Directory Submissions: Still a Tool for Gaining Traffic and SEO

[djbaxter]

Directory Submissions: Still a Tool for Gaining Traffic and SEO
by Joanna Batten , Search Engine Journal
September 2nd, 2009

Stay away from directories with the following:

• Bad directories will lack in substance. By this I mean there will likely be many categories and very few listings within each category.
• Some directories will often notify you of a reciprocal link request. A request is fine but if a directory demands a reciprocal link, you will not want to use it.
• Concentrate on recognizing spammy content such as pharmacy and casino linking, especially in the sidebars of the directory.
• If a directory asks for your e-mail address but doesn?t provide a privacy policy then it is not worth utilizing.
• If a directory is lacking in quality links then its very likely the links are not being indexed. Dig into the links within your most relevant categories. Are they relevant to the theme and to your site? Are they trash links to a bunch of .infos? If submissions are made to a directory which is not being indexed, then there is no link juice being directed to your link.

...more

 

[Nojac]

Hi minstrel,

Nice link, I tend to think the direct traffic element of directory links is negligable, but they still have some SEO value.

On top of the major paid directories, I hear that free submission to a large number of directories still has some value. I tend to ***** if there is value in submission to a directory by the quality of the sites that have been accepted in the directories. Essentially, you are not after a high approval rate, but rather a lower approval rate to be of value.

I recently have been searching for a paid submission service that could submit to free directories with a reasonable standard of directories, that have a decent review process, but have been having trouble finding one.

Anyone have any suggestions for this?

 

[djbaxter]

I admit I had pretty much given up on directory submission for SEO myself but I have recently started to submit to a few on a selective basis. I think niche directories are probably more valuable than general directories, both for SEO (relevance of content) anf for traffic.

As someone who runs a few directories myself, though, I would advisxe against paid submission services. The services doing this work don't get paid very well so it's often farmed out to people (overseas) who don't seem to have any real idea what they're doing and who often don't seem to be able to read or write English very well. I'm not exaggerating when I say I reject about 80% of the sites submitted to my directories.

 

[Nojac]

Thanks for the tip against paid submission services miinstrel. I was a little uneasy with the possiblity of my site being associated with spammy submissions, and poor quality links ending up in the profile, and you comment confirms this may not be a good direction.