Being placed in your organization’s online membership directory is an important benefit. It gives members exposure to the rest of your membership (and the industry or community at large), it means that you have endorsed this member and their expertise, and it’s a source of business referrals and networking.

Beyond including that listing as a membership benefit, what else are you doing to help them gain visibility and take advantage of those perks? Start thinking about how you can add value through your membership directory by answering these questions:

What’s included in a membership directory listing?

Each member listing should start with the same, standard information. Try including a couple different points of contact — like a mobile phone number and office, or a phone number and an email address — to allow multiple ways to reach them.

Now, beyond that standard information…what else could a listing include to help members stand out? Different colors? A logo? A link to their location — or their resume in your career center?

Some associations and chambers use this as an opportunity to use tiered membership directory benefits, where varying levels of investment come with more perks to help them stand out in the directory.

One tip: no matter what is included in their listing, have members review it and make appropriate changes on a regular basis — could be an easy reminder to add to your member renewal process!

How do you promote your membership directory?

Actively promoting your online membership directory inherently means you’re actively promoting your members, which only increases their loyalty to your organization. Think about the various ways you could promote your online directory, like:

  • Including it in your social media strategy
  • Asking your board members to share with their expansive network
  • Talking about it at speaking engagements
  • Placing reminders in your newsletter or other publications

How do you use SEO to drive traffic to your membership directory?

You can actively promote your directory with some of the above suggestions, and you can also make some search engine optimization (SEO) adjustments that’ll draw more traffic to your website organically.

When it comes to the membership directory, make sure that your category descriptions include the right keywords. To come up with those keywords, think about what you would personally search for when looking for businesses within these categories and find ways to incorporate those words into copy on your directory page. You can also use a free keyword search tool to do a little research!

There are many other, larger opportunities to squeeze even more out of your online membership directory. We wrote a whole guide that uncovers how you can easily build more member value into your directory, all while adding streams of non-dues revenue to your organization’s bottom line. Check it out!