These days, online business directories seem like an ancient idea that offer no real value to your business, because no one visits these sites, right? Everyone goes to Google for a solution, right? Mostly, yes, but that doesn’t mean that you should not post your business on link directories. Let’s look at why.
Exposure of Your Brand & Website
Contrary to the common perception, a brand can actually get exposure from a directory, even though this is not the main reason for listing on directories. Many people do go to Google, but there are still people who have a preference for a particular directory. Nonetheless, I am not going to spend a lot of time on this, because the real reasons for posting your business on a directory is not for the immediate exposure.
Links to Your Site
One of the most beneficial reasons to list on directories is the links that you will get to your site. Many people utilize business directories to get links back to your site and it can be quite effective. Google is looking at your site and analyzing the links that point to your site as “social credit” and it if you have good links pointing back, you can benefit. Many directories, like this one, have the ability to send good SEO credit your way by listing on it.
Another factor, is that we run a blog and a directory side-by-side. This means that Google views us as a source of information, not simply a list of websites! This is a huge difference from a typical business directory, where everyone just throws their web address in there. Having contextual articles that give value to users is a much better website to get a link from.
Diversity in Your Link Portfolio
Another reason to add your business to online directories is that you can diversify your link profile from your competition. Google looks at your competition’s links and if you have a different one, it may look at your site more favorably, or at least slightly different. Besides, no one likes a copy cat!
Let me say this, “your website backlinks should not be comprised of only directory links.” That’s right, I said it. Directory links are not the only type of links that you should have…but you should have some, and you should be consistently adding directory links to your backlink profile.
Stop in and add your business listing today!