Business directory madness is when you search the web and find business listings that aren't correct. That's because the majority of online business directory listings are generated by computers and you're wondering why? and how do you find legitimate business information?
Most business directory pages are like billboards on the side of the road. Most business directory pages are computer generated and someone gets paid when you click the ads on the page!
Real business owners don't have enough time or money to find, claim and edit these business directory listings to give you valid information. That's why consumers need to understand what's happening online, and this story will illustrate the problem.
Business Directory Manta = Madness
What I will share with you is the incredible amount of information Manta has published, some of it private and most of it wrong. Wrong because I owned a handyman business for 8 years, and my new business is about creating and connecting 2 online communities – women homeowners and home professionals who serve homeowners. Does this sound like a roofing company?
Business Directory Advertising
First let's look at why this page exists. Remember the billboard analogy, the page exists to host advertisements like pages in a magazine or newspaper so here is the truth about this page (click to view business directory listing behind this article).
- 2 large banner ads, 1 at the top (American Express) and another one (Home Depot) at the bottom of the page.
- 1 box ad (EMC, a technology company) in the middle of the page.
- 10 line ads sprinkled throughout the page.
- Plus 35 links to other Manta pages which helps fool the search engines into thinking there's valid content here.
- Plus another “computer generated” page with similar ads, for the business owner profile?
- Plus a “Reports” page with 5 more ads but wait, you can also buy 1 of 6 reports from Dunn & Bradstreet who apparently has sold this business information to Manta?
- Plus “Map” page with 6 more ads
- Plus “Web Results” page with 6 more ads
Business Directory Listing: Four Walls One Roof LLC
What's difficult to describe is how I feel writing this article. After years of hard work keeping my business and personal lives separate, it feels like my life and home have been invaded by hordes of people I don't even know and it's kind of creepy. Maybe that's what the electronic age is about but it's not right.
| Business Directory | Information Correct or Wrong? |
| Type of business | Absolutely crazy … “Four Walls One Roof LLC in Hampton, NH is a private company categorized under Roofing Contractors” |
| Name | Four Walls One Roof LLC is correct when spoken, but you can see at lower left that correctly written, it's 4 Walls 1 Roof LLC |
| Address | My home address which I have not published anywhere! |
| Phone | My home phone number which I have not published anywhere! |
| Contacts | My husband's name although he's not involved in the business |
| 1 link away | More fiction … “Current estimates show this company has an annual revenue of $XXX,000 and employs a staff of X.” |
Business Directory listings is very crucial for most of the business as it made helpful in the development of theirs. And the placement of Advertise also more important because one should concentrate on the exact place where most of the users see.
Santosh, The problem is directory listings really only benefit the owner of the directory, not the businesses listed there, Business owners don’t have time to find & update the hundreds of listings generated by computer and prospective buyers are misled into thinking the information was provided by the business when it was not, and often is wrong. 4 Walls 1 Roof is not a roofing business, it’s a media company and this hurts my business!