Hi, talking to a good fellow directory owner it seems we have differences over the distinction between a Business Directory Vs YPages; i would not like to name him or any specific site; i rather have a healthy discussion than flame throwing/ gangism here; well according to me a: Business directory is a web directory which lists local/ regional/ international business houses with their full contact info/ addresses irrespective of whether they have a site or not; and Yellow Pages is a web resource which in actuality is an online/ offline telephone directory of businesses, categorized according to the product or service provided. the difference seems like a fine line, ... but am told if they done have a link back to the site, as in not giving PR value/ backlnks/ visitors it is just Yellow Pages.! Your comments are appreciated. Regards, M.
thanks for your point, and it seems you thread answered part of my question long time. I was confused and still confused a little bit now.
If that business directory doesn't provide links to sites then it's yellow pages or simply web resource and not web directory. Web Directory must have URL so people can visit site and without this option that Business directory it just another phone book. My 2 cents
Well, it's just arguing over semantics. But (in the online world), people generally expect any site calling itself a "directory" to provide a link (or multiple) in hopes of backlinks, SERPs, PR, traffic, etc. If it the site does nothing for you SEO-wise...well then it's not really a "directory" to most people.
It's funny cuz Yellow Pages is actually a trademark of Telstra...but it's so commonly used that its totally lost its "name"-value! As far as I am concerned, I believe if a "directory" ONLY shows address of the business (with or without number) AND without any business operation description whatsoever...it's nothing but a yellow pages in guise of a directory!
i think i relate to your statement a hell lot now,.... the more i think about it the more confused i get,... till yesterday i was very sure i got it right! precisely, as i said the difference is just a thin line, lets say a business directory makes the URL field optional, ... some businesses have sites some dont, Or a yellow pages site, adds a URL field, and comment field... again an issue... would your answer be the same if u were from a geographical location, perhaps a developing nation like India, where still businesses are done on a face to face bases? major "local"/ state level businesses, unless otherwise engaged in imports/ exports, do not invest that much online,.... so what a local/ regional "business directory" would reject their submission, coz they dont have a website? im sure even in US, in an hypothetical scenario, IF a 100 odd year old burger joint, famous across the state and nearby states, doesnt have a site, .... would it be rejected from a state level "business directory"?? am sure local ppl would probably laugh on the directory owner, for missing it out, than chide the joint owner! another scenario being if the "directory" without link-back would make details pages of all listings in it, thereby going across to search engines, and visitors alike as the unofficial webpage of the business, would it still be tagged YPages? theres a famous Indian business Directory [b2b] which does this, and googling for loads of the niche businesses by name, this directory details page comes up,.... and visitors actually call these people from there itself.... [the reason why one of my local clients stopped maintaining his site; free kills another business] this does make some sense, as in the feel is YPages owner added the address field. EDIT: Lastly directories in the real sense, ....apart from what they have become "NOW", were actually just an online catelog,.... NOT in any way directed to SEO,... as directories are older than search engines, and thus any form of SEO!!! thus the SEO angle is just contemporary to what directories have boiled down to.... ! ... and am off to bed! M.
msolution Then why would I pay business.com if it won't send visitors my way? Because of phone number you'll say or my business address that can be used for people to find me. But I have that info all over my web site plus my company information, plus list of services, prices etc. so people can see what I have to offer before they call me and because my web site is my Business Card, I pay money to Yahoo and business.com to have my web site listed and to have link to my site. The keyword is web as in web site, web directory etc. Historically web directories was created to list web sites and not to catalog business names and that is how it should stay.
Can you point me to one single entry in Google, Bing, Yahoo, DMOZ that has no site URL in it? If business doesn't have web site, then that business as far as SE and Directories concerned doesn't exist.
That's not true. My brother owns a Pet Store. He doesn't have a web site. But his business is listed in the search engines.
till the time i did not register my business domain name, google used to show my freelance review page on the first page! and then ( ...later... ) my wikimapia.com entry! i surely existed then and now!