Q5. In your opinion what are the main benefits of using web directories?
| 143392151 | They improve my business’ local visibility, though they are massive, web directories have advanced filtering and suggesting capabilities, and serve to connect you with your target audience. As a local business, directories are beneficial because they make your business visible to your local community. |
| 143391597 | They increase brand awareness and they also improve the business’s visibility. I also think another benefit is that they strengthen the business’s reputation while also boosting the SEO. |
| 143391576 | I think it’s good to spread the word through a wide variety of means, including directories. I like niche directories because I believe they serve their audience better. |
| 143391545 | People are looking in a specific location for exactly what they want. It’s easier to target the right customer. |
| 143391541 | I feel like it is still such a great way for it to affect rankings. Or at least help boost with your rankings |
| 143391087 | it shows up google, it also amplify my online presence together with improving my local visibility. and it also helps for being discovered more |
| 143390964 | These days, there is so much going on on the internet that it is so easy to get lost in the maze. Using web directories helps cut out the noise. They are demographic and target market channeled already. Unlike most sites on social media, web directories are filtered to cater to only the relevant subject or topic. |
| 143390823 | The main benefits of using web directories are promoting my online presence, getting new customers and also the improvement of my visibility overall. |
| 143390668 | I think one of the main benefits of using a web directory is the increase in web traffic. Another benefit is I get an increase in sales. Most people who find a business on Yelp spend money with them so that helps. |
| 143390016 | My company comes up in any searches, locally and throughout the united states. This helps to spread the name around and gets people of all different types and kinds to see my company, whether they are accustomed to our niche or not. We have all walks of life coming to our website because of this. |
| 143389766 | Helps reach a wider audience, therefore my clientele base grows.as more and more people search and my pages shows up. |
| 143389506 | one of the main benefits Is accessibility, everyone can access it easily; another benefit might be you do not have to go to a specific place to see what it is about. It also is easy to use so every person can do it by himself. The time, you do not need to spend too much time on it because it is something you can check in a few minutes and that’s amazing because sometimes we can do anything because of the time we have. Another benefit is the way it works, people do not have to check it at a specific time because it does not matter at what time they are there the service is always working. |
| 143389481 | They are easier to use and I get better quality results from them versus using other channels. I have a good experience and the results are better than other types of marketing for the type of business I run. |
| 143388997 | Web directories are my main source of online promotion because they target exactly the clients that I wish to attract to my business. Therefore these are the best use of my business resources for this purpose. I have tried other strategies that have not been successful, I am open to other strategies. |
| 143388784 | being able to reach targeted customer groups better/faster. making you more discoverable and boost my online prescience. |
| 143388774 | I think this method is generally useful in expanding one’s brand identity and increased web traffic to reach out to your target audience |
| 143388733 | It provides visibility and a potential increase in sales and it can reach targeted customer groups faster |
| 143388713 | It’s a way for people to find my business, and can connect me to other directories and search engines. |
| 143388686 | It’s a simple act, once there it can just be an advocate for my business without me doing anything much. Plus side as well is that people who are looking at directories are usually either ready to invest or keen to connect. |
| 143388442 | I don’t really use them. I only use Google and Facebook to promote my business and I have WhatsApp business for any other enquiries. |
| 143388247 | They help raise and increase my business profile, as well as building my brand. They are an opportunity to direct potential clients to my portfolio, which become warm leads. |
| 143388108 | Ability to target particular subsets and niche interests of customers. These directories are often adjacent to communities and people with vested interest in our target market. |
| 143387992 | Web directories helps my target market to see what I’m selling and that helps them as it has everything they need to know about the product I’m selling. It makes life better as I need not to go door to door selling and explaining to each and every one what I’m selling, the web has all the information about the the product, such as, the product info (weights, size & dimensions), how the product works and it has the pictures of the product being used (life pictures). |
| 143387892 | Haven’t really used many web directories but the benefits are about getting more exposure. – Google ads works the best as well as SEO. |
