Online Directories: Which One is Worth Your Money?
The 1 Test to Know Which Websites a Business Needs to Be On
I know every business owner in America just gets bombarded by online directories sales reps. There are many online directories – from Manta, CitySearch, yp.com, Yellow Pages, and on and on.
Some of them do get a lot of traffic, but they are not Google.
That is not where the majority of your website traffic is coming from.
How to Know Which Online Directories to Be On
There are some good directories your company should be on but knowing exactly which one isn’t obvious to most business owners. It is not that hard to figure out
There is one simple “trick” to help you figure out which directories are probably worth putting some time into and potentially some money into
You want to see which of those websites come up really high when you search for popular search terms for your industry in your city.
So if you are an HVAC company where HVAC Marketing Success is located, you could search “furnace repair Wichita, KS.” Now, scroll through the results that came up and see which ones, if any, came up pretty high on that first page of results.
Not All Good Directories Are Good for Every Business
Google will recognize some directories as really good at some things in some markets.
That doesn’t mean they are strong at everything in every market.
For example, let’s say you and I have businesses located 20 miles apart in a related industry. I build decks and you do concrete. HomeAdvisor could be perfect for me, but it could be worthless for you.
When I search “types of decks” in my town (and that speaks to the Power of Proximity in Google search results), HomeAdvisor may come up as the 2nd Google result. That’s pretty high! That makes HomeAdvisor a worthy directory to be on. I might even pay to get my company on it in a prominent way.
But a search for “repair concrete driveway” where you are may not show HomeAdvisor at all.
An online directory may get 100 visits a month in our city. But that doesn’t mean it is getting those visits from people searching for exactly what your business does.
Online Directories Sales Reps: A Warning
I would ignore what the salespeople with that online directory company say. They may tell you they get 150 million visits a month!
A lot of them will say (and I have to think this is their favorite), “We have people that want your services in your area. Unfortunately, we don’t have anywhere to send these leads.”
(I have heard that one a hundred times).
Do not spend money on claims like this.
You should definitely build out your presence on the good directories that come up in your search test.
Most of them allow you to list your business on it for free.
Some online directories allow you to add some photos and a link to your website for free. This is a great thing to take advantage of on any good directories for your industry.
Online Directories: Main Takeaways
The big takeaway with directories is #1, do not believe the salespeople that work for those companies and tell you wild claims.
The second takeaway is that you can (and should) diving into finding out which online directories your company should be on. These are the directories that show up in searches related to your industry and in your city. You want to make sure your business has a solid presence on those directories.
Do NOT feel like you need to be on 100 directories! Just the important ones matter and are worth your time (and possibly your money).
Getting HVAC clients on the online directories that are effective for them in their market is one way we help local companies use the internet to grow their companies.
If you would like to learn more about what we do and how we typically triple website traffic and get locally-owned heating and air companies ranked high on Google, schedule a time to chat or visit HVACMarketingSuccess.com.