The ultimate guide to directory submissions
Submitting to directories is a great way to build links and increase your search engine rankings. In semi-competitive industries it can produce great results. If you add article creation and social media marketing into the link building equation then you can achieve great results for any industry.
Free or paid directories?
When choosing directories going for the paid ones can be better, mainly because the links seem to last a lot longer. Many of the free directories seem to disappear or delete links after a year or so. However, there are a few free directories out there that should always be used - directories that have stood the test of time.
Niche or general directories?
Submitting to a combination of both niche and general directories is usually a good idea.
For most industries there are a variety of niche directories out there - the best way to find them is through a search engine. Do a search on Google, MSN or Yahoo for directories in your niche area - those that come up in the first few pages of results are usually the best ones to use.
With general directories it's better to go for those that are more established. The older a directory is, the better.
PageRank - does it still matter?
Because directories are generally quite large, they need a certain amount of PageRank to get all of their pages indexed properly. However a high PageRank isn't the be-all and end-all. Google's recent crackdown on directories has made visible PageRank even more irrelevant when it comes to choosing directories. There are directories out there that have no PageRank whatsoever that can offer value.
If a directory is ranking well in the search engines then you can rest assured that it has enough PageRank. If you're unsure then check how many links it has viaYahoo! Site Explorer or another link popularity checker.
Anchor text
Before submitting have a good look around a directory and get a feel for what you can and can't get away with. Some directory owners will let you use a search phrase on its own, whereas others are very strict and will only use your business/website name. In between you have those where you might just be able to slip a search phrase in.It's always best to get the main search phrases that you are targeting in the links to your site. However this isn't always possible and unfortunately many of the best directories won't let you do this. Sometimes you can get around this problem by slipping in a search phrase at the end of your company name.
Doing your homework comes in handy - if you try to use a search phrase on its own and they change it to your business/website name then it's very unlikely you'll be able to get them to change it to your website name with a search phrase at the end. If you'd submitted it like that in the first place you may have got away with it.
Always try to get one of your search phrases in and vary the anchor text as much as possible - this will appear more natural to the search engines.
Varying your description
Many directories will provide you with your own page about your business. If you have the same description on every page across different directory websites then many of these will be seen as duplicate content by the search engines and your links will get devalued.
To avoid this, write a unique and substantial description for every single directory (200+ characters works best). Make sure the descriptions accurately mirror your products and services and that they read well.
Deep linking
Many directories allow you to add extra links directly to internal pages of your website. You should take turns in linking to different pages of your website using different variations of the phrases you're targeting on each page. Using the same anchor text to link to the same page over and over again will appear unnatural to the search engines and this could work against you.
How many directories should you submit to?
There's no fixed number of directories that you should get listed in. Work out a 12 month directory submission budget for each site and then do so many each week or month for the full duration.
When you're building links to your site via directories or any other method, you should do it over time. Submitting to 100 directories in a week and then forgetting about it won't be as effective as spreading the 100 directory submissions over a 3 month period.
The top 10 directories
Finally, here's a list of the top free and paid general directories to get you started.
5 of the best free directories include:
5 of the best paid directories include:
| Directory Submission Is Complicated |
Automated services make search engine submission a snap, but directory submission is more difficult - and takes longer. Human editors review each submission for quality and content before accepting it into the directory. The volume of new site submissions is so huge that they can afford to be selective. Increase the chances they'll choose you by submitting a first-rate site and following submission guidelines exactly.
Select The Proper Category
You must submit your site to the proper category and sub-category to have it reviewed by the proper editor! Directory editors are overloaded with submissions: they won't do your job for you and research the proper category for your site. Inappropriate submissions are much more likely to be rejected instead of forwarded to another editor.
