Web directories offer a world of value to web marketing when done correctly. The biggest misconception with small business owners launching a website is that they believe that their superior products, services, and know-how will propel them to higher internet rankings and this is not the case.
Traditionally to have a website be shown in an internet directory you must first apply to be reviewed. After this request is processed the website will be put on a waiting list to be processed.
When the website is queued pieces of software called robots will scour the websites coding looking for ways to rate it and to decide what key words and other information should be used to rank its relevancy to search terms. Based on this relevancy your ranking will be considered and most websites will offer an option to pay for a higher ranking.
There are two types of directories to choose from when registering, though the best option is to register with as many directories as possible to increase your cross linking score, the number of websites that post active links to your website, resulting in a higher overall rank. The first option is a free web directory. Of course every ones ears perked up at the sound of free, but, especially with web directories, you get what you pay for and free will not buy much.
These directories usually receive hundreds of requests for reviews a day with many sites being put on a waiting list of thousands. These sites are also usually sparsely funded so corners are sometimes cut to improve their efficiency and even though humans may be reviewing the info that robots bring back, mistakes will be made and reviews can inaccurate or incomplete. That is the last thing that a new site wants, which brings us to the more responsible of our options, if real results are.
Why does a web directory charge a review fee? A paid directory will offer you paid-for services. These sites will charge a review fee for listing consideration and will provide speedy service to have your site on the directory as soon as possible with an accurate review and rank. Payment is for more than just speed of process though. There are added benefits with a smaller group of submissions daily in the fact that spam sites rarely if ever get through to paid directories.
So your website will not be listed directly next to spam websites.
These web directories are considered much more reliable and are more trusted by most of the population so these will provide the most relevant (paying customer) traffic. The more popular the web directory the more you can expect to pay for submission.
The economy recently has caused small business owners to be more wary of how and where money, especially soft costs like advertising, is spent instead trying to keep more assets liquid. Processing a site through a web directory will definitely provide the most bang for your buck especially if the desire is to bring in more mail orders or orders from those not in the geographic region.
All web directories are supposed to have humans that review the sites for accuracy and relevance as well as the robots automated scan, but there are many ways to utilize search engine optimization to achieve higher search results and relevancy. Creating a content rich site will help robots to raise your relevancy results. One way of doing this simply is to write and host an article directory that has useful articles for your visitors that also keys words that will be used to find your site on a search engine. This will augment your traffic significantly if you whole heartedly try to present information that will truly capture your audience.
Another way for robots to decide ranking is the length of time a visitor stays on any one page. An article takes longer to read and will keep visitors on your site longer. A graphic website may look more streamlined but you are missing out on a variety of opportunities to increase directory ranking. Remember that results are reevaluated weekly so staying on top is a constant struggle and you can ensure that your competitors will not be slacking off. Stay informed about your ranking and constantly fine tune it to refresh its ranking and your site will crawl up the ranking ladder.