Independent UK Business Directories

[Guybeard90]

Hey everyone,

I have been looking to put my online store's name out there a little and am considering using the services of some UK Made / Independent Business directories.

I know that some business directories have little merit. But I wondered if anyone had any experience with the kinds of directories that I mentioned specifically. If so, I'd love to know which ones and how much they cost? Or any free ones...!

I was hoping it might be a good way of securing some low DA backlinks and starting the process of building my own page authority.

Any help appreciated.

Guy

 

[fisicx]

I was hoping it might be a good way of securing some low DA backlinks and starting the process of building my own page authority.

Not worth the effort. Google stopped giving weight to directories years ago.

Niche directories may give you some traffic but it's unlikely. When was the last time you Googled something and found what you wanted on a directory?

 

[Guybeard90]

Yes, kind of what I thought, to be honest. I thought I'd pose the question as most of these sites I found are stores but also have an optional 'makers directory' for £10 a year. I wondered if some of their visits might end up seeing this, but I suppose it is very unlikely.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Waste of time

 

[Clinton]

Niche directories may give you some traffic but it's unlikely. When was the last time you Googled something and found what you wanted on a directory?

I don't know if this is industry specific though.

For specialist services, directories are great. I used such a directory recently to find a dietician I could hire to advise on a particularly tricky ongoing problem with a sick relative and to put an argument together for why doctors should change her treatment. If you're looking for membership bodies / trade associations etc, the TAF directory is invaluable. And I know from first hand experience that a lot of people looking to sell their business use the iTABB directory to find the right business broker.

But if you're looking for the best local Chinese takeaway, or a solicitor to advise on a trade dispute, or someone who can fix your mobile phone screen, you are more likely to use Google than a directory.

One of the main advantages of a directory is, I suppose, the ability to fine tune within a profession to get to the specific expertise you need. Another is where the directory provides further information on the listed companies perhaps even with user rating / feedback.

Where geography is the prime consideration - I want a mobile phone shop nearby - Google may be better.

 

[WebshopMechanic]

Online directories are a very tiny tick in the box when it comes to SEO. Citations do pass trust but not much because, like most things online, it's been abused by people.

Your best bet is to work on partnerships and promotions with other complimentary stores. Link up with partners who share the same audience but who are not in competition. Create partnership and promotion blog posts to past authority.

Also look at niche blogs and (dare I say) influencers to see if you can get featured by them or place a guest post. Try to offer them value rather than just asking for them to give you free publicity. How can you make worthwhile for them?

Don't try to be everywhere. Be targeted. You need to go where your audience hangs out.

Regarding links, you should aim for high-quality links rather than a ton of crappy ones. Check out the Ahrefs domain authority checker for decent quality sites (https://ahrefs.com/website-authority-checker). Anything above 30 is worth bothering with. Higher authority domains will want paying to be featured. It won't be easy but it's all about perseverance.

You can find guest post opportunities by using these Google searches:

The “write for us” approach:
“[your keyword]” +”write for us”
“[your keyword]” +”write for me”
“[your keyword]” +”become a contributor”
“[your keyword]” + “guest post”
“[your keyword]” +”blogging guidelines”
keyword + “guest post guidelines”
“[your keyword]” +”contribute”
“[your keyword]” + “guest column”
“[your keyword]” +”submit a guest post”
“[your keyword]” + “accepting guest posts”
“[your keyword]” + “Now Accepting Guest Posts”
“[your keyword]” +”contribute to this site”

(These have been taken by this great article https://roypovarchik.com/leverage-googles-search-operators-find-guest-post-opportunities/20973/)

Depending on your products, you could also use Google Shopping as this is a low-cost way of driving sales of many products and has a pretty good conversion rate usually. It's certainly more direct than Adwords and Facebook Ads.

Hope that helps.

Matt

 

[Mr D]

The best directories to be in are the ones people will use.

I look at trade fair directories - the list of which exhibitors attended.

 

[Highland Spring]

Sadly Google introduced a filter called Penguin which meant that links of this kind are now are very low value and may even drag your site down if you have too many of them. Gone are the good old days pre 2010 when you get great results from listing in 100's of those "list of links" types of sites.

 

[Andy Harris]

Although there are exceptions, most of the online directories survive by convincing their customers that there's value in paying for a listing. They also often quote Google positioning as being a reason, but you'll often find that searches for product/service types don't display the directories anywhere.

We've proven over and over (to our customers) that clicks they get from directories are wildly lower than what the directories themselves claim there to have been.

There are though, many businesses who blindly pay for their listings, not benefiting, and who coudl be using that budget in better ways.

 

[Andy Harris]

Regarding links, you should aim for high-quality links rather than a ton of crappy ones. Check out the Ahrefs domain authority checker for decent quality sites (https://ahrefs.com/website-authority-checker). Anything above 30 is worth bothering with. Higher authority domains will want paying to be featured. It won't be easy but it's all about perseverance.

And of course the downside of having a decent DA score is the flood of guest post etc. requests gained, most of which have zero relevance to our business/the audience we serve.

 

[ethical PR]

Hey everyone,

I have been looking to put my online store's name out there a little and am considering using the services of some UK Made / Independent Business directories.

I know that some business directories have little merit. But I wondered if anyone had any experience with the kinds of directories that I mentioned specifically. If so, I'd love to know which ones and how much they cost? Or any free ones...!

I was hoping it might be a good way of securing some low DA backlinks and starting the process of building my own page authority.

Any help appreciated.

Guy

Why would link building from tinpot unknown directories give your page authority?