How to Submit to Directories to Get One-Way Links
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, Founding Editor, Web Marketing Today, Rocklin, CA
Jul 10, 2007, 13:59
When you're trying to increase your search engine rankings, one of the first strategies to employ is to seek listings in as many legitimate directories as possible. Directories tend to have higher PageRank to pass on to your site than the average reciprocal linking partner site. Moreover, they bring one-way links to your site so that your own PageRank (sometimes called "link juice") isn't diluted by outgoing links.
Prepare Your Directory Listing Ahead of Time
Before you submit your site to a directory, you'll want to carefully plan your directory listing. The elements are:
- Title, like your webpage title, the directory title should include the keywords you wish to rank high for, if possible. Some of the better directories will only let you include your company name for your home page, but many of the lesser directories aren't so picky.
- Description also should be keyword rich, that is, include in a sentence or two a description of your website, being sure to use in those sentences the keywords that are important to you. Some directories only allow for a brief description. Others have room for more text, so prepare both a shorter 250-character description and a longer 500-character description.
- Category is very important since directories are laid out by topic. Study the available categories before submitting your site. If the category is relevant it both (1) improves the chances of your directory listing being accepted and (2) ensures that the directory link to your site has the greatest possible congruence with your site, helping your site rank higher for the keywords appropriate to that category.
- Keywords are allowed by many directories to tag your listing so people using the directory can find what they're looking for. Again, prepare a comma-separated list of the search terms that people would use to find your kind of product or service.
Type out your title, description, category, and keywords ahead of time so you can copy and paste them into the appropriate directory submission form. Be especially careful when submitting to Yahoo! Search Directory and the Open Directory Project since these two directories are most important -- and rely on human editors to make sure that descriptions are appropriate. Be very sure to follow their specific directions to the letter when submitting, making whatever changes are necessary to the entries you've already prepared.
The Most Important Directories
Yahoo! Search Directory (http://dir.yahoo.com, PR=8) is arguably the most important directory for your site to appear in. Even though it isn't used as extensively today as in former years, the directory's PageRank makes a listing there important. Submission costs $299 annually, but is probably worth it if you can afford it. Human editors will read and perhaps edit your submission, so keep it short and to the point. Leave out any kind of marketing spin or they'll delete it for you. Don't submit unless your site is ready for visitors, since your entry can be rejected -- even though you paid $299 for an editor to look at it -- though you may be allowed a short time to make changes before a second look.
The Open Directory Project (www.dmoz.com, PR=8) is an important free directory that feeds many other search directories on the Internet. It is notoriously short of volunteer editors, so don't get upset if your submission isn't processed rapidly. If you resubmit, your submission is likely to go back to the end of the queue, so be patient.
Other paid directories worth considering include the following (with the PageRank of their homepage shown):
- Business.com (www.business.com, PR=7, $199 per year)
- Best of the Web (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/botw.htm, PR=7, $69.95 annually or $199.95 one-time fee).
- UncoverTheNet (www.uncoverthenet.com, PR=6, $59 to $199 annually)
- Directory @ v7n (directory.v7n.com, PR=6, $49.95 one time fee)
- JoeAnt.com (www.joeant.com, PR=6, $39.95 one-time fee)
- ExactSeek (www.exactseek.com, PR=6, free or $12 for top listing)
- WoW Directory (www.wowdirectory.com, PR=5, $43 for an express review)
- Gimpsy (www.gimpsy.com, PR=5, free to $40 one time fee)
- InCrawler (www.incrawler.com, PR=5, $24.95 one-time fee)
Some of these offer free listings, too, but be prepared to wait. One free directory you should submit to is Jayde (www.jayde.com, PR=6). Paid directories charge money for submissions because they can get it! Generally speaking, you get what you pay for.
Bulk Submission to Directories
All the experts tell you it is best to hand-submit everything. That's certainly true of most of the better directories listed above. However, I've found that SubmitWolf 7.0 (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/submitwolf.htm) will bulk submit entries to 50 to 75 free directories of varying quality. SubmitWolf is $169 per year. Unless you're in the website promotion business, you'll only need the one year to get your site kicked off. I've used SubmitWolf successfully to get higher rankings for several sites and sub-sites that I own. I recommend it with the caveat that you should not use it to submit to search engines (there's no need) or FFA ("Free For All" sites, which tend to spam you to death and can be viewed by the search engines as "link farms," not legitimate directories).
In an afternoon or two you'll be able to submit to many directories. The result will be higher PageRank for your own website and more customers for you. Directory submission is not the only linking strategy you should pursue, but it is basic to all others. Start here!
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson is widely recognized as an authority on Internet marketing. He is the founding editor of Web Marketing Today, and the author of more than a dozen books and reports on Web marketing, including his recently revised Guide to Search Engine Optmization (3rd Edition, July 2007).
