Developing Brand Strategies through Directory Link Building

If there is one thing that is common to all of us, it is we are all consumers. 

At every stage of our lives, we continuously look for local information on every product we want to purchase and services we want to avail of. 

With the help of our digital devices, we never run out of keywords to use to browse the internet to ensure we purchase the best quality of the product and avail top-notch services we want. 

The internet is the world’s directory of instant information. But as digital marketers, do you know that directories can also be a great source of building links? 

Read on to learn more!

What is Directory Link Building?

A directory is a website where you can enter the URL of your website to build backlinks, in our SEO terminology. 

Yellow Pages and Yelp are two instances of well-known directories from which you might obtain backlinks. As you know,  backlinks are a significant ranking factor that Google uses.

Your site will rank higher the more links it has pointing at it from reliable, pertinent sources.

Directory backlinks should be among the first connections you create for your website because they are essentially guaranteed and are ready to be created.

Types of Directory Link Building 

You should seek links from these five categories of directories:

General Directories

These are your typical, all-purpose online directories, and they welcome collaboration from all parties. They accept backlinks from directories for all kinds of websites, regardless of sector or area of expertise.

For instance, you’ll discover backlinks from directories for businesses, blogs, magazines, internet shops, clothing brands, and product suppliers. 

This enables you to list anything, such as a cloud-based app, a shoe store, a restaurant, or a marketing website. You alone are responsible for making the decision.

A notable example of these directories is the official Yellow Pages website. It has a similar layout to the old yellow pages publication, only it is in digital form. It acts as a comprehensive directory for all different kinds of companies in all the common industries.

Niche Directories

The polar opposite of generic directories would be niche directories.

As a result, your listing won’t compete for attention with millions of unrelated businesses. Instead, you get to publish your directory listings and backlinks on a website that is dedicated to your sector.

The platforms that specialised in listing digital marketers would be the right niche directories for you, for example, if you run an internet marketing business. On the other side, real estate agents would choose property-focused online directories.

These businesses are a good example of niche directories:

TripAdvisor: all about dining establishments, lodgings, resorts, vacation spots, and pretty much anything associated with the hospitality sector.

Houzz.com: favours built design, and is ideal for presenting architects and their creations.

Paid Directories

Paid directories are exclusive, in contrast to many of the internet directories that we’ve already described. You must instead reach into your pockets to sit at the high table.

The approach used here is remarkably similar to that used for paid guest posing occasions. To get your website and directory backlinks exposed on well-known platforms, you must pay a charge.

Most of the time, they impose a recurring annual or monthly subscription price. Contrarily, the amount is determined by the popularity of the website, the degree of rivalry in your industry, as well as the benefits of the listing package.

You may want to try MerchantCircle and GrubHub. 

More than five million businesses are listed countrywide on MerchantCircle. It provides options for local company listings that are both free and paid.

Another hybrid delivery service and online restaurant directory is GrubHub. You must subscribe to one of three paid plans to receive a listing.

Business Listing

Online directories of businesses and brands serve as business listings. 

Business listings are solely dedicated to service providers and product vendors, unlike general directories, which are willing to include bloggers and unregistered companies.

As a result, you have the opportunity to use your business listing for purposes other than SEO. Use the same page to increase your credibility and overall reliability after the directory backlinks are operational.

Business listings also serve as hubs for consumers to discover and share trustworthy brands.

That implies that link development shouldn’t necessarily be the campaign’s final step. 

Redirecting pleased customers to the review page through reciprocal linking is a possible follow-up strategy that you should consider.

Two of the best examples of this are Yelp and LinkedIn. They provide consumers with essential information about companies they might be interested in. Some even include reviews and ratings from previous clients to the firm profile. 

Local Citation 

Local business directories are referred to in local citations. These are specialist business directories that can filter the listed entities according to their functional categories.

The websites’ local search engines have been developed with geopositioning capabilities, which focus on the relevant results that are close to the location you provide.

This makes local citations especially appropriate for companies that operate actual brick-and-mortar locations.

You can create listings on a wide variety of directories. The following are some of the top venues for small firms to build citations:

• Foursquare
• Better Business Bureau
• Localworks
• MapQuest

Advantages of Directory Link Building 

Low Cost 

Businesses can freely submit their information to many web directories for inclusion in their index. On the other side, some online directories do charge a listing fee.

However, it might be worthwhile to add your company’s details to a premium directory. After all, reputable, high-authority links represent an advertising investment.

Get Backlink from High-Ranking Sites 

Never establish directory links from directories or low-ranking websites that point to fraudulent domains and businesses.

Google examines more than just the domains that point to your website; they also take into account the additional links that the in-question website is linking to.

