Financial Times

Climbing the eLadder: More on Online Directories
By Nilooka Dissanayake
This week too, let us continue on the topic of online directories and getting listed in one. You might want to ask the web managers these questions before getting listed:

* Who are the closest competitors (for this directory)?
There's hardly any product or service in the market that has no competitors. There is nothing that annoys me more than a salesman who is unable to answer this question. What the average sales person does not understand is that we will believe them more if they acted like they are selling a special product with special features. Do remember to ruffle the sales person who comes to meet you to promote the directory. And don't tell them where this tip comes from!

Before you ask this question, if you know something about competitive websites, you can have more fun. For this, you need to do your homework and spend some time online. You can call up or email other directories and obtain their rates and the many services they offer. And learn about their traffic and visitor profiles.

Last weekend I searched the web and found a few directories offering listings for Sri Lankan companies. Most failed to impress me. There were one or two that appeared to be good. I emailed for advertising rates and they got back to me within a matter of days. So it should be an easy to do your competitive research from office or home.

One thing I noted when I went into the directory listings to see who was listed was that many people did not have an email address. And I know one government directory, which used to have over 3,000 listings online some time ago that had so many dead emails that I simply gave up trying to contact those organizations via email.

So, if you are thinking of getting listed, make sure you have a working email address and that you check it and respond regularly. Otherwise, don't bother to get listed!

To my knowledge, there is no authority in Sri Lanka that tracks visitor levels in Sri Lankan webs. Since there's no tracking, except by the organizations themselves-and they will tell you some fantastic figures-you will have to believe the statistics you are given. It would be prudent to take the statistics, with a bag of salt. Or ask for proof.

* What does the directory do to attract visitors?
* What features do they provide?

These are two more questions to ask. What is the point of putting your goods in a shelf in a supermarket that nobody visits?

You can ask about both what they do online and offline to market the directory for new visitors. Some directories engage in offline activities like sending brochures, inhouse magazines and obtaining advertising space in print media etc. Other do nothing.

Online, they would be using search engine marketing-taking measure to list themselves in search engines-and other techniques to promote visitors to their web. Search engines are a key marketing technique for attracting visitors.

There are things to do, both at the development stage and during marketing to get better rankings. Ask them what they do. You can do a search yourself to check their answer.

In evaluating any online directory, it is also necessary to pay attention to "look and feel" as well as statistics and quantitative aspects.

Does it seem attractive to you?
Does it take a lot of time to load on-heavy graphics tend to do this-and annoy you as a result by the delay?
Is it visitor friendly? Is it easy to visit, browse or reach the information you require?
Will you enjoy coming back for a repeat visit? Or not?
Does it prompt visitors to add it to their favourites/bookmarks?
Is it likely to attract your typical customer, or that segment of your potential customers you are trying to reach?
Are there features that make visitors (take you for example) want to come back again?

Now are you ready to get an online listing for your business?
What are your questions and concerns on climbing the eLadder? Let us know so that we can share these with our readers and seek solutions together. You can contact us on ft@sundaytimes.wnl.lk.

The writer is the Managing Editor of Athwela Vyaparika Sangarawa (Athwela Business Journal), the only Sinhala management monthly targeting the small and medium enterprises, the Ezine Athwela Email Magazine and www.smallbusiness.lk, the bilingual small business website.

Back to Business