You may also increase your chances if you submit to the regional portion of a directory. For instance, imagine that you own a real estate agency in Alabama and want to submit your Web site to Yahoo. In the main directory portion - Business and Economy/Real Estate - there are 343 sites listed already. However, if you look at the regional portion of the directory - Regional/US States/Alabama/Real Estate - there are 11 sites listed. In general, editors are more willing to accept sites into categories that have relatively few listings.
| How To Register with Yahoo |
Yahoo is the largest and most popular directory. It is also one of the most difficult to get into, so read the instructions carefully at Yahoo's site and follow them exactly:
http://help.yahoo.com/help/
You have two choices at Yahoo: free or paid submission. When you use the free option, you submit your site to Yahoo and wait (and wait, and wait some more) for a Yahoo editor to evaluate it. In fact, Yahoo's backlog is so large that the directory doesn't guarantee that anyone will ever look at your site.
The paid submission option costs $299 and does guarantee that an editor will review your site within 48 hours. It does not guarantee that your site will be accepted! However, Yahoo does report a much higher acceptance rate from its paid submissions because - in general - higher quality sites are willing to use this option.
| How To Register with LookSmart |
LookSmart was the first directory to stop accepting free submissions from commercial sites. Nonprofit sites can still submit for free (if they are valid, tax-exempt organizations), but LookSmart doesn't promise to evaluate the site within a certain time period.
Like Yahoo, LookSmart guarantees a look, but not a listing. You have two paid submission choices with LookSmart:
- Express Submit: $299 - Guaranteed site review in 24 hours
- Basic Submit: $149 - Guaranteed site review within 8 weeks.
http://submit.looksmart.com/
Although many people are unfamiliar with LookSmart, it is an important directory to be in. LookSmart powers the search directories of many leading portals including Excite, AltaVista, and MSN. This means if your site is not included in the LookSmart database, you won't show up in directory searches at these other engines.
| How To Register With The Open Directory Project (ODP) |
You may never have heard of the Open Directory Project, commonly referred to as ODP, but it provides supplemental results for some of the Web's top search services including AOL Search, AltaVista, DirectHit, Google, HotBot, Lycos, and Netscape Search.
The Open Directory Project's motto is "Humans Do It Better." Their goal is to produce the most comprehensive Web directory available by using a huge number of volunteer editors to evaluate submitted Web sites.
Submit your site for free to the ODP after reading the instructions:
http://dmoz.org/add.html
If the category that you're submitting to doesn't already have an editor (there will be a "Become An Editor" link at the top of the page), then consider donating some of your time as a volunteer editor.
| How To Register With Overture |
Overture, formerly called GoTo, is a "pay for placement" search engine in which top placement in search results is given to the highest bidder. It is being included in the Directory Submission area because top bidders on Overture get high visibility placement (usually in the form of Sponsored Links) on the top of Yahoo and other directories partnered with Overture.
There are two ways to get listed with Overture. First, to get the best results, you can bid on a set of keywords, and pay based on the number of people that find your Web site by searching for those keywords. For example, a top bid for a given keyword might be $0.25. If 10 people find your site by searching in Overture for that keyword, you would pay $2.50. Payment is based on clicks, so you don't pay unless someone actually clicks on a link to find your site through Overture. This is the best way to get traffic from Overture.
To learn more about Overture's paid placement, visit this link:
https://signup.overture.com/s/
The second way to get listed in Overture is to submit to a common base database provided by a company called Inktomi. The easiest way to do this is to submit to Hotbot. So, while your site may not be at the top of Overture's search results, you can get listed in the engine simply by submitting to any Inktomi search engine. Search Engine Starter submits to several search engines powered by Inktomi, so using the tool should get you included in the basic Overture database.
| Summary |
Submitting to Directories is more time consuming than submitting to search engines. You have to keep in mind that directories are edited by humans, not computer programs. So, how your site looks to a human and having good content is especially important. Of course, since there are so many interrelationships between directories and search engines, you still have to optimize your page for good search engine placement. Be sure to run your pages through Page Primer before submitting to a directory.
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