There are two types of web based directories – general directories and niche directories or topic based directories. Whereas, general directories such as Yahoo directories are vast, have a larger client base and also have exposure to a greater number of people and thus sometimes higher rankings in search engines, the URL or link of a site tends to be crowded among a huge number of other URLs. Very often, the browser tends to lose interest in sifting through a large number of links and thus may even miss out on some of the links.

 

Niche directories are divided into categories. These categories are quite specific. For instance, a category may be labelled ‘real estate’ or ‘children’ or ‘cars’. Therefore, niche directories attract visitors who are interested in what one’s own web site is offering. Also, niche directories have a smaller number of links in each category, thereby retaining the browser’s interest and sometimes also leading to the browser clicking on all the links thereby generating a greater number of clicks per view.

Registering one’s web site with a niche directory also helps to popularise the web site.

 

The search engines crawl through these web directories and thus if one’s web site has not been tracked by a major search engine, registering with a niche directory helps in the web site being tracked by search engines and thus showing up on user searches. Niche directories, as opposed to general directories, have a greater visibility on search engines. Suppose, you want to promote a web site offering ‘football merchandise’ and a user searches ‘football merchandise websites’ on a search engine, then among the top search results will be niche directories about ‘football merchandise’. Thus, the user will be directed to a concentrated list of web sites offering what the user wants. Not only will more users who have made up their mind as to what they are looking for specifically be directed to your web site but also your web site will be placed along with similar web sites and thus people can compare your web site with similar web sites and it can help in promoting your web site among peer web sites.

 

Niche directories charge a small fee for registering usually but the investment is worth it as niche directories are much more useful than general directories as it has a greater visibility to customers who have made up their minds as to what they want to buy. Some niche directories do not charge fees. In stead, they publish content from your site directly in their directory but also display the link of the web site the content is taken from. This works out even better for the web site owner, as the user is most likely to go to the original web site if she or he is interested in what she or he is reading and the web site owner does not have to pay for getting the web site registered with the niche directory.