Online business directories are more popular than ever these days. There are hundreds of such literary directories on the Internet, some generic, others more specialized. However, their abundance does not always mean good news for the average business person. Furthermore, many of these online directories are mere copies of one another, offering little or no advantage to publicly traded companies. It becomes clear then that for an online directory to be worth your time and money, it has to be able to offer more than just a business taxonomy.
Naturally, there are some business directories on the web that break this pattern. What they do is provide the visitor with some useful information that is somewhat related to business and investment. This encourages the visitor not only to stay longer on your pages, but it is also a way to be more attractive to search engines, as it can improve the SEO of the entire directory site. This translates into more visitors to the directory and a better chance of someone visiting your company’s listing in it. However, having quality content on a directory site requires a lot of work, so it’s probably a rare thing. However, with the abundance of relevant information on the Internet, it’s somewhat easier than ever, and it’s a matter of time before more directory owners realize this.
Another aspect of directories that stand out from the crowd is having an attractive graphical user interface. As simple as it sounds, very few online directories seem to do anything about it. The vast majority of them use a text-based approach with minimal graphics or anything else that might make the experience more than just reading a yellow page book. There doesn’t need to be anything fancy on directory web pages, but a few carefully selected images can really make a difference. And with more and more sites taking this approach, it’s a matter of time before online business directories follow suit.
Based on the above, it is not unreasonable to say that the future of online business directories lies in directories that offer a better visitor experience. This can be achieved by having better quality content that is relevant to the businesses promoted in the directory and improved graphics. What’s more, some online business directories have already started using this approach, gaining a niche in this area of online business promotion.
