Comparison of Three Small and Medium Business Directories

Wiku once wrote his opinion about opportunities that are wide open to help Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). In the opinion, he said that although the knowledge of SME owners about the internet is increasing, the opportunity to develop their business while helping SME owners to develop their business remains wide open.

This may be true, because until now, this kind of business model continues to emerge. When doing google with keyword “SME Directory” I found a lot website which creates a directory of SMEs, both those that have been around for a long time, and those that have just emerged. But in my opinion, there are only 3 website worthy of mention in providing services listing to SMEs in Indonesia. Third website it is SME Promotion, SME Business (beta) and PlazaID.

This was not in line with Wiku's expectations at the time to provide services that were different in nature and combined two or more existing services. The three directories are still only a place to promote products and services produced by SMEs. At least, it can help SMEs to meet potential customers. Let's try to compare the three based on the following assessments.

Appearance

In terms of appearance, I like the appearance of the SME Business the most. The appearance is pleasing to the eye and easy to find the features we need. On the right, we get a link to search for SME businesses by category, while on the left, there are links to search for SME businesses based on their provincial location. The two lists are sorted by number listing in it from the most. In the middle column, the search results for ads based on the category/region you selected will appear. PlazaID front view is good, but when we open the directory, it looks dry. Meanwhile, Promo UKM, in my opinion, has a problem with its ad placement which is annoying.

Fitur

The SME business can be said to have the most complete features. SME business provides forums, videos, as well as premium advertising features. But they forgot one important thing, the search facility. This is for me a blunder fatal because this feature should be the main feature in a directory. PlazaID, apart from offering a place to promote, also offers website free for SME profiles. Other standard features are in all three website The.

Search Engine Optimization

One of the features that is also important for website like this is search engine optimization. To compare the three, without login Google account, I just did google with keyword related to. With keyword “SME directory”, SME and SME Business Promos are on the first page, while PlazaID is on the second page. Whereas for keyword “Food and Beverage SME” (a category I found in the three directories), SME Business is on the first page, SME Promo is on the second page, while PlazaID only appears on the fifth page.

Out of curiosity, I tried one keyword again, "East Java SMEs". As a result, the UKM Promo is on the first page, UKM Business is on the fourth page, while PlazaID has not appeared on the first five pages of search results.

This is just a small test to test the three SME directories. You will need to do more than I did to find out which is the best of the three directories or even of all existing SME directories. In addition to choosing one, if you are an SME owner, you may choose all of them, namely registering in all SME directories so that your business opportunities are found by users. But of course you should also always perform maintenance on all the directories you follow, especially if there are updates related to your SME info.

In addition to the SME directory like this, SME owners can take advantage of Google's offer to create website free for SMEs. In January last year, Google collaborated with various parties to launch "Business Go Online" to help 100 thousand SMEs to develop their businesses globally. online. You can see more information about this offer on this page.

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