Internet directories are often overlooked by webmasters because many of them deliver only little traffic. However, link directories offer many benefits to webmasters that are interested in getting more visitors.
Of course, one benefit of an Internet directory listing is that you'll get visitors directly from the directory. Another benefit is that a listing in an Internet directory also means that you get a link from a related web page.
With all the shuffling that's been seen in the search engine world within the last year, the issue of obvious optimizing has become a hot button. The current line of thinking is that most engines (especially Google) are on the lookout for sites that purposely make an effort to optimize their pages in order to get high rankings. While this theory has not been proven, I agree that obvious optimization is not a good thing. Not exclusively because of what Google might think, but because of what your site visitors might think.
Directory marketing can help boost your companies performance a great deal. Not only will you get qualified leads for your business, your web site will also increase it's traffic ranking a tremendous amount.
Here are a couple basic advantages to online directories :
Substantial staying power
Repetitive marketing
Your listing grows with the entire site
No updating unless necessary
Not necessary to link back to the directory
Please Note: This article is meant to discuss and implement marketing strategies for local business directories online, not link exchange, a.k.a swapping links with other websites.
Since search algorithms are just programs without intelligence they must rely upon the intelligence of humans to structure their search results.
Some search engines such as Google make it extremely rewarding for a webmaster to list their site in many different directories. Building links from many different websites from different IP ranges meshes your site into the fabric of the web.
Listing your site in a few dozen directories also strengthens your websites relevancy and position. If some of your more powerful links are not indexed for one reason or another your site can still be considered relevant by search engines on many topics based on the fact that you have inbound links from many different IP ranges.
Localized search engine optimization is often overlooked as an excellent tool to bring in local traffic to your website. By including local information in your tags and web pages, you help prospective customers find specific information on the area and business they are searching for.
What Is Localized Search Engine Optimization?
Localized search engine optimization is the addition of local search terms to your tags and web pages. For example, if you work in Sonoma County, California and are targeting local or state visitors, be sure to include "Sonoma County" and "California" in your tags and in the text on your page. This way when searchers look for services in Sonoma County, California in the search engines, your website will have a better chance of showing up in the search engine results.
We all hate e-mail spam, right? I even have the coolest software program that will help you combat spam and actually bounces the spam e-mail straight back to the user. (http://www.mailwasher.net)
However, one thing that we often fail to admit (except in private) is the importance of permission e-mail marketing, where the members of your mailing list have given you permission to contact them, or where they're past customers of yours. Obviously, these e-mail lists are always opt-out, so if someone chooses not to continue receiving information from you, they can easily get removed from the list.
Improving the link popularity of your web site helps you to get higher search engine rankings. (Not sure what "link popularity" is? Read our link popularity course.)
A good way to increase the link popularity of your web site is to contact other webmasters. Nowadays, webmasters get many link exchange email messages so it's more difficult to get noticed.
Do the following things to make sure that webmasters reply to your link exchange request:
Question : I need some urgent help and advice. I have a site that has been a PR5 for several months as a result of a links building campaign that I have been successfully running. Since I understand the importance of getting quality links, I have carefully selected only good partners, avoiding link farms and nothing networks. Recently, I was shocked to notice that my site's home page shows a PR0. It seems that it has been penalized for some reason. I get a feeling that one of my competitors may have caused this to happen by submitting my site to nothing networks or link farms or just spam - submitted my site to Google. How can I get my site's PR restored?
We all know that the search engines can't 'see' or 'read' the graphics on our pages. We also know that we need to provide text on a page, so the spiders will have something to crawl and index.
After all, we have to prove to the search engines without a shadow of a doubt that our pages are about what we say or claim they're about if we want to achieve top rankings. That's why I believe so strongly in focusing each page on one single keyword phrase only. As soon as a spider hits a page, I want the spider to know exactly what that page is about.
But, many sites out there are graphic intense, often by virtue of their very nature. The sites may sell prints, wallpaper, pictures, graphics, or posters. Or, the sites may sell hats, for example, so that each page is full of pictures of a particular type of hat.
The following tips are just a few of the things I do as examples of setting my service apart from the crowd. In general, the weakest areas in the Internet Marketing and Web Development business, are "Customer Communications" and "Customer Service." Set your effort towards learning to deliver "excellence" in both customer service and communication, and you'll have distinct advantages over many other competitors. These tips are based on the tried and true method of "under promising and over delivering."