More and more small businesses today are using online business directories to their benefit. If you run a small business, you need to create a marketing plan. Online business directories can be a great advantage for your marketing strategy.

Here are the reasons why you need the online business directories.

Business directories can help your business expand traffic, your website will be found by interested visitors and increase your bottom line. You need to know how your small business could use them to increase its market presence and grow your brand.

About Online Business Directories

There are many different types of online business directories available on the Internet. Each of these sites serves a specific purpose and can be used by your small business in specific ways.

An online business directory is a website submission service that allows your small business’ website to be added to a specific category where it can be searched for by interested visitors.

Listing your small business on an online business directory increases your website’s visibility on the web and helps to create inbound links to your business’ website. These places make it easy for people to find what they are looking for.

These directories can be accessed from anywhere that has an internet connection. This means that people could find your business’ website from their home, office or even while traveling.

Every website that is submitted to an online business directory is placed in a specific category. These categories can range in how they are organized. Some are organized by business-related categories, some are organized according to personal preferences and others are organized by subject.

Each category consists of several websites relating to a specific topic. Each website listing features the name of the website, a direct link to the website and a short description of the website.

Interested online visitors will be able to browse through the various categories in the directory and locate websites like yours that they may be interested in visiting.

The Concept of Online Business Directories

The concept of online business directories is actually a pretty simple one. These websites are very similar to the Yellow Pages in the real world, only these listings are only online.

A directory is just a listing place for a number of websites. Any type of website could be listed in an online business directory. Some directories are huge and cover every topic that someone could create a website for, while others are very small and specific to a specific niche.

Since online business directories are organized by categories, finding websites that relate to a specific interest such as model airplanes or a vintage car is very easy. You could find information and websites about model airplanes or cars in your local region too if you use a regional-specific online business directory.

So if you live in Phoenix you could find websites that relate to your interest and the Phoenix area. These places will direct you to websites that you want to find.

All you have to do is perform a search in the online business directory for a specific topic or browse through the various categories until you find the type of websites you are looking for.

When you perform a search you will be given a list of all of the websites that relate to your search term. You will be presented with a number of links to these websites and each link will have a short description of what you are likely to find on the website. You can read the descriptions and choose to click on the website that best suits you.

There are many different types of websites that you could find under a specific topic as well.

You can see how anyone can use an online business directory to find websites relating to things that interest them. As a small business owner, you can see how potential customers of yours are using those websites too.

Now that you know how online business directories work it is time to see how they can work for your business.

The Benefits of Online Business Directories for your Business

There are many benefits when listing your small business in an online business directory. The more directories you can use to list your business the more benefits you will reap.

Here are some of the benefits of using online business directories:

You gain more exposure for your business and also, very important, increase the targeted traffic. Exposure is important for all business marketing strategies. After all, the more people who are exposed to your business the more people are likely to buy your business’ services.

If online visitors aren’t able to see your website or even know that it exists, then they probably aren’t going to purchase your products or services. Listing your business’ website on those sites helps your website to gain exposure.

Thousands of people use these websites every day to find things they are interested in. These are people who are actively searching for websites that are directly related to your products or services.

All you have to do is make it easy for them to find you. These sites will expose your business to more interested online visitors, which could increase traffic and sales.

Traffic Benefits and SEO

There are several ways that these directories can help you increase the amount of traffic your website receives. For starters, the more exposure your website has the more people are likely to visit it.

But these websites offer more than just exposure from potential viewers. They also offer exposure to the various major search engine crawlers like Google and even YouTube. This increases the chances that your website will appear on major search engine results pages, or SERPs, which will allow more people to see the website when they perform a regular search.

Both search engine optimization exposure and exposure to more people who are searching for your website could result in increased traffic to your small business’ website.

Advertising for Your Business

As a small business owner, you already understand the importance of advertising. You know that it helps customers to find your business and recognize your name and brand.

You probably have not a big-budget for more advertising right now. That is one of the major benefits of listing your business’ website in an online business directory.

Online business directories are inexpensive to join and they offer a lot of exposure for the price. Some of these sites will allow you to list your business for free, while others will charge a minimal fee.

Either way, you are getting a lot of exposure for far less money than you would spend on a TV or radio advertisement spot.

Professional Appearance

It’s important your business look professional in the eyes of your customers. A professional appearance enhances your status and makes customers to like your business.

Online directories help you to look like a professional business. When an online consumer sees your business listing in an online business directory, they will consider your business to be an authority on the subject and a professional place to do business.

Unlike a search that is performed on a major search engine like Google, where there is little difference between the legitimate websites relating to a topic and the less useful websites, those places are mostly legitimate websites.

Online consumers are more likely to trust what they see on such sites.

SEO Benefits

Online business directories offer several search engine optimization benefits as well. Firstly, these directories offer you more inbound links. When an online visitor sees your website link in an online business directory, they will be able to click on it and be instantly re-directed to your website.

This is a great way to increase traffic. It is a great way to improve your status in the eyes of search engine crawlers too. The more backlinks that a search engine crawler can find, the more relevant they will rank your website.

This is especially true of authoritative sites. Being linked to a major online business directory, such as Google My Business, will give your website more relevancy in the eyes of Google’s search engine crawlers.

This will result in a higher page ranking on the SERP. As you know, a higher search engine result page rank you get, the more people are going to click on your website link.

More Sales

When more people are able to find your website it increases the chances that they will visit your website. When people visit your website they are more likely to purchase your goods or services. This means that these sites can help you increase your revenue stream. Online business directories are good for your bottom line.

Online Presence

When an online viewer locates your website through an online business directory, they are more likely to remember your business’s name and directly interact with it.

Online business directories can help your business stand out to customers as well. Overall, listing your small business in an online business directory will help you to create a more comprehensive and effective online presence.

Listing your small business’ website with several online business directories will help more people find your website, whether they are specifically searching for it or if they are just browsing.

In addition to gaining exposure, appearing on those sites will provide major SEO benefits, which will help search engines find your site. Increased exposure and higher search engine rankings will result in more traffic to your website, which will result in higher revenue.

There are many different types of online business directories, from large global directories to small, niche and location-specific ones. Some examples of other types of online directories can include reciprocal link directories, free directories, paid directories, Business 2 Business directories, theme-related directories, small business directories and many, many more.

ROI and Revenue

Another reason why you should consider listing your small business has to do with your return on investment, or ROI. Since the potential benefits of getting increased website traffic are great compared to how much you will have to spend to list your website in an online business directory, you can see a great return on your investment in the form of increased revenue.

You also want to keep your brand and your company name in the minds of consumers at all times, which is something else that an online business directory can help with.

Get Listed in the Top 10-15 Online Business Directories

Now is a great time to get your small business listed in the Top 10-15 sites. There are few other Internet marketing techniques that will offer so many benefits for such a small investment on your part. Listing your business in an online business directory will increase your website’s online presence and help more people find you, which can help you increase your business’s revenue.