With so many phone books out there, it can be hard to choose which ones are worth being listed in. These days, most of them not only have a print version of their book, but also have an online presence. This also gives the advertisers more options, such as having a video clip attached to their online listing page. Today I will review the top 3 on my list: YellowPages, Canpages, and Goldbook.
Yellow Pages

Probably the largest, most recognized and therefore most expensive directory out there for both print and online advertising. They now have Canada 411 and other directories which enhances their presence. Even though they are a valuable directory to be in, I wouldn’t go ahead and dump all my advertising dollars in this one. Only if your budget is big enough, they might be a viable option.

Alexa Ranking for www.yellowpages.ca is approximately: 5,500

Canpages

Their print portion is growing quite rapidly across the nation. Their online portion is quite unique. You can get a free online link throughout Canpages, without paying for an online listing. This is the only one of the 3 that gives you a free online link when you get your business in their online directory…so in terms of getting stuff for free, Canpages ranks number 1. They do offer a sponsored listing, which may or may not be worth it. I found that in some categories, the competition is so slim, that a regular free listing will do, especially if your company’s name is closer to the start of the alphabet.

Alexa Ranking for www.canpages.ca is approximately: 12,000

Goldbook

Probably weaker than Canpages in terms of their print distribution, but stronger in terms of their local online presence in southern Ontario. They were purchased by The Toronto Star, and are affiliated with many other local newspapers and search sites. You will find their search bar on www.thestar.com and many other local sites, which helps attract many users. Goldbook charges $25 for a listing, and $5 for every additional link. They create a content page for your business, which seems to be more search engine friendly compared to the short abbreviated listings in other directories.

Alexa Ranking for www.goldbook.ca is approximately: 65,000

Don’t rely on just one of theses directories. Ideally, if you can be in all 3, than you’ll be way ahead of the game. If you can’t afford that - start with the smallest package from one or two directories, and work your way to larger ads. Test the directory first, before you dump your whole advertising budget with one vendor.

Below is a list of tools and links where you can check valuable information in regards to your website. You can also use these valuable tools to check out your competition. If they are ranking high in the search engines, it may not be such a bad idea to follow some of their internet marketing endeavors. In the links below, we have used WebStar Multimedia as an example. When you use the tools we’ve suggested, simply replace our URL with yours and drop it into your web browser’s address bar.

Dmoz Listings

You can arguably say that Dmoz is the best free directory on the net, and probably the most trusted. To check if your website has been included in the Dmoz directory swap your URL with ours in the following link: http://search.dmoz.org/cgi-bin/search?search=webstarmultimedia.com.

As a Dmoz editor, I can say that the number one thing we look for when editing a website is the quality of the content. If your content is not original than you will have a hard time getting accepted in this directory.
Yahoo Directory Links

Yahoo Directory is one of the most important paid directories online, along with Business.com. To check if your company is listed, see the following link: http://search.yahoo.com/search?n=100&dups=1&p=linkdomain:www.webstarmultimedia.com++site:dir.yahoo.com

If your website is not listed, and you’re a non commercial site, than you can submit it for free. If it is a commercial site, you’re looking at $300US for inclusion.
Yahoo Inbound Links

Yahoo inbound links are a great way to monitor your link building progress. It’s also a great tool to see how your competitors are building links. When looking for new ways to build links, I often use the following tool to see who others have built links with: http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/search?p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.webstarmultimedia.com&bwm=i&bwmf=s&bwmo=&fr2=seo-rd-se.
Who is

Who is tool from Domain Tools provides some potentially useful information about one’s URL and website. Check out: http://whois.domaintools.com/webstarmultimedia.com to find out about your own URL or someone else’s.

Social Search Engine Optimization, or simply Social SEO has become the new buzzword for search engine marketers.  According to various SEO professionals - directory submissions, link building and other SEO practices are slowly becoming a thing of the past and we must begin moving towards new strategies, if we plan to stay competitive. 

Ideally, you can still carry on traditional SEO strategies, but also incorporate new ones.  If you want to compete in tomorrow’s SEO world, than social SEO might be your best bet.  Social SEO can be defined as a method used to promote your site by creating awareness on social network sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Youtube or bookmarking sites such as Del.icio.us and Digg.  Social media types include forums, blogs, message boards, wikis and pod casts. 

Anyway you can create a ‘buzz’ around your site, you are surely guaranteed to bring in traffic.  If you have good content, people will link to you.  You can even consider Social SEO as a form of link building.

Best way to start your Social SEO campaign is to register on sites such as Facebook, MySpace and create a company or website profile.  Add pictures, write descriptions and put links up to your website.  You can also register at bookmarking sites and ’tag’ your own website.

Just remember, the more profiles you have, the more you ‘tag’, the more traffic you will get…and ultimately, the higher your search engine ranks will be.