Starting an Online Business Directory - A Great Way to Get Links

Lots of businesses are looking for a good online business directory

If you've ever tried to promote a business online, finding a good, targeted business directory is a challenge. But the demand for good business directories is high, creating an imballance between supply and demand that you can take advantage of.

Most businesses with web sites seek online business directories to get some good targeted traffic back to their web site. The more specific a business directory is, the more potential there is for targetted traffic.

So, now that you know that there's a good niche to fill by creating a targetted business directory, let's look at what kind of incentive there might be for you.

Getting backlinks to your site is critical for search engine optimization

The most important method of increasing your rank in search engines is getting links back to your site from other web sites. The greater the rank, the greater your traffic, and the greater the traffic the more opportunities you have to generate income from the traffic.

Here's the idea: Make your business directory free, but require a backlink

Most site owners are more than happy to provide a link to a site in return for targeted, quality traffic. It's free and easy to add to their site. You benefit by getting some moderate traffic from those links through interested parties, and you also get a boost in search engine ranking for not just your business directory, but also the web site that includes the business directory.

Starting an online business directory can be pretty dang easy

Even if you don't have much in the way of programming skills, you can start an online business directory with some simple HTML. A database solution would be ideal, but if you don't have the technical knowledge to create the database design for the business directory yourself, or the monetary resources to hire out for it, you can start with some simple, static web pages. Just use Google to let your visitors search the business direcory, and you've pretty much got what you need to get started.

A business directory can eventually become an income-producer

As your business directory becomes more popular and gets more visitors, you can eventually start charging for positions in the directory. For instance, you can charge a sliding scale for the top 3 positions on the pages of the business directory, and have the rest be free.