Directory Submissions that Matter

August 22, 2008 by Shirley Grant
Filed under: Getting Links 
By Sharon Housley

Links from different directories have different values.
A webmaster's time is limited, and most webmasters want
to get the biggest bang for their bucks. So where
should they start when it comes to directory
submissions? Search engines assign value to links from
the various directories differently, so how do you
spend your time where it matters most?

Yahoo

Yahoo is still, to some degree, the king of
directories. Whether a Yahoo directory link is worth
"paying for" is still a debatable question, but there
is no doubt that a link from Yahoo is worth the effort.
Do not leave a Yahoo link to automated submission
software -- take the time to manually submit your links
to the Yahoo Directory.

Yahoo Directory -http://www.yahoo.com/

DMOZ

Amazingly, it appears that DMOZ is still relevant.
While some webmasters complain that DMOZ is outdated,
it is apparent that a DMOZ link still matters to the
larger search engines. DMOZ is a human-edited directory
with different editors for each category. As such,
patience is critical to obtaining a listing. Editors
can become annoyed when sites are submitted multiple
times, and before they've had the opportunity to review
the quality of the content. Some editors work quicker
than others, so be patient and polite, and you may get
lucky with a DMOZ listing.

DMOZ - http://www.dmoz.org/

Wikipedia

A legitimate link that stays in Wikipedia is very
desirable. Wikipedia is a human-edited online
encyclopedia. Wikipedia links are very difficult to
obtain, and even more difficult to retain. But if you
build a unique quality resource on a niche subject, you
might find yourself linked on a page in Wikipedia.

Wikipedia - http://www.wikipedia.com/

Major Download Websites

The major software download websites are all capable of
driving traffic, and can impact a websites popularity.
Make sure to manually submit your software to these
three major download websites:

Download.com - http://www.download.com/
Tucows.com - http://www.tucows.com/
Softonic.com - http://www.softonic.com/

Popular Directories

The more popular the directory, the better the link is
considered to be. Link popularity matters, and a link
from a webpage with a high page rank (as determined by
the Google Toolbar) is desirable. You can assess the
general popularity and value of a directory by viewing
the page rank of the webpages on a website.

Related Niche Directories

Websites that are an authority on related subject
material are great sources of web traffic. Conduct very
specific searches to locate popular niche directories.

Where To Find Important Directories

There are a number of resources designed to assist
webmasters in finding both free and paid directories
that will accept submissions. Use the following
resources to boost your directory listings:

Web Search Engines - http://www.web-search-engines.net/
One-Way Text Links - http://www.onewaytextlink.com/links.php?type= free&pagenum=1
Business Seek Business Directory - http://www.businessseek.biz/page.php?page=web-submit

About the Author: Sharon Housley manages marketing for
FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for
creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts.
In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll
http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing
software.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Comments

Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!