There are probably hundreds of online directories out there, many claiming to be the best place to advertise your natural therapies business, but are they really worth the time or the money? We consider both the benefits and the shortfalls in general terms, before taking a more detailed look at 3 of the top Australian online directories.

Why advertise in a directory?

The most obvious reason is to find new clients. But do potential clients use and trust these directories? Do they actually generate new business? I’ve spoken to a fair few practitioners about this, and as far as I can see, the answer is… not very well. Sure the directories do generate occasional referrals, but these are few and far between. I myself run a free natural health directory which generates 1 referral by email each day between 800 practitioners. That’s not a great success rate! So are they worth bothering with?

Despite the low number of referrals, the online health directories may still be worth your time if you have a website. Most directories allow you to list your website address along with your other details (sometimes in return for a link back to them). These links back to your website can help to boost your search engine rankings. Google in particular just loves inbound links. If it sees a website (on the same topic as yours) linking to you then that’s a good thing. If it’s a popular site, then that’s even better, and most of the natural health directories are pretty popular (at least as far as Google goes)! It’s probably not worth paying for a link for this reason alone, but certainly the free directories are well worth listing in.

Here’s the lowdown on some of the better known health directories in Australia. For other directories in Australia and around the world see the Passionate directory.

Natural Therapy Pages

Natural Therapy Pages claims to be Australia’s number 1 natural health site, and has a searchable directory of practitioners at its core. Searchers can enter their postcode or suburb to find therapists of a chosen modality near to their home or place of work. The search results are displayed with the closest therapists being listed first, and visitors can click through to find out more about a therapist. The cost for a listing is $150 pa.

To make the most of a listing, try to connect with your visitors searching the site with appropriate text on your listing, and upload a photo of yourself to appear in the search results.

Natural Therapy Pages is well marketed both online and offline, and consequently has the highest traffic of all the directories reviewed here. It works pretty well as far as searching goes, but I haven’t heard of anyone getting outstanding referrals from here.

Use Nature

Use Nature offers a range of free and paid (from $50 pa) services. Visitors must choose a modality first and then narrow in on the geographical area they’re interested in. Listings are shown with premium ads at the top followed by the free listings. Limited information is shown and the listings are not particularly user-friendly.

To make the most of a listing, go for a free listing with a link to your website (in return for a reciprocal link). You could also consider a paid premium profile listing (from $70 pa) to appear at the top of the page with a little more info.

Use Nature has been around for 5 years and has built up a good amount of traffic. I’ve had the occasional referral through here myself, but once again nothing outstanding.

Zen Alliance

Zen Alliance is a well designed site that allows visitors to search by suburb, choosing either a preferred modality or even, wait for it, a condition they want to treat! Wow - they actually understand that potential clients usually want to fix a problem, rather than say get a massage. The search results include a practitioner photo, practitioner modalities, health funds, availability and location, and visitors can click through for more information.

Listings are free, however you can pay to have marketing features added to your listing. For example, you can add a booking form that sends you an SMS when a client fills it in. You pay each time the form is used. You can also list your website address, but once again you pay every time a visitor clicks through to your site.

Unfortunately Zen Alliance is not yet that popular, but it holds a great deal of promise.

Summary

The free directories are definitely worth a go. If you have a website the inbound links to your site are valuable, and even without this benefit, there’s a chance you could get the odd referral in exchange for a small investment of time.

So would you ever want to list in a paid directory? It probably depends on how well you write your ad, but all in all, I’d say probably not. By all means give it a go, but measure the results to see how well it’s working for you compared to your other marketing activities.

Have you tried any of the natural health directories? Did they work for you? Which ones have you tried? Why not post a comment so that others can benefit?

Happy Marketing!

Catherine Doyle

………………………………………………………………………………….
Founder, Soothed - web design & online marketing for natural therapists
Editor, natural bloom - sharing the inside story on holistic health

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Tags: online natural health directories

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