Posted on Friday, 11th April 2008 by NWeS Admin
There is a new Internet trend – search domination by the major directory sites. For someone in search marketing this can be intimidating at first, but it actually presents a nice opportunity that can be put to work for you.
Proof in the pudding?
Search for anything – which sites come up? You will see a very common denominator, directory websites such as:
- DexKnows.com - SuperPages.com - YellowPages.com - CitySearch.com - InsiderPages.com - Local.Yahoo.com - Maps.Google.com - Yelp.com - ThinkLocal.com - AboutUs.org - MagicYellow.com - 411.com - Addresses.com - Switchboard.com - Cityvoter.com - Local.com
Is your business listed on these websites?
Can you affordably compete with them for keyword placement? Probably not. The good thing for you is that the point of these sites is to list your business information on their website! Your profile on their site can link to your website and allow your clients to let the world know how you’re doing through comments and ratings. This is a real opportunity.
How do you take advantage? Get listed.
What are the benefits?
First, by listing you link these very popular index sites to your website. These links can create a considerable Search Engine Optimization boost – providing a chance for you to elevate your position for key terms and business products and services.
Second, no matter where your clients find you, they will know you are loved by the comments people leave you. Directory sites are the new century’s phonebooks, and are even interactive.
Third, your clients will be able to find your business:
- no matter where they start their search (Google, Yahoo, Dexknows.com)
- and no matter where their search takes them (YellowPages.com, SuperPages.com, Citysearch, et al).
If they end up at your website GREAT! If they call you before they get there, ok! Make sure you are listed so your potential clients can find you, find your website and read positive client reviews. With positive comments, every person that finds you becomes a referral before they even contact you. With a comments page on your website, we can transpose your client comments to the major directory sites so that no matter which site they find you at, your reputation precedes you.
Get listed. Let your reputation precede you.
20 years ago a business couldn’t survive without being in the phone book. Now a business can’t survive without attractive Internet listings – without being visible.
The major directory sites are THE NEW PHONE BOOKS.
The Directory Site Listing Service is a one-time $350 that will get you:
- Organic Search Engine Listings
- Search Engine Optimization benefits
- An Expanded Reputation
Example
This here is our first client whom is fully listed, and it looks as though there was a significant increase in business exposure. This client had been advertising with us on Craigslist, Willamette Week and Citysearch for months – then we listed him on the major Internet directories in February. We didn’t have metrics set up with this client, so we can’t tell how many of these new unique visitors were from his directory listing, but everything else remained constant.
|
Month |
Unique visitors |
Number of visits |
Pages |
Hits |
Bandwidth |
* Seasonal tendencies and other factors may have affected these results; they may not be representative of what will occur for you with a Directory Site Listing service. |
|
Jan 2008 |
201 |
299 |
2398 |
41331 |
480.98 MB |
|
|
Feb 2008 |
205 |
307 |
2027 |
40845 |
511.99 MB |
|
|
Mar 2008 |
395 |
463 |
2791 |
43025 |
499.89 MB |
Metrics are very important in order to measure marketing ROI. It is a good idea to add a phone number that forwards to your main line, in order to see exactly how many calls come through your marketing efforts. We can also use a specific referring link to see how many click-throughs occur.
Our expectation is that results will build over time as more comments are made on your various profiles and as those profiles and your site make their way up the organic listings.
It can be very difficult to get new clients in a slow economy with no advertising. We want to help you get through a potential tough patch by helping you to be positioned appropriately.
Get listed. Let your reputation precede you.
Tags: Directory Site Listing Service, Internet Phone Books
Posted in Internet Marketing Portland, Portland Web Services | Comments (4)
October 1st, 2008 at 6:08 pm
[...] - NWeSource can provide a links to utilize these free listings – or we can place your company information ourselves with our Internet Directory Site Listing Service [...]
March 31st, 2009 at 11:26 pm
The phone books are SO DEAD… good read. I can’t wait for you to get my site up! Talk soon…
April 6th, 2009 at 3:30 am
[...] are running an Internet Phone Book Listing Special for $350 that will list you in the major directories so that your clients can find you! Read the [...]
April 10th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Great points, I wrote a little how-to for the Google Maps and Yahoo Local since they’re always synthetically at the top of the results for anything local.
http://www.vanivo.com/articles/2009/03/how-to-use-google-maps-and-yahoo-local-to-grow-your-business/
Nice to know our competition is getting it right too