Web Directories were a lot easier in the early days of SEO. The Google Algorithm was a lot easier and ranking depended on fewer factors. Well, if your site was listed on a ton of online directories, it must be pretty good! That’s how the algorithm viewed it at least. The number of directory links influenced how well your site ranked in SERPs. But, where do web directories stand today? As time went by, Google’s algorithm got a lot more complex and while links were still one of the top ranking signals, Google no longer viewed the links equally. The links were then analysed for high quality and relevant sites or not that great sites.
Web directories are not completely meaningless though, here are a few directories to make your SEO efforts worth their while. Directories are now seen as a source of traffic and trust. It’s a means to maintain local citations.
BOTW: Best Of The Web (BOTW) is one of the most trusted web directory since 1994. It has more than 16 million businesses listed with 40,000 – 60,000 visits per month.
ABOUTUS: Originally a business domain directory, ABOUT US allows websites to be listed and has 200,000 monthly visitors, on average.
SPOKE.COM: This is an online directory for finding and discussing business people, companies, news and more. 1.4 million Companies and 5 million people are listed on the site and it has over 80,000 monthly visitors.
BLOGARAMA: It features over 153,000 blog listings. You can plug in your RSS feed and Blogarama auto-updates your listing with your latest posts. It receives between 110,000 to 230,000 visitors monthly.
GOOGLE MY BUSINESS: Google’s business directory is the Grandpa directory of the web. Having a Google listing definitely helps your business show up in search results for relevant searches.
BING PLACES: This is the Microsoft version of Google My Business. While only about 6% of the world uses Bing, it’s useful to have a listing there.
YELP: Yelp is a review site for local businesses. It has 211 million reviews and 35 million monthly mobile app users.
FOURSQUARE: Foursquare provides listings for local businesses. It lists 2 million of the businesses and is visited by 20 million people monthly.
YELLOW PAGES: This is the traditional Yellow Pages – the booklet that used to arrive at your doorstep – now digital. It is beyond listings. It has advertising options too and helps conversions. It has 60 million people visiting every month and 91% of whom contact a business within 24 hours.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: It’s around since 1998 and lists all the local businesses. It has 2 million business members, and 450,000 and 600,000 monthly traffic.
HOT FROG: Businesses, sole practitioners, and anyone doing business with a physical address can list on Hot Frog for free. It has 20,000 listed businesses and 1.6 million visitors per month.
SUPERPAGES: Businesses can list here easily with basic information and photos. It has 1 million monthly visitors.
MERCHANT CIRCLE: This directory has all kinds of merchants and contractors. It has 2 million businesses listed with 100 million monthly visits.
B2B YELLOW PAGES: this site is also from the 1990’s and has 16 million businesses listed with 300,000 visits per month.
eLOCAL: This is a local business directory to find doctors, contractors and other businesses. It has 85,000 monthly visitors.
DEX KNOWS: Another directory to find sole practitioners and local businesses. It has 200,000 monthly visitors.
ALIGNABLE: This is a small business network. It helps small businesses connect and collaborate with each other. It has 4.5 million members and 4 million monthly visits.
LOCAL.COM: Local.com has over 100,000 local businesses and 4 million monthly visitors.
A listing on any of these directories will mean that you get local citation and can be found by the large number of visitors they get per month! Business directories still work!
