Your Search Engine Optimisation Expert – Sheldon Nesdale

Today I was asked for my secret list of the best free online New Zealand directories.

Since I just started giving away my Search Engine Optimisation ebook for free, I might as well share my list of NZ directories too.

The funny thing about free online directories is that they might be free to get a link on them back to your website, but it can cost you the most precious resource of all – TIME.

Some registration processes can take up to 30 minutes to work through.

Is the pay-back (in terms of a high quality back-link) justify the cost of your labour?

Sometimes it doesn’t.

But you’re in luck, my list is here to help.

Why is it important to add your website to these directories?

Because every link back to your website is an indication to Google that your website is important.

This search engine optimisation technique is often called “link-building” or “back-linking”.

The best place to start your link building is by using human edited directories because Google favours them.

List of The Best FREE Online NZ Directories (In Priority Order):

1. Dmoz.org (New Zealand)
   • Worldwide directory actually, but has 2-thumbs-up from Google, so put a link to your website here first (and it can take ages before it is approved so you might as well start the process now)
2. Finda.co.nz
   • In my opinion the very best online directory in New Zealand. An official Google partner. Automatic submission to Google Maps, UBD.co.nz & Wises.co.nz. Easy to use. Good looking profile pages
3. NZS.com (“New Zealand Search”)
   • Really good quality. Great looking graphics. Good profile pages.
4. HotFrog.co.nz
   • Impressive presence in Google.co.nz for a variety of searches.
5. Zenbu.co.nz
   • Very cool map-based business directory.
6. MadeFromNewZealand.com
   • High quality. Lots of features.
7. NZPages.co.nz
   • Good, clean, “minimalist” directory.
8. Google Local Business Centre
   • After your free Finda listing has placed a marker on Google Maps for you, “claim” your business using Google LBC and add more details about your business
9. Yalwa.co.nz
   • Global directory, with dedicated subdomains to New Zealand cities.  Free text in the description field, you can add hyperlinks (this is rare)
10. NZWebZ.co.nz
    • Ok
11. ZipLeaf.co.nz
    • “In growing stages, clean/sharp graphics, up to date functions. Promising” – [Thanks to James for his review]
12. NZDirectory.co.nz
    • “Clean/sharp graphics, up to date functions, PR 5 with a lots of categories with PR 4/3, Alexa rank isn’t too bad either” – [Thanks to James for his review]

Quality Non-NZ Directories That ARE Worth Your Time:

1. AboutUs.org
2. Squidoo.com

Criteria For The Best NZ Directories:

To get on the official list above, the directory must meet most of these criteria:

1. Does Google like it?
   • Does the directory often appear in Google.co.nz Search Engine Results for a variety of NZ searches?
   • How good are the directories own Search Engine Rankings?
   • What SEO techniques does the directory use?
2. Is the process of adding my website to the directory easy, intuitive and quick?
3. Will it provide a clean hyperlink to my website?
   • “No-follow” hyperlinks are of little use to us
   • Redirection “tracker” hyperlinks are not as good
4. Is the website approval time short?
5. Are the other websites in the directory high quality? (Eg, have the webmasters let spammy websites through?)
6. Can I specify my own anchor text for my hyperlink?

Other NZ Directories That ARE NOT Worth Your Time

1. NZSearch.co.nz & SearchNZ.co.nz
   • 5 years ago these directories were great because there was little else to choose from, but the web developers abandoned it long ago and it has slowly rotted away.  Badly in need of an overhaul.
2. PiperPat.co.nz
   • Crude, old, but effective (Page Rank 6!). But I have had no response to my requests for additions for over 6 months.

Other NZ Directories I Haven’t Reviewed Yet

If you have used any of them, please write a short review of your own, in the comments below.

1. SearchZone.co.nz (Looks promising actually, worth a closer look)
2. Gopher.co.nz (Worth a closer look)
3. SosNow.co.nz
4. DirectoryNZ.net
5. NZWebs.co.nz
6. NZsbDirectory.co.nz (NZ Small Business Directory and Travel Guide)
7. WebsiteDirectory.co.nz
8. WebLinks.NewZealand.co.nz
9. AccessNZ.co.nz
10. BizNZ.com
11. NewZealandWebsites.com
12. IndexNZ.com (Ghastly!)
13. KiwiDirectory.co.nz
14. LinkNow.co.nz (Hideous)
15. BizDirectoryNZ.com
16. GoNZoz.com
17. Go4NewZealandBusiness.com
18. FindMe.net.nz
19. FindItOnline.co.nz
20. mKiwi.com

List of NZ Directories You Have To Pay For:

For the sake of completeness I thought I better start a list of “paid-inclusion” directories too, so here it is.

1. Yellow.co.nz
2. WorkBoot.co.nz
3. iLook.co.nz

Is There a New Zealand Directory Missing?

What other New Zealand directories do you think should be added to any of these lists? Add them in the comments below.

I must admit, I was a little nervous when I did my Google Advertising Professional Exam today.

It had been 2 years since I first passed the exam and I was worried that a lot has changed since.

What I’ve done to prepare for the Adwords Exam:

1. I have spent several hours over the last few weeks preparing by reviewing the lessons at the Google Adwords Learning Centre
2. I’ve carefully managed $30,000 of Google Ads expenditure over the last 2 years, for 12 different brands
3. I’ve treated every dollar spent like my own, careful not to waste a cent

The results are calculated immediately after the 90 minute exam is complete. My score: 88.18%. I’m pretty happy with that.

Enough about me, what does this mean for you?

It means that you can trust me with your Adwords campaigns.

So come on, let’s work together to generate a steady stream of customers to your website.  Let’s talk: email me, or phone me on (07) 575 8799 (Tauranga, NZ)

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), is the selection of phrases that you want to rank highly for and inserting those phrases in several areas of your website so when search engines such as Google crawl your website with their robots (bots), they come to the conclusion that your website is the right place to send visitors.

Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing (SEM), takes several steps back and looks at the big picture. It asks fundamental questions first such as:

1. What is the purpose of our website?
2. Who are our target audiences?
3. What action do we want them to take?
4. How will they find our website?
5. Could we benefit from using pay-per-click (PPC) advertising such as Google Adwords?

The great thing about using both “Sponsored Search” (where you pay for clicks) and “Organic Search” (where you don’t pay for clicks, Google just thinks your site is the right one to recommend), is that Sponsored Search can help you find out very quickly what search terms people are actually use them. Then you can test which keywords and phrases make high profit conversions for you and roll them out for your Organic Search Optimisation.