold as these people are effectively free leads - I.E if they buy your product or service, that sale is to all intents and purposes 100% profit.

Of course, you could invest in a PPC campaign to guarantee you'll appear at the top of Google's pages for a specific keyword or keyword phrase, but many smaller websites just can't afford to compete with the big-boys, especially in more competitive niches. Sure you'll make sales from PPC, but what will your profit margins be like then? 10%? 5%? In fact many inexperienced webmasters, without the benefit of a large advertising budget (or even a dedicated advertising team, as in the case of large corporations) end up making a loss. This is why most webmasters who are working for themselves or for small companies look to driving organic traffic to their websites as the most cost effective solution to building their business online. In other words, they look to SEO.

The basics of SEO are simply to make your pages appear attractive to search engines, I.E. to have titles, subtitles and headings containing the keywords you are targeting, and to make sure that your content uses your keyword phrases as often as possible whilst still being attractive and useful to the human visitors you are obviously trying to attract. This is the very beginning.

In order to get your pages up to the top spots in SERPs you need lots of links pointing to your sites. This is because search engines 'think' that pages with lots of links pointing to them must be more 'important' (or relevant) than pages with fewer inbound links. Although it's a little more subtle than this in practice, in general terms, the more links pointing to your sites, the higher up in the SERPs your site will appear. Remember, if you don't appear in the top two or three pages for your targeted keywords, your site may as well not exist.

This is where directories come in. Online directories are big business. There are literally thousands of them, most general, some targeting specific niches. The best database of free online directories lists over 1300 of them, with more than 600 with a page rank of 3 or higher. Just imagine what 600 PR3+ backlinks would do to your site's (or sites') position in SERPs! Many directories offer a free submission service, with the option of paying a premium for a better listing, a quicker review time or to receive additional 'deep links'. Some charge a one-off flat fee for inclusion and offer a lifetime listing, others require that you place a link back to them somewhere on your site. They all allow you to post a short description and to choose the anchor text for your link. The traffic you will receive from directories is negligible, the point is to get links. Preferably lots of links.

Submitting to directories is tedious and time-consuming. Even if you pay for some kind of semi-automation software that auto-fills the fields for you, submitting your sites to directories is an immensely dull and time-consuming process. This is why many SEO companies offer directory submission services as part of their business.

Is Submitting Your Link In Online Directories a Good Idea?

A Secret Way of Getting Traffic: Submitting to Online Directories

If you are reading this article, more likely than not you own a website that you would like to see be a success. To achieve that level, you need traffic to your site. But where does traffic come from?

One of the better ways to get traffic for your site is to submit your site to the many directories that exist online. Online directories are similar to your phone book yellow pages: These directories are categorized (education, entertainment, health, etc.), and when you submit your website, you suggest a category for your website. Often, you will even be able to submit to a sub-category within a major category. For example, suppose your website is about aromatherapy.
In your submission request, you would suggest "Health" as your main category, "Alternative Medicine" as your sub-category, and "Aromatherapy" as a further sub-category.

Some of the leading online directories are Yahoo!, MSN Small Business, and the DMOZ directory. Unlike search engines, however, listings in online directories are usually not free. As of this writing, you can submit for free to the Yahoo! Directory (http://dir.yahoo.com), but there is not guarantee on how quickly your website will be reviewed for listing. If you need your site reviewed faster, you can pay Yahoo! $299 US for "expedited" service and they will review your site within seven days. However, this fee is a yearly recurring fee. Your website is subject to a yearly review, and is guaranteed neither initial inclusion or to remain listed year after year.

The MSN service is $49 US, and it functions more like a search engine submit service. Their submission service includes inclusion in their own small business directory. DMOZ, on the other hand, is free, but because it is operated by volunteers, it could be awhile before your site is included. Your best options are to submit to DMOZ and pay for the MSN and Yahoo! services.

But why should you spend money? Can't you just optimize your site for the search engines? You can, but not everyone goes to a search engine for what they are looking for. For example, if someone is searching for gourmet dog treats, they may not use a search engine. Instead, they might go to one of the online directories and look at the listings, much like someone would use the yellow pages in their phone book. Your investment in gaining inclusion in the online directories will pay off for you in a multitude of ways.

1. You will increase traffic to your site. Your site will be included in the online directories, as well as the search engines, and this will help you gain traffic as people search directory listings and find your website.

2. You will increase the number of backlinks to your site. If the directory pages are listed in search engines, the link they provide for your site will be listed in the search engines. This benefits you by creating more ways for people to find your site. Ultimately, this will provide more traffic for you.

3. Submitting to directories is a quick way to gain links. Optimizing your site for the search engines is very difficult and time-consuming.
It can take a lot of time to learn how to write for the search engines. In the meantime, any links you can get will help you with the search engines, and submitting to directories will get you links.

4. Submitting to directories is relatively inexpensive, and a good investment. As stated earlier, you can submit to Yahoo! and MSN for less than $350. DMOZ is free. If you run a search for online directories, you will find many more where you could submit inexpensively, or even for free.

In short, submitting to online directories is one of the best ways for you to build traffic to your website. In the end, you need traffic to survive online. So get started!

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