Technology - Internet
The Importance of Web Directories in 2017
The internet is the marketing playfield of the era. How do you safeguard
that marketing dollars spent on the internet pay for themselves?
"The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the
product or services fit and sells itself", professes, Peter Drucker.
Let us explore the topic from the perspective of ‘product or services fit and
sells itself' in the era of internet marketing.
How to establish a digital reach to the client/customer?
The paradigm of Digital Marketing empowers you to reach millions of
prospects. But then, there are thousands of businesses contending for the same
‘slice of cake’.
How can you differentiate yourself and how can you assure the conversions?
The answer lies in appropriate keywords, web-directory listings, and SEO
(Search Engine Optimization).
For increasing visibility and sales conversions, the SEO must revolve around
listings on as many web-directories. This itself becomes the first step towards
SEO.
Search Engine and Web-directories – Are they the same?
Take an example of your smart phone to establish, how they are different
and their interdependency.
In your smart phone when you go to the contacts and look-up from the
alphabetical list or groups, you are finding the name that is listed. In essence, you
are picking the name and contact through a directory listing.
In case you enter a few characters of the name, then you are performing a
search for the name. Hence, using the ‘search function' of the smartphone.
Thereby, a web-directory is a listing of websites or web pages or businesses
under predefined categories. Specific web-directories may choose to catalog a
unique category of businesses only. For example, it may choose to list all the
health practitioners in the US.
Whereas, a search engine is a software which searches the internet,
including web-directories, based on your search input. This is accomplished using
robots (or bots) called spiders. They crawl the web for the individual as well as
combination of the search words entered.
Another difference is that the search-engines perform their crawling
automatically. However, the web-directories are created manually, by listing in
the appropriate category.
Search engine friendly web directories
The directories by themselves may from categories like regional, general,
niche, business, etc.
It is imperative to base your strategic and planning efforts on pinpointing
the web-directories. This step would ensure that your business (for example) is
listed in a reputed web-directory. Moreover, this planning ensures no frugal
spending of time or money on non-reputed (or defunct) web-directories. Relevant
traffic and sales conversions, accrue as the result.
Another complimentary benefit is that as the search crawls through the
web, you are likely to fair high on the related searches.
Thomas Huxley said, and we quote, "Try to learn something about
everything and everything about something". Going by the idiom, it is best to list
your business on as many web-directories as possible.
Registering on web-directories having listings specific to your business is
imperative. For example, if you are an e-commerce retailer, do list your business
on shopping related web-directories like shopping.com, Shopzilla etc.
Do use Google+ to post your blogs and other postings. Alexa, is one of the
preferred destination of google crawlers, do register there as well. And listing on
web-directories like Yahoo must also be on the top of your SEO list.
The financial options available for registering on web-directories are the
banner exchange, listing in the affiliate program, etc.
Other benefits of web-directories – Some Pointers:
Google is the most used search engine. It retained that position owing to
the innovation and improving its rating matrices.
Along with the registration on web-directories and the SEO thereof. It is
imperative to be abreast of the policies and the rating parameters deployed by
Google. You may interpret this statement as ‘If Google is doing, the rest will follow
the suit'.
A few key points to consider once you have registered on reputed webdirectories are:
-
Policies on backlinks
-
Current Google Page Rating of your page
-
Google Ranking Factor and policies
And finally, remember it is the quality of content that would drive more traffic to
your site. Users would throng to your website if they find the content informative
and useful.