Driving qualified traffic using Directories

Some education is essential to enlighten you about this form of
interactive marketing. Directories aren't Search Engines; they are
web sites or information portals which use analysts on staff to
review submissions from companies who want to be listed in their
Directory. Yahoo would be the penultimate example of this type of a
portal. But there are literally thousands of other sites that group
and list web sites based on their analysis criteria. Here are some
tips garnered from years of providing these services to our clients.

1)How do you find Directories? I don't have an easy solution for you,
as we've spent years developing and refining (ongoing) our own list
of Directories. But, look around on the Internet using Search Engines
to find popular sites that list resources in your vertical market
segment.

2)Directory listings are a great value, as they provide a long-term
listing, unlike Search Engine rankings which are much more volatile.
Once you achieve a listing you are typically locked into a
Directory's database for a very long time.

3)Let's start with the twenty-ton gorilla in this market, Yahoo!
Spend time carefully reviewing their various categories, then take
the plunge and use their "Business Express" service which costs just
under $200. (USD) to submit your site. Don't, I repeat don't submit
unless you have carefully analyzed where you belong in their huge
category selections; if you make a mistake you only have one chance
to get a new or revised listing, as they aren't very forgiving of
those who don't do their homework before submitting.

4)Be patient when submitting to Directories, as most are getting tens
or hundreds of thousands of submissions per day