Web Business Directories

Are phone book advertisements a thing of the past? There is a wide range of websites ready, willing and able to list information about your business to help you connect with your target market via the web. Compared to phone book advertisements, web business listing directories allow you more flexibility to make changes at any time to reflect current business needs.

Many directories will provide basic listings for free. Even paid listings, which allow you to provide more information to showcase your business can be much more affordable than phone book advertisements. Business listing sites may also include consumer reviews, maps, local events and other related information.

Considerations

• Types of Business Listing Websites
  • Geographic Area Focus

    While many listing sites include businesses throughout an entire country, they try to provide a local feel by adding other information like local events and local news. There are also city or region specific sites.

  • Niche or Industry Focus

    These sites focus on providing business listings in one industry or niche. There are niche directories for nearly any type of business. TechShortcut.com fits into this category for technology service providers.

  • Consumer Review Focus:

    Reviews of businesses by consumers.

• Reputation Management

  Even if you decide not to add your business profile it may already be included in directories since many business records are made public. Since many business directories include reviews it is a good idea to check periodically to ensure that all reviews are accurate.

• Visitors

  Ultimately it is the number of visitors and what they are searching for that will determine how much visibility you may gain.

Features

• Profile Page

  A profile page will allow you to provide key information about your business and link back to your company website.

• Banner Ads

  Banner ads may be purchased to be displayed based on search criteria or categories.

• Search Engine Submission

  While a directory cannot guarantee search engine inclusion of your profile, they can post your business profile to increase the odds.