| 143387794 | Advertisement, easy’er to find customers due to lot of people using google search etc. Presentation, customers having better overview from my company services. |
| 143387653 | Widening the reach and trying to attract new customers. It’s a great way to find a new audience and put in front of a lot of people quickly and easily. |
| 143387488 | I use Web directories because they allow my business to get the kind of exposure that I need at a very reasonable cost, so it doesn’t strain me nor my business financially. I’ve also noticed that it boosts the traffic on my website which improved sales. Plus the number of reviews has helped with the reputation of my business and its validity. |
| 143387462 | it amplify online presence, increase web traffic and it also improves online ranking and visibility not to forget that its build the business reputation and trust more it boost your SEO and when people go to Google will be able to see it |
| 143387255 | they increase the visibility of my business and more people get to know about my products and services we offer. it is cost effective to use web directories the ranking of my business have improved ever since i listed it on web directories and sales have been increasing ever since i started using it |
| 143386728 | They can be a little hit and miss in terms of getting a return, you don’t always get a return on your initial investment. |
| 143386336 | I don’t really use them since the benefits are very minor but the offpage SEO/Incoming links would be the main one. |
| 143386280 | It is extremely cost effective, it increases sales and web traffic and helps me reach my targeted consumer group so much easier |
| 143386040 | Web directories are a critical factor in ranking. There’s no coincidence that all of the top-ranking websites have citations. Building structured citations from the most reputable directories. Analyze the backlinks of your competitors and build listings on directories they have links on. |
| 143385796 | It adds credibility to the business and a way to get the name out. Web directories provide direct exposure to potential viewers when they visit the online directory. This increases the probability that a listed business will appear on search engine result pages, and consequently increases the chances of more people knowing about the business and visiting the business website |
| 143385639 | Your business can be found by the people you would like to target and can result in new custom. It can be done online and you don’t have to be face to face with people. |
| 143385443 | I think the main benefits of web directories include giving more relevant searches since they are organized into browsable subject categories. They benefit me more due to the site description a potential client had read in the directory. He already knows what he’s looking for and knows I provide this specific product. Also link building helps me get a better ranking in the search engine result. |
| 143385312 | You can be found easily even when the customers only know the name, they can order or call directly from there. |
| 143385280 | Web directories are beneficial because they increase the visibility of your website to potential customers. Web directories also help your business to rank high in the search engines by leveraging SEO techniques, so that when people search for certain keywords used by tour website, it is one if the first they see. |
| 143385208 | Using Web directory help you to reach more number of customers at a low cost. It helps me to engage with different customer needs and expectations at one time. |
| 143385067 | Web directories help to have a better presence on the internet, to be able to share detailed information about my business to find more clients |
| 143384885 | It generates a new audience for your business that would not have existed if not for web directories. It reaches an audience that is very necessary |
| 143384844 | They help me gain more visitors and clicks. Using web directories gives me a larger span to cover and an increased client base over time. |
| 143384787 | Gives you access to a wide range of potential customers from all over the world and with different backgrounds. It also lets you define your brand and show it the way you want. |
| 143384718 | A web directory provides the perfect place for a businesses to advertise their website. Therefore if you promote your website in the correct category then you can drive the type of users you’re looking for to your website. |
| 143384672 | They help to facilitate navigation because they are classified according to something specific, such as organizing them in filters and help the user to have more specific information of what they are looking for. |
| 143384636 | The main perks of using web directories is that they are very reliable and convenient it’s a very convenient tool to use for marketing your business. |
| 143384616 | Generally speaking web directories don’t generate a huge amount of enquiries but those that do tend to be better enquiries because they tend o be looking for our specific services. |
| 143384472 | You are able to reach your direct audience which helps you have a more direct approach when marketing. It also makes things easier. |
| 143384375 | Trustful backlink for the own website, Increase the visibility in my market, good trust for better ranking in search engines. |
