Promoting a business over internet a business directory is also a very effective media especially to reach to B2B consumers. Internet offers various methodologies and media to promote a business . Besides getting visitors through paid internet marketing like pay per click advertisement , banner advertisement etc , its very important for a business to increase online traffic from organic search results in various search engines . Along with search engines a business directory also a very effective marketing media .

How can a business directory promote a business?

Sponsor listing:
Besides adding businesses as a regular listing in a business directory via categories , most business directory also offers sponsor listing . If you add your business as sponsor listing or featured listing , it will be shown on the top of the category where it will be added . So you will get extra notice being on top of other listing . A featured listing can improve your online traffic better than regular listing .

Advertisement :
Many business directory also have advertisement program like pay per click , banner advertisement . Some of them also have off line magazine , newsletter publication. A company can also advertise in their off-line publication .

Other benefits:
The traffic a business directory sends to a listing is very targeted. Generally this traffic has better conversion rate.

A listing in such a directory has the additional value of improving your site’s link popularity. Direct link listings boost your visibility in the major search engines.

These directories have been online for quite some time and tend to be seen by the search engines as holding a reasonable amount of authority

• Yahoo! Directory
• DMOZ
• Starting Point
• Business.com
• ExactSeek
• Best of The Web
• Librarians’ Internet Index
• JoeAnt.com

Still directory links are the of the best way of getting one way links . But not all directories are good. There are thousands of directories over the net . Its very important that you submit your site to the quality directories to get the best result.

Authority directories like dmoz, yahoo should be your target whether it be local directories, major business directories or themed business specific directories.

What you should look for in a directory ?

Here is a quick list of items that should be considered when looking to place a link on a directory. If you continue to be uncertain about your abilities, you may want to consider SEO Training which is Search Engine Optimization. Better Site Rankings offers help to increase online traffic to your website while providing tools and tutorials on all aspects of online business. Back to your list of items to consider for a directory. See below…

• Static Text Links
• The Age of the Directory
• Cache and Sub-Pages
• Directories Search Results (in Google, Yahoo! and MSN)
• Rankings for specific topics
• Quality of sites listed
• Quality of backlinks
• The directories goals
• Keywords permitted
• Search Engine Friendliness
• Relevance to your site
• High acceptance ratio

Most individuals and companies that do business on the internet have heard about the importance of marketing their websites. They know that, in order to increase online traffic to their website, they need to do more than just register a domain name, build a site and post it. They know that they need to get the word out – because otherwise they will not be able to draw new customers in.

One way of getting the word out about a website is to be sure that it is listed in a number of web directories. Web directories provide those who are searching to find sites based on a category and sub-category and allow your web page to be found and helps your site to get better search engine rankings while increasing online presence with directories. The problem many individuals and businesses face, however, is how to find the right web directories to submit their site to.

A directory submission service offers a solution: rather than the individual or company having to find sites for submitting their web pages, a directory submission service maintains a database of these internet directories. When you hire a directory submission service to market your website, either through a scripted process or a manual process, the service will submit your site.