Submitting to Directories: A Comprehensive Guide - How to tell which directories are better traffic generators? (cont'd)
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Secondary Reference
There is another way to gage potential for traffic, which we will call here 'secondary reference'. A 'secondary reference' is when a user looks up a term in a Search Engine, say Google, and finds an entry of a Directory page indexed under that term. Should the user click on that entry and visit the Directory, he/she would be faced with several sites listed there, and if appropriate, the user may well click on the Directory listed site and visit it. In other words, the user did not go to the Directory in the first place, but was 'directed' to it from a search engine.
There is no simple way to determine the likelihood of 'secondary reference' traffic from a Directory. But the following factors are bound to play a role:
- To be found in a Search Engine, the pages of the Directory must first be indexed by it. This is sometimes referred to as 'Search Engine Saturation'. The more pages indexed - the greater the likelihood of being found.
- The higher the PR of the home page of the Directory, the bigger the chance of pages from it ranking highly in search results (at least in Google).
- The larger the number of back links the Directory has, the higher the likelihood of users arriving at the Directory for searching purposes from other sites.
In contrast with the simplicity offered by the Alexa ranking, 'secondary reference' cannot be easily quantified, and must therefore remain mostly intuitive and indicative.
Site's rank
The final element you should consider relates to the site's position (or rank) in its category. Most people are aware that the position of a site in the Search Engine results pages is critical. That is -- if your site is not found in the first 2-3 pages (say 30 sites), you will not get any traffic from that search phrase. Few people are aware that the same logic also applies to Directories. For example, Gimpsy claims that nearly 70% of all the click-throughs were generated by the first 10 sites in each category (see their FAQ). Indeed, there is no reason to believe that users will visit page after page of the same category, unless they are looking for something really unique.
Thus, you are more likely to get traffic from a Directory if your site is among the first in its category. If a Directory gives you no control over your position, you are at the mercy of their sorting method. Whenever you are given some freedom (in return for payment, reciprocal promotion or other arrangement), it may be well worth your time to investigate, and if appropriate, take further action.
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