Even if a directory appears to be trustworthy yet it has dozens or hundreds of links to questionable or spammy websites, you shouldn’t have any connection to it.

Get Backlink from Highly Relevant Sites

Relevancy is more crucial than ever because of the flurry of algorithm modifications Google has issued over the past several years, and this is especially true of the links you create through directories.

While there’s nothing problematic with obtaining a few links from generic directories, you should make sure that the majority of the links you acquire are on niche-specific directories.

Increase Your Brand Awareness

Business directories are also well-liked by consumers, which is another positive aspect. By getting listed, you’ll gain access to a large audience as well as the opportunity to promote your company while also constructing directory backlinks.

You might not realise it, but the brand recognition you gain from that lays the groundwork for more traction. 

How to Find a Good Directory for Your Business

Look at Your Competitor’s Backlink Source

Reverse engineering your competitors’ backlinks to determine which directories they are using to develop backlinks is a much easier and more effective way to start implementing your new strategy.

In total, this approach should just take you a few hours, and you’ll probably end up with 20–30 good-quality directories where you can submit your company with ease.

You should select 10 to 25 competitors with strong backlink profiles and domain authority. To create the list, see who appears on page 1 for your target keywords. 

Repeat the process with each rival until you have identified a sufficient number of directories to target. 

Check Domain Authority Score of the Targeted Directory Site

You can use the domain authority (DA) ranking metric to foretell how well your chosen website performs in search engine results.

Domain authority is determined by a variety of factors. Be critical when looking for directory sites. Keep in mind to pick established websites that DA’s range between 95 and 100. 

If the said site doesn’t match up with your DA requirement, leave it. Don’t waste your time investing on pages that have poor or low-performing DA. 

There are free SEO tools online to help you check your competitors’ websites.

How to Create Good Directory Submission 

Contain Important Information about Your Business

Company Name 

It’s incredible how vital a name can be. It can fully make or break a business because it has a significant impact on the development and perception of a brand. 

With that said, your company name is essential in every directory you wish to be seen. 

What’s the point of directories if you don’t want to be found? 

We are aware of the immense impact that a name may have when it serves as the brand’s face, thus putting it completely and correctly is of the utmost importance. 

What You Offer 

It is vital to be straightforward and clear with your business intention. 

Transparency speaks volumes about your company culture and the people you are working with. Ensure your website contains all the pertinent details about what your business offers and what it stands for. 

Address & Phone Number 

A business address and phone number are potent branding tools that serve as more than just a means of contact for your organisation. Additionally, it proves your presence on a local, national, and international scale.

People could worry that companies without actual addresses or contact numbers might vanish into thin air. Depending on the nature of your industry, giving prospective customers a physical address where they can reach you could help your company establish credibility and confidence. 

A physical address and a phone number give your company a more polished, expert appearance.

For link building, having this set of data would be a lot easier to reach out and communicate for future collaborations or partnerships with other brands. 

Website 

Regardless of the industry, a company’s digital footprint can significantly affect how successful it is. Some companies today are still unaware that most of their clients will browse their websites before completing a purchase.

Investing in crafting your brand’s website is one step toward building credibility and trust with your prospective clients. Now, people want to access everything in one touch. 

If you want to succeed in building or earning links, create a website that is valuable to your clients and business partners. Always include this information when submitting something to every directory site you have picked. 

Social Media

It is not enough to have a business website. Ensure that you are visible on another side of the virtual world. 

There is a big chunk of the population that lives on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn or even Twitter that could be your next client. 

If your website has links to any of these platforms, it’ll be easier to reach out to you and do partnerships with your brand. Ensure to include all of your social media links each time you make submissions. 

Of course, we are not advocating you maintain accounts on all of these social platforms, pick what’s best for you and your brand wisely. Don’t spread yourself and your brand way too thin that will become challenging to manage it. 

Unique

Our submissions must be distinctive, well-structured, and designed to assist people rather than just the renowned Google crawler.

What makes you stand out among your competitors? Highlight those things as it matters that people can spot you right away as you are different from those who offer the same product or services. 

Descriptive 

If there’s one thing that makes a site credible, it is the way they place its content. 

A unique and descriptive directory submission site carries clear and simple messaging that is enough to be understood by all people browsing online. 

It matters that you use simple language that best describes your website’s offering, services, or products. 

Final Thoughts

Directories assist you in obtaining more inbound links as well as more qualified visitors and leads. Use highly precise categories when adding your company to directories, including geography, industry-specific specialities, and anything else that sets you apart.

It can’t be done automatically, therefore the website’s webmaster must manually input it, which can take a lot of time.

FAQ