Online Business Directories

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by Stuart M. Gray

What is a business directory and why do people need to have easy access to them? A business directory is a specialised listing mainly consisting of information about businesses. Both consumers and other businesses are likely to find a company much easily through a business directory and better yet, if the business directory is online.

Some business directories carry information about companies and organisations in alphabetical classification, which means, if you are looking for an electrical equipment manufacturer, you should find a suitable company under the letter ‘E’. Other business directories list company information according to the service type, such as home appliances, electronics, financial & legal services, business services, cars and automotive, shopping, transport etc.

Most business directories are available online now, involving their services for improving the information highway. Online business directories belong to two categories - those which provide their listings for free and the others who charge a fee for listings. There’s not much of a difference between paid and free business directories, but the most significant difference is the directory’s publisher.

The free online business directories are those which exchange links with their listed companies, which means both parties place a link to direct visitors to each other’s websites. These reciprocal links act as web traffic generators for the directories as well as the businesses. These free business directories make money from the advertisers who sponsor them.

There are a few business directories offering more than simple listing services, including features such as job advertising, picture galleries and a dedicated web page for the listed business. These are optional services and any business owner who wishes to use the directory for multiple purposes can take advantage of the offers. The majority of business directories charge for these services, but some directories provide all such services for free.

Submitting a business listing to an online business directory doesn’t take much time. Your business information is compulsory to enter a listing, including the company name, registration, email, telephone, address etc.

These business directories keep the basic information brief and if you need more information about a particular company, you must follow a link to either the web page within the directory or the company’s main website. After your business listing is submitted to a directory, all visitors can easily find it by navigating through the main page index.

Most business directories, whether online or offline, focus on listing a particular region’s businesses. Usually, these regions are selected based upon neighbourhood, city, district, province, state etc. Country-wide and international business directories are very rare, especially online

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