What he said–review of online directories

Posted on July 13, 2006 by Dave J.

Robert J. (no relation!) just found my blog and left an interesting comment on my last post. In it he left a link to an article called:

Industrial Search Engine Marketing – Industrial Search Engines and Directories.

The author, Mark Forst, offers to “review the major industrial search engines and directories to provide some of my personal experiences and opinions on their quality.” He goes on to give pretty fair assessments of ThomasNet, GlobalSpec, KellySearch, and some others. He errs on the side of being polite, but is more judgmental about cost. Oh, and he does name prices, in case you didn’t know how much these services can cost.

Mark, if you keep writing handy articles like this, you’ll put B2Blog out of business :-)

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  • Anonymous

    Dave, you have been suggesting for quite some time now that you would be doing an evaluation like Mark Frost’s. I’m sure you would not be erring “on the side of being polite”. I’m also sure you know that free speech laws protect your honest opinions based on your specific experiences.You have proven yourself to be an excellant marketer as Espec’s website can be easily found for your main keywords on Google, etc. You have tested many of the online vertical directories and analyzed the results. So, without telling the world your exact Industrial marketing plan, can you give us your frank, expert opinions on each Industrial online vertical, and how they compare to the benefits of having your site be search engine optimized and doing advertising on the search engines directly? Thanks.

  • Anonymous

    Dave, you have been suggesting for quite some time now that you would be doing an evaluation like Mark Frost’s. I’m sure you would not be erring “on the side of being polite”. I’m also sure you know that free speech laws protect your honest opinions based on your specific experiences.You have proven yourself to be an excellant marketer as Espec’s website can be easily found for your main keywords on Google, etc. You have tested many of the online vertical directories and analyzed the results. So, without telling the world your exact Industrial marketing plan, can you give us your frank, expert opinions on each Industrial online vertical, and how they compare to the benefits of having your site be search engine optimized and doing advertising on the search engines directly? Thanks.

  • Dave J.

    Yes, I know. The problem with Mark’s review is the same as I would be concerned about for me…it suits his type of product and marketing universe.The other problems are such an analysis would expose my *lack* of a plan and then attract buzzards from those directories to pick it all over.All that said, I will consider your plea and see how I can do this comfortably. And thank you for the complements! I appreciate it.

  • Dave J.

    Yes, I know. The problem with Mark’s review is the same as I would be concerned about for me…it suits his type of product and marketing universe.The other problems are such an analysis would expose my *lack* of a plan and then attract buzzards from those directories to pick it all over.All that said, I will consider your plea and see how I can do this comfortably. And thank you for the complements! I appreciate it.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks, Dave, for considering an industrial online directory evaluation. As far as how to approach it, just qualify it by limiting it to only the ones you’ve advertised in or have just researched and omitted (and why), and give the extent (listing, small, medium, or large) of the program. While custom plastic components is different than your products, just explain why one online directory may be better of worse than another for your situation. In other words, just be as honest, frank and fair as possible while offering disclaimers and disclosures as needed. Some of these online directories must suit your type of product and marketing universe as you are advertising in, or listed in, them.I would appreciate knowing if your opinion is the same as Mark’s about first optimizing your site (SEO) while having user friendly navigation for optimal conversion, before any budget money is put into any of the online directories. Mark Frost has Captiva Internet Marketing and you have B2Blog. Valuable, authority information like these evaluations (linked on your blog) can help many other people in many diverse industries get insights into where to invest their limited budgets (your competitors probably already know what your doing anyway). They can also increase your blog’s analytic numbers.As for the “buzzards”, just put a written disclaimer in the evaluation that basically states “Don’t contact me, I’ll contact you!”, and if anyone ignors that, they are automatically eliminated from future consideration (no kidding!).(PS) I am NOT a buzzard of any kind and don’t want to sell you anything! I, honestly, just respect your industrial marketing opinions.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks, Dave, for considering an industrial online directory evaluation. As far as how to approach it, just qualify it by limiting it to only the ones you’ve advertised in or have just researched and omitted (and why), and give the extent (listing, small, medium, or large) of the program. While custom plastic components is different than your products, just explain why one online directory may be better of worse than another for your situation. In other words, just be as honest, frank and fair as possible while offering disclaimers and disclosures as needed. Some of these online directories must suit your type of product and marketing universe as you are advertising in, or listed in, them.I would appreciate knowing if your opinion is the same as Mark’s about first optimizing your site (SEO) while having user friendly navigation for optimal conversion, before any budget money is put into any of the online directories. Mark Frost has Captiva Internet Marketing and you have B2Blog. Valuable, authority information like these evaluations (linked on your blog) can help many other people in many diverse industries get insights into where to invest their limited budgets (your competitors probably already know what your doing anyway). They can also increase your blog’s analytic numbers.As for the “buzzards”, just put a written disclaimer in the evaluation that basically states “Don’t contact me, I’ll contact you!”, and if anyone ignors that, they are automatically eliminated from future consideration (no kidding!).(PS) I am NOT a buzzard of any kind and don’t want to sell you anything! I, honestly, just respect your industrial marketing opinions.

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  • outsourcing word

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