| 143384209 | Boost in Online Presence. Increase sales in the business, reaching targeted audience and customers easily. |
Q6. What is the most frustrating experience you encountered in your online marketing strategy? (min 100 characters)
| 143392151 | They are costly, websites are not entirely a free service. For building a business website, a business owner needs to hire a professional who should be paid for his work. Furthermore, companies need to spend on web hosting and domain. Now this is not one time payment, the users need to renew them yearly. There are also other indirect costs involved like internet connection and computer system all which can increase the expenditures. |
| 143391597 | Sometimes not getting or achieving the expected results. That is really frustrating for me cause it takes a lot of effort and energy to create the content. |
| 143391576 | Increasing traffic steadily and raising awareness for products. I also find social media to be a real mixed bag and very time consuming. |
| 143391545 | The cost associated with some of it and the little results that come from it at times. Being worldwide the internet brings so much competition one normally would not have if only doing business locally. |
| 143391541 | There is a lot behind SEO/SEM (pay per click). The hardest part is just knowing how to navigate them to your strategy. |
| 143391087 | how to stand out against bigger competitors without a commensurate digital marketing budget. or feeling that Google’s search algorithm is slightly biased towards brands especially small brands |
| 143390964 | CLICKBAIT is by far my biggest problem. Most sites overcharge and underdeliver on their promises. Also, the use of bots is another serious problem. As a business, you want to advertise to real people. bots are counterproductive in marketing and give an unrealistic view in terms of campaign results. |
| 143390823 | Not getting the views I wanted, I find that with the algorithms it has become a bit unpredictable how a campaign is going to run. You can’t really say if a post is going to get a lot of reach and engagement because of that. |
| 143390668 | The most frustrating experience was finding the time to figure everything out that I needed to. I had so many other things to work on that it was hard to set aside time for my strategy. |
| 143390016 | The difficulty in actually placing the advertisement. The process of exactly what to do to make and place and pay for the ad or video ad is just ridiculously hard to comprehend on some venues. |
| 143389766 | Low engagement on my content. Taking time and planning the content and than people don’t respond well, has you thinking you find work hard enough |
| 143389506 | I think the most frustrating experience is when you want to do. something different but you do not know how because everyone else has already used almost all the ideas so you need to create a new one, but there’s difficult because you have to think if people will like it if it really will work and you need to be fast because there are many pages and they never stop working so if you take your time maybe when you want to do it they will already use it |
| 143389481 | In the beginning it was difficult getting setup and having the knowledge available to set up an online presence. Finding the right people and hiring the right company to do my online marketing was frustrating with little reward at the start. |
| 143388997 | The most frustrating experience I have encountered in my online marketing strategy is the lack of response to previous online marketing strategies that I have used before. The expense of the strategies has not been worth the expense, I my experience. |
| 143388784 | The T&Cs have to be thoroughly read, no matter what sort of marketing you’re doing online. (to understand the real costs) |
| 143388774 | It was difficult to find my niche audience and use key words in google advertising techniques during first promotion steps |
| 143388733 | I had a bad experience when the targeting of my customers lacked precision, mainly on free web directories. |
| 143388713 | Having to constantly market, sometimes doing it 12 hours a day on different platforms. Sometimes growth is slow. |
| 143388686 | Life getting in the way and me not being able to fulfil what I have planned out to the best of my ability. I have also experienced competitors stealing content ideas which can be pretty demoralizing. |
| 143388442 | People enquiring then not buying. They text on Facebook about something then never get back to me about buying. |
| 143388247 | Initially, chicken and egg – you can’t attract clients without a portfolio and you can’t build a portfolio without clients. Led to me working for next to nothing to develop a client base and my prices for work carried out have never reached the levels they should because of this. |
| 143388108 | Facebook and Instagram gatekeeping and throttling when charging for clicks, it severely disadvantages smaller businesses who need to watch every cost center. |
| 143387992 | Sometimes is frustrating how target market miss understand the product info where you have to explain it simpler way to make them understand. At first it was actually frustrating to get followers. In today’s time you need to make sure that your products marketing suits everyone to understand. Getting social followers it really frustrating and to do that you need to make your marketing as unique as possible so that target market can see and want to buy the product. |
