The Best and the Worst Marketing Directories For Your Business
Last update: 11 January 2023 at 03:43 pm
5.00/5Nowadays, promoting local businesses is difficult.
It’s all too easy to believe that no one will discover your business or agency in the local search results, whether it’s due to oversaturation or sophisticated search engine algorithms.
If you’re a genuine marketing firm, you’ll want to develop a presence on numerous marketing directories to boost exposure, establish a reputation, and generate leads that will help you sustain and expand your business.
Directories can be available in a variety of locations. Some are provided by technology partners who can help you support the different marketing services you provide to your clients, while others are maintained by groups committed to promoting marketing success. Others can be identified through third-party companies that provide marketing and other business solutions to firms.
Although business directories may appear to be obsolete, they are an excellent method to expand your online presence.
What is Directory Marketing?
It may seem little, but claiming and uploading comprehensive profiles to internet directories can assist and improve your search engine position.
Directory marketing focuses on locating and claiming appropriate directories for your business.
Directory marketing has two components: local and industry-specific. Businesses with local addresses and a real storefront benefit from local directory promotion. Because such directories target a certain audience, industry-specific listings let you reach a specific audience.
Online Directories
For a long time, directories have been a need. They were formerly the sole method for web searches to locate you. That blew up at some point. Instead of increasing internet exposure, website owners began to use directories to obtain links.
The desire for free or low-cost links prompted the establishment of thousands of directories solely for the aim of supplying those connections.
When it comes to backlinks and SEO, quality is everything. Google took a stand in the digital world and began to penalize low-cost directories. As a result, submitting to directories only for the goal of obtaining links has become obsolete.
Only a few online directories with a high level of editorial discretion have survived. These are still useful for advertising your business, whether you have an e-Commerce or a physical location with an internet presence.
The Most and Lesser Effective Online Marketing Directories For Your Business
Large marketing technology companies that wish to provide extra value to their clients create technology partner directories. Industry groups that hold conferences, give networking opportunities, print industry-specific news, and provide other services to marketing agencies manage certain directories.
To offer information on marketing agencies, most third-party directories rely largely on reviews and user-generated material.
Even though this information is less trustworthy than that found in other sources, third-party directories continue to be prominent and crucial for agencies looking for fresh leads. We have compiled a list of directories that we think you should look out for.
Sortlist
At Sortlist, we are dedicated to providing small and medium sized agencies the visibility they deserve and give them a chance in a competitive market. They can come to us and ask for a helping hand to strengthen their reputation, need a marketing boost, sales boost or increase their conversions.
Active in roughly 150 countries and territories, agencies from around the world have benefitted from our match-making services to find projects and keep their business alive. But not only that.
Over the past 2 years, we have received projects from 186 countries and 10,082 agencies from all over have received opportunities thanks to Sortlist.
Unlike other marketing directories, Sortlist doesn’t require agencies to have a specific number of employees, previous training, and we include client reviews in our agency listings because clients are more inclined to choose agencies with previous testimonials.
If you are an agency looking for opportunities on a marketing directory, take a look at our how it works page for agencies.
Google My Business
Google collaborates with a vast number of companies and organizations, which they refer to as “partners.”
This partner program is designed to highlight the companies that do extraordinary work with Google AdWords, YouTube, Google Shopping, Analytics, and many other platforms that are a part of Google’s network.
After you join the program, your website can place a “Google Partner badge” & Google also adds your brand to its directory – Clients can view this to verify your credentials.
Google My Business allows your company to appear in Google Search and Maps results. You may put your NAP, descriptions, hours of operation, links to your website, pictures, and more in this section.
Furthermore, you can use GMB to make postings in the same way that you would on social media. This database also allows agencies to be classified and sorted based on the services and specialties they provide, as well as the sectors they serve and other factors.
However, Google is one of the (if not the biggest), marketing directory on the web and the amount of agencies using it as their main form of directory marketing have to compete with an immeasurable amount of agencies within their field.
Have a look at how you can build the best Google My Business strategy.
Facebook Partner Directory
The Facebook Partner Directory is a new feature that is currently unavailable in the United States. However, it is gradually being implemented in Asian countries.
If your company has a presence there, you can think about having a look at what kind of social media presence this option can bring to your agency.
Your agency must take Facebook Blueprint training, which gives short instruction on best practices for Facebook advertising.
This is a prerequisite for the directory. If your organization isn’t now qualified, keep an eye out for when your agency’s region is added to the directory.
If you would like additional information about their service and how it may benefit your agency, take a look at our Facebook Partner Directory piece.
Shopify Experts Directory
The Shopify Experts Directory differs from the other directories on this list in how it works. It provides the fundamental services of listing agencies and assisting them in being discovered by clients. But it also plays a more important function by facilitating proposals and bids by agencies seeking client business through its platform.
However, This directory comes in with a pre-condition. It is open for those companies who have launched at least five stores. To be included in Shopify’s directory, you must be an active Shopify Partner.
Convinced or not, we wrote more about Shopify’s Experts Directory to help you in deciding whether or not this would be the best marketing directory for your agency.
Puddding
Puddding employs an algorithm to decide how and where agencies show in search results. However, they do not opt for a reviews system. This means that agencies with low quality may end up edging out high quality ones.
For agencies, the platform provides a brokerage service for customers who require assistance choosing the proper agency for their needs.
This service may not yet be complete yet, but we did some digging to give you more information about Puddding in a separate article for you to have a better insight.
Why Should You Promote Your Business Through a Directory?
Even though directory submission has changed, it still has value. Mobile and online search are two main reasons why you should have your name in those high-quality directories.
When you submit your local business’s NAP (Name, Address, Phone) to directories, you increase its visibility, which benefits SEO.
These citations are more potent than you would think, and they affect search behind the scenes. Directories are an excellent method to guarantee that your business appears in local searches. People utilize them to discover answers to their problems. Thus they may become a powerful source of traffic for your website.
When it comes to selecting a directory for submission, the key is to be very selective. This activity should be included in your digital content strategy because it is related to SEO.
Summing Up
You need to be committed to content marketing to get top results and engage potential customers but directories can help you hitchhike your way up. Whatever your agency’s current position is, marketing agency directories are an excellent approach.
