2.03 Online directories

There are thousands of online directories. Luckily, most of them don't cover UK veterinary practices so you only have to consider hundreds!

One extra step away
Online directories have a significant disadvantage compared with their print cousins. Before someone can find your practice they first have to find the directory !
Unlike printed directories, bright yellow and propping the door open near the phone, online directories don't appear on every users desktop – the search engines do though. Someone looking online for a practice will probably start with the tool they are used to – their favourite search engine. They have to take a conscious step back from what they are actually searching for to look for a directory instead. They don't generally do that.

Exceptions
There are a handful of online directories that people do use. Yell.com, the online version of UK yellow pages and ThomWeb, which is Thompsons online. People know of these largely as a result of advertising in and for their print cousins. There is also Scoot.com. Scoot has no print equivalent but generated wide public awareness through a high profile advertising campaign in the late ninety's. They have declined dramatically since but were bought by BT in 2002 so may rise from the ashes.

Deregulation
The provision of telephone directory services has recently been deregulated. Since BT lost its monopoly a whole raft of directory service companies have sprung up. These are all in the business to make money so their web sites tend to be hedged round with a need to register and log on and the number of available searches is often limited. These are all advertising their services aggressively in order to gain market share so will be attracting users as long as that lasts. Based on the telephone directory, your listing will be automatic. You may be able to pay for an enhanced listing. It is up to you to decide whether this is cost effective.

Vet only directories
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has an online directory of practices at www.findavet.org.uk. This is the online version of the printed directory that you probably have in your surgery. You can update your details for free.

Hidden data
All the directories we've mentioned so far keep the information they hold about your surgery hidden. They only provide your details to visitors that fill in the search box. When search engines visit, they don't fill in forms. The directory is added to the search engine index, the information about your surgery isn't.

Any UK Vet
The Any UK Vet directory is the one exception. The Any UK Vet database is stored as a series of mini web sites, one for each surgery in the UK. The search engines still can't fill in the forms – but this doesn't matter. Every surgery page can be accessed by clickable links through the country and county listings. The search engines follow these easily as no surgery main page is more than three clicks away from any other of the thousands of pages on the site.

Other directories
A majority of online directories are web directories, only concerned with listing web sites. This means that they are only marginally more useful than a search engine. They may sort sites in some way – by counties commonly – and are likely to provide links to practice sites that don't rank very highly in search engine results. In terms of providing you with useful traffic, their contribution is minimal.

ODP
This is one directory where you should get your site listed. The Open Directory Project (ODP) at www.dmoz.org is a directory of web sites edited by human volunteers – over 62,000 of them. Submission is free and, importantly, their data is provided at no charge to the major search engines and others. When your site is listed in the ODP the search engines know that it has been viewed by a real person and belongs in the category of the directory where its listing appears Being listed in the ODP often enhances your ranking in search results.

Local directories
As more and more people get online – and the majority of businesses – so web sites providing links to businesses and services in a relatively small area are becoming more common. You should make a point of searching for examples in your own area, making sure that you are listed and exchanging links.

We welcome your comments, criticism and questions. Click here to e-mail us