Is Submitting Your Websites to Web Directories Effective?
Good link popularity is one of the most important factors for having a high ranking in search engines and web directory submission is one of the methods for improving your website link popularity. But as you know, search engines and specially Google like websites to look natural.
It means they like the websites that their webmasters have not tried to make any artificial link popularity for them. Google knows this as over-optimization when most of the incoming links of a website are from web directories. For example when your website has 100 incoming links and 70 of them are from link directories, Google knows it as over-optimization and your website will not be ranked and found on the first search result pages.
There are hundreds of web directories but only a few of them are worthwhile. Do not spend any money for submitting your websites to web directories. The most important one is DMOZ which is the Google web directory. DMOZ is the largest human-edited web directory and you can have your website listed on it for free if it is a quality website. Google gives a lot of value to the DMOZ links and having a link from DMOZ will have a significant effect on your website ranking on Google and maybe other search engines. So submit your websites to DMOZ.
Yahoo directory is good and recommended by Google but it is too expensive. It will drive traffic to your website and will be effective on its ranking but $299 is really expensive. Submit your website to Yahoo Directory if you can really afford it.
In addition to DMOZ and Yahoo directory, there are a few more good web directories that will be good to have your website listed on them:
- http://sbd.bcentral.com (this is the MSN web directory)
- http://botw.org
- http://www.business.com
- http://www.jayde.com
- http://www.gimpsy.com
- http://www.goguides.org
- http://www.joeant.com
- http://www.webdirectory.com
None of these web directories are free and if you can not afford their submission fee, just forget about them because although effective, it will do not have a critical role in your website ranking. In addition to these web directories, there are hundreds of others but do not spend your time and money on any of them.
I agree and also recommend that you avoid the directories which require a payment for a site to be included. Many paid directories are launched solely to make temporary money. Their owners will promote the directory and try to inflate its PageRank to attract submissions and then switch to yet another new directory using the same bait. Many also have been banned or penalized by search engines for the practice of selling links without editorial review.
I don’t find submitting to directories to be effective. Yes, I only submit to free directories, but after submitting to lots of these directories, I realize the traffic it brings is very minimal, better focus your energy on something else
DMOZ and Yahoo are great. Other directories should be free. It really isn’t an effective marketing strategy…I think i have gotten maybe 3 visitors in my whole life from directories.