The Role of Online Building Product Directories for Marketing

The Role of Online Building Product Directories

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I often get asked by marketers….

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“Should we have a company profile in this product directory?”

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Answer: “It depends….”

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……on your objectives

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……on your budg£t

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Are you a BIG brand?

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Or are you a small brand?

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BIG?

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Then most of your traffic should be coming via here anyway

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…and most Specifiers know of you already.

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Small?

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Then your question shouldn’t start with “Should we?”

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Your question should start with “Can we?”

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Because you’re probably not getting a lot of traffic to your website anyway.

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Also depends on how many websites are referring traffic to

your site…

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Check….Using Google Analytics

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Look  at  this  figure  here  over  

12  months  

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….if the number is less than 50, then think about getting involved with

building product directories

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Whether or not you should get involved with product directories….

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Whether or not you should get involved with product directories….

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…also depends on some SEO metrics

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Do you have a low domain authority and not really visible in Google?

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Hang on a minute MR PATEL!!

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“WTF is domain authority?”

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Domain authority is a measure of the power of a domain name and is one of many search engine ranking factors.

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Linking from a site with a high domain authority can help improve

your own domain authority

Check yours ….Using Open Site Explorer

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Check yours ….Using Open Site Explorer

“What’s a good domain authority to have within the construction sector?”

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40+   Strong

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40+  

20-­‐39  

Strong

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Room for improvement

40+  

20-­‐39  

5-­‐19  

Strong

Room for improvement

Need to improve big time!

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Covering  my  ass:  Those  ra)ngs  are  my  opinion  only  and  based  on  experience  analysing  gazillion  sites  across  the  construc)on  sector  

To increase your sites DA, you’ll need to earn some good quality links

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….a starting point is to get links from construction product directories

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So….

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…just how authoritative are the most popular UK construction & building

products directories?

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0  

10  

20  

30  

40  

50  

60  

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0  

10  

20  

30  

40  

50  

60  

priteshpatel.me

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0  

10  

20  

30  

40  

50  

60  

Get on it!

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…they’re all worthy of getting involved in

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20-­‐39  If your website domain authority is in this range….

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...then having a profile, with a link, in a directory can help increase your DA

over time.

Also depends on how many good links you already have pointing to your website.

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Check….Using Open Site Explorer

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Check….Using Open Site Explorer

Daaaaamn! I need to get my ass into gear

NOTE: Domain Authority doesn’t change over night.

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NOTE: Domain Authority doesn’t change over night.

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It takes months, if not years depending how serious you are about marketing

and building a brand

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BUT….

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...let’s not forget the purpose of an online products directory.

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It’s not necessarily there to refer traffic to your site…

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…or to help you with increasing your own domain authority.

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It’s there to make it easier for Specifiers to find lots of products…

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It’s there to make it easier for Specifiers to find lots of products…

…all in one, convenient, relevant place.

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…..and remember….

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…..and remember….

your product is only a tiny piece of a massive jigsaw puzzle the Specifier is trying to solve.

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Imagine having to use Google to source all those products for one

project….

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Imagine having to use Google to source all those products for one

project….

For many Architects…

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Imagine having to use Google to source all those products for one

project….

For many Architects…

…research time = unbilled hours.

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<rant> Plus…lazy ass marketers don’t optimise their websites making it even harder for Specifiers to find shit! </rant>

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Think about it…..

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Think about it…..

…if every Specifier clicks through to your site then either your profile sucks or the directory

isn’t doing its job

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…an online products directory merely helps you get discovered.

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…an online products directory merely helps you get discovered.

…a discovery that you may never know about.

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…OK, let’s just summarise

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“Should we have a company profile in this product directory?”

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It depends on…

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Budg£t

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Overall online objectives

Budg£t

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Brand awareness

Overall online objectives

Budg£t

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Brand awareness

Domain authority

Overall online objectives

Budg£t

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Brand awareness

Number of good links

Domain authority

Overall online objectives

Budg£t

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Brand awareness

Number of good links

Domain authority

Number of referring sites

Overall online objectives

Budg£t

priteshpatel.me

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Finally some tips….

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If you’re a BIG brand…

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If you’re a BIG brand…

…don’t just think about the link.

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If you’re a BIG brand…

…don’t just think about the link.

…think about additional PR opportunities and brand building

priteshpatel.me

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If you’re a BIG brand…

…don’t just think about the link.

…think about additional PR opportunities and brand building

small

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If you’re a small brand….

…then online product directories can be a good platform to start building your online

visibility.

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Don’t expect lots of referral visits…

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Don’t expect lots of referral visits…

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Don’t expect lots of referral visits…

…the job of a product directory is to offer the Specifier everything in one place

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Don’t forget…

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Don’t forget…

…about multi-channel funnels for working out the role of online directories

priteshpatel.me

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Don’t forget…

…about multi-channel funnels for working out the role of online directories

priteshpatel.me

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Don’t forget…

1st visit to your website: Online product directory

…about multi-channel funnels for working out the role of online directories

priteshpatel.me

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Don’t forget…

1st visit to your website: Online product directory

4st visit to your website & enquiry submitted: Online product directory

…about multi-channel funnels for working out the role of online directories

priteshpatel.me

@priteshpatel9

Don’t forget…

1st visit to your website: Online product directory

4st visit to your website & enquiry submitted: Online product directory

Time: 24 days

…about multi-channel funnels for working out the role of online directories

priteshpatel.me

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Once you’ve got your profiles set up…

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Once you’ve got your profiles set up…

…shout about it!

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Once you’ve got your profiles set up…

…shout about it!

…link to it from your website!

priteshpatel.me

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Once you’ve got your profiles set up…

…shout about it!

…link to it from your website!

…raise the visibility of your profile page just like you would for your own

Twitter page.

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Thank you for your time

Any questions: @priteshpatel9