Sorry to tell you, but directory submissions don’t provide a ton of traffic. Don’t expect to see visitors coming from any directory that you submit your site.  But what can you expect?

You can expect that the links from these directories should count as backlinks to your site if the directory page where your link resides after being approved is cached in Google.  Content may be king, but backlinks are still important.

Niche directories rather than general directories are a much better quality link, so I suggest seeking them out for your niche. Below is a list of travel directories that I have compiled.

Warning: Don’t just submit to Niche directories, but use niche directories as an arrow in your SEO Quiver. Create great content, and remember to use a variety of types of links.

Travel Directories

• All-travel-sites.com premium, but has a lot of free methods..comment on the blog or do a guest post. (my site)
• Travel-Directory.org
• Traveldirectory.org
• TravelandTourismdirectory
• A travel directory for websites that use the .Travel
• Travelandtourism.net directory
• TouristClick.com has a variety of submissions free to $85.
• TravelAxis  free but has a $60 rush submission feature. Has a list of travel directories at the bottom of the page, but has not been updated since 2009.
• World Web Travel Directory

Lists of travel Directories

Rather than go through endless lists and compile my own list of directories, how about a list of other travel directory lists?

• One of my favorites is the list of travel sites on Directory Critic with over 170 travel directories listed.
• TravelAxis.orgs list of travel directories updated in 2009
• WebDirectory.ws has a list of Travel directories that looks like it is updated regularly.
• A pretty old directory list with 39 travel directories.
• InfoVileSilencer.com’s list of free travel directories I have used their lists before..most are good, but some bad ones slip through.. but you just never know.
• I like this list of travel Directories with Stats..some nice stats for each directory that is listed.
• ShortBreaks Travel Travel Directory List

Well, that’s my list of travel directories and list of lists of travel directories that I can recommend. I know there are a ton of directories out there with lists of travel directories or lists of general directories with travel categories. I would recommend using the former, but chose wisely when using general directories with travel categories.

With all the changes Google has made and continues to make, I believe its best to use these sparingly.Variety is not only the spice of life, but is the spice of your SEO.

Be sure to read our other posts on Link Building so you will be sure to do your link building right.

Do you do a lot of networking?

I have had many networking associates say they have a referral for me, and that I should expect a call from so and so, but the call never comes for one reason or another.

Why do I want to give and/or get referrals?

Looking at the Baldydog.com company client list, I see that the majority of our clients were from referrals. Some were from companies that I have done business with, others where just from old clients who were more than satisfied with our work. So if you want business, you need to be giving and getting referrals.

What is a referral?

Any time you tell someone about a product or a business or suggest to someone that they should use said product or service that is a referral.

When you get a lead based upon a referral, you are far more likely to close the deal than you are if you are cold calling.

Referrals are like votes for your brand. The person who refers you is in essence giving your brand a vote.

Ask my dog above and I am sure he would give a vote for that bone in is his mouth…sorry, I just had to work him in..

Tips to get more referrals.

• Ask friends or clients if they have someone they can refer to you.
• When networking, tell people exactly what type of referral you would like to get. For example, I looking for referrals of marketing companies that do Law Firm marketing so they might list their Law Firm SEO clients with Onlinelegaldirectory.com. I am telling people exactly what type of referral I am seeking.
• Give more referrals. People give referrals to people who give them referrals.
• Develop symbiotic relationships. For example, we try to work with lots of web developers, because many web developers don’t do SEO, but they do have lots of clients that need SEO. Then at other times we have SEO clients that need some sort of web development..its a win win situation.
• Go above and beyond what you promise your clients. Since we always give our clients more than what we promise, they love us, and love to send their friends to us.

How to Give a Good Referral

Having been in a BNI(Business Networking International) chapter, I learned their way to give a good referral. Don’t just give a name or contact info for the referral. A lot of times, what I do is ask the person if it would be alright for my friend to give them a call and find out what the best time would be to get a call. So when I am talking to a person about my buddy Tom who fixes computers, I verify with the person that “I am going to have my buddy Tom of LuckyGeek.net give you a call at such and such a time about your PC.” I prefer not to give them Tom’s info and have them call him. Some will, but some won’t .

Get permission to have your friend call the referral at a certain time. Its like scheduling an appointment. Don’t have the referral do the calling.

Additionally, when you are chatting with someone, a need will come up that one of your associates can fix. Be sure to sell your friends services, so that the referral will be waiting for the call. For my buddy Tom, I tell them I have a guy who fixes all sorts of computers and is cheap, and he has a policy that if he can’t fix it there won’t be a charge.

