Why You Should Get Listed on Relevant Web Directories? Is it Still Working for you

When we talk about SEO, particularly link building, the topic always ends up going to the value of curated web directories, especially those local web directories, or very niche-specific ones.

What is a web directory?

We have all seen web directories, even if you haven't known what to call them exactly. These are similar in a way to telephone directories, yet they normally include further detail, such as a physical address, categories, products, contact names and even reviews. They are typically searchable or browse by topic or region.

Benefits of web directories

There are two main benefits of being listed on the right web directories. One is for humans and one for robots. No, not those robots. I'm talking crawlers for search engines like Google.

So, the first benefit is I may be looking for your specific industry on a directory, and find you. Then I get in touch. That's lead generation, also known as marketing to humans. Obviously, not all humans that see your listing will get in touch, however, if you attract a few per year, that could easily be worth the effort of being on that directory. Let's say the CPA example above. If I were a CPA, I would make sure to be in that list, as it could help prospective customers find me.

So the second benefit is for crawlers, or more specifically, for search engine optimization. If you get the right types of links from the right directories, then you can get some SEO benefits from these. When I say right links, I mean the value of the link can be affected by many factors, such as how many outbound links that originating page or site has, if the link is dofollow or nofollow, does it have anchor text and more.

What types of web directories should I consider listing on?

So when I say 'right directories', there's a number of things you should consider. Over the last decade, directory link building has been abused by many "SEO experts" in order to get quick links for their clients. 

These links are typically low quality and the result is these websites are treated as if they are spamming the search engine results. As a result of this dodgy behaviour, Google took a dim view of low quality directories, and has removed many from their search engine results.

So, listing on some directories can be very beneficial for you, however these directories need to be niche or location specific. When I say niche or topic specific, say for instance that you are an electrician based in Joondalup. It could be beneficial to your business to have a listing on a electrician or building contractor directory, if they list WA businesses. It would also make sense to be in a Perth business directory, or a Western Australian directory even.

So, what types of directories should you avoid? Any directory that looks very spammy, or is not relevant to your business. If you look at the directory, and it links to advertisements for certain medicinal drugs (we all get those spam emails), or gambling, adult, drug sites, then I would recommend steering away from them. 

How to list on these directories

The first step in creating listings, is to see if you already have a listing on a specific directory. The easiest way to do that is search for your business name on the directory in question. If you do appear, many of these directories have a feature called 'Claim this listing', which means they have collected some basic information about your business from somewhere, and they add your business as a listing.

These basic web directory listings include your basic contact information such as business name, address and telephone number. If this is the case for you, you need to click the 'claim this listing'and follow the steps.

If you can't find your business on a directory, then there is normally some 'Add a listing' form. Many of these will have a free option and a paid option. It is always worth listing as free to begin with, and then weigh up the benefits and costs of getting a paid listing.

Maintaining your directory listing

Once you have listed your business on a number of directories, keep a track of your progress and the list of places by making and updating a central spreadsheet. You want to regularly check and ensure you keep your local web directory listings consistent and up to date. 

Remember, if you ever move business location or change phone numbers for example, you will need to go through and update all of these listings.

Disavowing bad backlinks

Now if you have listings on spammy looking directories, you can possibly fix this by creating a disavow. Disavowing is a fancy way of saying telling Google "don't index them" or "don't count them towards my links".

A handful of quality backlinks from relevant web directories is far better than thousands of spammy links.