People can't seem to shake off the magic of online directories. Perhaps it's something wired into our brains. There's this need to classify large amounts of information into neat categories, even in the present age of the search button. What exactly is the power of online directories?

An online directory, similar to the Asian Business Directory, is your library on the web.

No, make that a card catalog. Or a web site catalog. A place where you will find a more or less neat array of sites, hopefully properly classified according to topics that the web surfing public has grown accustomed to: Business, Computers and Technology, Health, and so on.

And that's where the power of an online directory lies: It has the ability to appeal directly to a surfer's ingrained need for order, especially in the fluidly chaotic environment that is the web.

Yet this power is only fleeting. For if a visitor chances upon what appears to be a mere listing of a handful of sites, then the magic is broken, and people retreat to the comfort of the familiar search engines.

Here are suggestions on how to maximize the power of your online directory:

1. Minimized Volume. Make sure your online directory has enough listings to satisfy the curiosity of your viewers. Yet this volume has to be manageable, lest your overwhelm your visitors' senses with reams of text.

Think along the lines of "Top 10 Sites" per category.

2. Eye-Candy. A mere text listing is not enough. Add screenshots or even screencasts, to give your readers a multimedia preview of the sites listed in your directory. As an added bonus, this will help keep your visitors in your site longer.

3. Brainfood. If you think that a scant two-sentence description of each listing is enough, think again. You'll need to highlight the top 3 benefits your readers will gain from those sites.

In other words, help your visitors save time by allowing them to quickly assess if they need to go to those sites or not.

4. Interactivity. Does your online directory allow your visitors to leave comments or even rate the sites listed? Imagine the added benefit of having your site's content generated by your visitors.

Hmmm... Is this starting to sound like a combination of structured social bookmarking and blogging? Well, an online directory has to evolve or run the risk of turning into another powerless cobweb site.

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"The Power Of Online Directories"
First Posted: November 20, 2007 | Filed in: General

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