The Value of Industry-Specific Directories for Local Search

Broad local search returns every business near a zip code. That works for restaurants and fails for specialized services, where the nearest provider may not be the right provider. Industry specific directories solve this by limiting the search to one type of business before location even enters the query.

When a consumer uses one of the industry specific directories in the Directory Holdings portfolio, the location filter is the last step, not the first. The category is already chosen, so the local results are all relevant to the question the consumer actually asked.

A general directory's categories are a compromise across every business type. Industry specific directories get to define categories the way the industry defines itself, which makes the filters useful instead of decorative.

That difference shows up in how a consumer searches. On a niche directory, the filters describe real distinctions within the industry, not generic buckets. The search gets more specific and the results get more useful, because the directory was built around that one industry.

Comprehensive sounds like a virtue until you actually search a comprehensive directory and spend your time filtering out the wrong categories. Industry specific directories trade comprehensive for useful: fewer listings, all of them relevant, none of them from the wrong industry.

That tradeoff is the whole case for a portfolio of focused directories over one mega-site. Local search gets better when the directory has already chosen the industry, and the consumer gets to compare providers instead of categories.