| 143387892 | Ads not getting by Facebook ads: Facebook ads is a huge aspect of our marketing strategy due to the high user number on Facebook and across its sites like Instagram – Sometimes ads get disabled for no reason which is really frustrating – Getting in touch with their support is hard too |
| 143387794 | Most frustrating maybe is to get customers from outside my country. As our country is small and competition is very tight also in advertisement marketing via web-s. Another thing is to find all the time new ideas and advertisement to be on the top via web. |
| 143387653 | Most frustrating experience is with some real time reporting and some technical issues with a few marketing channels |
| 143387488 | Getting less engagement than what I had anticipated. When I first got into online marketing, I thought I would get so much exposure and engagements quickly from promising customers and prospects because of how big the Internet is but the outcome of it was too slow and too draining and it really frustrated me. |
| 143387462 | I have to always post so that people can see how important my business is and that I’m dedicated because people can’t support your business if you don’t trust it or show it regularly in public and having to separate personal account and business was also stressful. |
| 143387255 | when customers rate my business low due to some misunderstanding having to turn frustrated customers to loyal customers |
| 143386728 | Some companies want cash to place your details on their website. So they do an offer to get you interested then you have to pay extra the following year. |
| 143386336 | Competition trying to have listings and incoming links delisted or souring relations with platforms and b2b revenue. Otherwise just plain old cost benefit- many advertising platforms cost way too much vs their return because of the amount of competition in my field. |
| 143386280 | Finding ways to stand out from all the other companies doing the same thing as me and being dependent on internet |
| 143386040 | Algorithmic inconsistencies of paid media advertisers like Facebook Ads, as in the algorithm fails to distinguish keywords that seem like are semantically closely related but are actually not from the same industry or niche. Even worse when those keywords are not from English audiences. |
| 143385796 | Target audience is a challenge because your target audience may not be a single demographic; rather you could be serving multiple personas, demographics and customer types. But knowing who your target audience is is vastly different then knowing your target audience. That is, knowing that they want, what they need and meeting their expectations |
| 143385639 | There’s competition so clients may contact many companies at a time and this may not result in new custom for you. They also may be more timewasters too. |
| 143385443 | I think the most frustrating experience was hitting my target audience. It took me some time to learn how to manage social media and come up with some good strategies. The start was the hardest. |
| 143385312 | Money is sucked up really fast, and there is not a real guarantee that you can be seen there or even get real sales |
| 143385280 | The most frustrating experience I have experienced is generating a huge amount of leads but not being able to convert these into paying customers. It is hard to have to pay substantial amounts of money to boost marketing and to put products in front of as many eyes as possible but not be able to make a quick turnover. |
| 143385208 | There is more competition and customer tend to use the “well known trusted web” . It may be hard to gain customer loyality since you are not engaging with them face to face. |
| 143385067 | Although many people can find information about my business, it does not go beyond that, that is, they do not get to write to the classes or have a greater interaction |
| 143384885 | All of these directories asking you to pay per post and not having a annual fee per annum and not paying per post. |
| 143384844 | Nothing really! Social media has been a great way to promote my brand as it is very low cost and my particular target audience are heavy social media users |
| 143384787 | Even with being consistent, some products seem to sell more than others, regardless of what I initially thought the reception of those products would be |
| 143384718 | Customers not following a simple ”How to buy” policy and sending private messages to my personal account. |
| 143384672 | Currently there are many websites with the information that I want to make known, so specializing in content is often repetitive for the user. |
| 143384636 | The most frustrating experience I ever encountered during online marketing was probably the amount of time o has to wait for approval |
| 143384616 | The biggest frustration for me is understanding why a particular campaign might not be as successful as hoped and what elements to tweak in order to drive more success |
| 143384472 | Having to create different content for different platforms and having to stay consistent while being on brand and staying within the trends |
| 143384375 | to much opportunities to find out which one is working for my business and its need time and money for that |
| 143384209 | Growing content and reaching a high amount of target on time. Lack of sales, reach your target sales at given time |