Business directory is a niche directory that accepts submissions from business or ecommerce sites. Business site refers to site that represents a company. Ecommerce (Electronic commerce) sites are sites that sell products and services on the internet for example, online florist, or online computer store.

Before the advent of internet, business owners are entitled to a few listing directory listing options including yellow books, general directories, and specific industry directories. Yellow pages used to be a primary advertising source for small business. Despite that, the cost of yellow page advertising has been increasing each year. There are also fewer people who are perusing the yellow directory.

General business directories offer valuable services to individuals who are looking for services in their location. Specific industry directories list business in a certain industry such as textile, pet, computer and etc. Now, all three directories are available on the internet. Most of the business directories also offer free inclusion for the business websites.

In a business directory, the categories are categorized into different states, cities and countries. Getting your site listed in a business directory will drive targeted customers to your site. Your conversion rate will increase. As a result, you will make more sales and increase in income.

The approval time for each business directory vary from one another. Some directory will approve instantly while others take several months. If you want to speed up the approval time, you can purchase a paid listing in the business directory. If you can afford it, you should use paid submission because your link will be listed in a higher position and featured in the directory. Paid submission is useful if the directory receives a large amount of traffic.

When submitting your site, make sure it is submitted to the most relevant category. Some directory allows you to submit to a specific category. There are also other directories that allow you to submit to top level category for free of charge. Despite that, you should submit to the sub category that is relevant to the type of business. The more relevant the category is, the more valuable the link will be. Having a few valuable links is more effective than having tons of spam links.

If your business caters to an audience in a specific geographical location, you can submit it to a regional business directory. Since the visitors are from the same specific location, they will be able to visit your store conveniently.

If you don’t have time for the directory submission, you can outsource it to a SEO company. They will help to submit your site to SEO friendly business directories. Before signing up for a package, you can ask them to show you the portfolio. You can also read reviews to find out what other customers are talking about their services. If the overall feedback is good, you can rest be assured that their services are legitimate. You should also perform price comparison between different SEO company so that you can make an informed decision.