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The internet is brimming with web directories. These web directories belong to different subject matters, such as articles, business, web hosting, ebooks - the list goes on. For the most part, these web directories do what they are supposed to do. They provide a single online location to find various listings providing links to different sites on the internet. Their primary objective is to direct the readers to the exact thing they are looking for.

A business web directory provides a complete listing of businesses available, both online and those which are offline, but host websites. Other businesses find business directories very helpful, because it’s easy to find any services or products they don’t have through their own business. Even the general consumer gets some benefit from web-based business directories, because they can easily find the most suitable seller when making direct online purchases.

There are certain guidelines, standards and conventions that business directories are expected to follow, though there are no hard and fast rules. Reliable directories usually follow these guidelines.

Organisation - A good online business directory must be well-organised. Relevant categories and sub-categories must be carefully thought out and implemented. The navigation must be basic and user-friendly, with all the interconnected links in one area. A clean, concise layout is very important.

Content Updates - Keeping the directory updated frequently brings in a lot of web traffic and if a directory lacks content changes, such as new links, it can be considered as dead. A high-quality business directory is constantly updated, because there’s always lots of traffic and many businesses take the time to submit their own sites.

PageRank - Search engines, such as Google, rank web pages according to its popularity and this is known as the PageRank. It’s different from the rankings on organic search engine results. When a directory has a high PageRank, the links in it have better strength for driving traffic.

Keyword Selection - A high-quality business directory has to focus on generating traffic for their linked sites, so using proper keywords to direct visitors appropriately matters a lot. Instead of just showing a list of links, a good business directory helps you find the right business by keyword-based searches.

By using these key characteristics to determine if an online business directory is worth your time and effort, you can choose the highest quality directory, regardless of whether you want to post your own links or just find out about a specific company.