What to Do When You Get A Referral

• Thank the person giving you the referral.
• Call the referral at the designated time or call to reschedule the appointment if it doesn’t fit into your schedule.
• Build your friend up who gave you the referral(don’t bad mouth them)
• If it leads to business, be sure to reward your friend who gave you the referral with praise, thanks, cash, dinner, or a referral..etc.

How do you give and get referrals?

This may not be what you do in regards to getting and giving referrals, but please let me know if you have any referral tips that you use successfully that I have not mentioned.

One of my goals for 2012 is to build Onlinelegaldirectory.com into something of an authority in the niche of Law Firm SEO. That is to say I want it to become a resource that any SEO company that specializes in Law Firm SEO will want to use in their client campaigns.

Creating Law Firm SEO Authority

• redesign/rebuild the legal niche directory.
• establish a regular schedule of submission reviews.
• build the law firm social media network.
• engage others to be involved in the goal.
• Increase revenue for the site that has a decade old domain.
• Develop an associated law firm review blog.

Why invest in this Niche Legal Directory?

As I stated in a previous post, I intend to sell the legal directory, but as it stands it is pretty stagnate. Lets take an inventory.

• It does have a Fanpage and twitter.
• 849 cached pages in Google.
• 264 backlinks found
• 454 listings

What Activities We Do

Within the last year, I did create the Twitter profile and Fanpage. I have been trying to make an effort to find a legal resource that has at least a Twitter profile, to add to the directory. I would then send out a tweet that notifies the site that they have gotten a free 1 year listing to the directory.

Tweeting the links does two things. One it lets the owner know about their listing, and two it helps to get the link cached in Google.

Additionally, if there is an associated blog or Fanpage, I will like them and leave appropriate comments.

What Other activity Can I do?

Do you have any suggestions for activities that I can do to increase the authority of the site?

The new PPC algorithm change from Google has thrown up some interesting challenges for the PPC Agency community; not least, which is king, a website’s home page, or its landing page?

The best way for a PPC Agency to think about this issue, is to consider their target audience.

Now, the PPC algorithm change basically means that those running a campaign will receive a better weighting, if they have strong and relevant landing pages ready for the website user.

Okay, arguably, the Home Page is the mother of all landing pages, because that is where traffic is directed as a matter of course. But, the problem with a Home Page is that it’s almost a contents page and can be very vague at that.

Many modern websites are vast emporiums of information and landing on a page means that the user is facing a bewildering array of facts and information.

How often have we all clicked on a search result on Google, or Bing, and then discovered the resulting page has nothing to do with what we’re after? Or, we have come through to a home page which is so crowded with information, that you also cannot see what you are after.

And most people, when faced with that occurrence, simply click away from the site, frustrated at not only the wasted time, but also annoyed at the ‘brand’ for causing you to waste that time.

This is why landing pages have become so important. A good landing page deals with the specific enquiry that has brought a user onto that page and this is what Google is trying to reward with a heavier weighting within the PPC campaigns.

But, you can see the problem. Landing pages should be specifically tied into the search request and not offer vague information, or feedback. But they are unsuitable for those people who are after the more general information offered by the Home Page after all.

So, the way around this problem is to create properly defined pages to strict search criteria. Let’s say a car company wants to not only bang on about a new model it launched some time ago (and sales are flagging), but would also like to catch people who are interested in all of their brands.

The solution? Two PPC campaigns on different search criteria. It’s the only way. So one campaign which focuses on the company’s brand, the other on the company’s make of car which needs a boost. So two ‘ads’ go online – together with the appropriate key wording – one which goes to the Home Page (corporate) and the other, to a specific landing page which targets the actual model of car.

This then avoids any confusion as to what message the company is trying to get across in corporate and individual model terms.

If you have a Google+ profile, please feel free to connect with Baldydog on Google+  and me Adam Donkus.

I have been using Google plus off and on for several months. It does seem to be a decent way to connect with people that have very similar interests.  I also like it because, well its a Google property.

Be sure to create both a personal page and a page for your company as well. Be sure to add the Google+1 badge in addition to creating your company page, to insure that your site is included in the Google+ directory( that is the directory that is used when someone does a search while logged in to Google+.  Additionally, there are some Google+ directories poping up that are not affiliated with Google+. I am not sure how beneficial getting listed in the non-Google affiliated Google+ directories is, but hey you never know.  Here is a link to once such Google+ directory that accepts free submissions.

Much like Facebook, be sure to add some pictures at the top of your Google+ profile.

I have not used Google+ much, so I don’t have a ton of advice. Got any Google+ advice or blog posts to share?

Google+ Resources

• Kristi Hines post on Social Media Examiner for creating a Google+ Business Page.
• Another good post by Kristi on SME about using Google+ for SEO
• Google+ for Business
• Just came across this post on Google+ 11 GOOGLE+ DIRECTORIES TO HELP YOU MAKE MORE FRIENDS