Web Directories - Proven, effective strategy, which ones are worthwhile? | Warrior Forum - The #1 Digital Marketing Forum & Marketplace

13 years ago

I can't give you conclusive empirical evidence of increasing rankings.

Generally, I don't submit my own sites to my own directories. Reason is that I prefer to get inbounds from outside rather than just interlinking my own sites.

There are two competing directories that I use and respect- Romow.com & Avivadirectory.com.

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John Romaine

13 years ago

Thanks.

Ill have a look at those two.

Anyone else?

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hotftuna 13 years ago

Originally Posted by ramone_johnny

Thanks.

Ill have a look at those two.

Anyone else?

That I personally use or can recommend, Ezilon.com, BOTW.

Stick to quality, established directories. Then evaluate cost.
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Andyhenry

13 years ago

I usually have my own list that I get someone to validate and update every few months and then use when I outsource submissions. So I have one but it's been created from experience, cost and time - so I'm not prepared to give it away here -sorry.

I suggest you make your own in a similar way - then you'll have your own best answer to this.

Andy

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Dave Rodman

Banned 13 years ago

The only paid ones I use are yahoo, joeant, and botw. As for All the rest? You can hire someone for $60 to submit to hundreds of them so why even bother to validate them?

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Andyhenry

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Dave Rodman

You can hire someone for $60 to submit to hundreds of them so why even bother to validate them?

Because most of them are useless and not worth the time/money to do.

Having a sweet list of high PR, useful sites that get results is a valuable asset for your business.

Expecting people not in your business to do the best job for your business without any specialist input from you gets much poorer results.

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Dave Rodman

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

Because most of them are useless and not worth the time/money to do.

Having a sweet list of high PR, useful sites that get results is a valuable asset for your business.

Expecting people not in your business to do the best job for your business without any specialist input from you gets much poorer results.

An asset? How is only sumbitting to the top 100 directories better than submitting to 1000 directories, that also include you top 1000. And I wouldn't consider sumitting to directories the job of a 'specialst'

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Andyhenry

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Dave Rodman

An asset? How is only sumbitting to the top 100 directories better than submitting to 1000 directories, that also include you top 1000. And I wouldn't consider sumitting to directories the job of a 'specialst'

I think you misunderstand what I meant. What you just stated is not what I was saying.

I'm not going to waste my time trying to explain myself.

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Dave Rodman

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

I think you misunderstand what I meant. What you just stated is not what I was saying.

I'm not going to waste my time trying to explain myself.

You think it's a waste of time/money to submit to a bunch of useless results. I said that it takes more time/effort to reevaluate directories every few months when you can just submit to all of them and be done with it.

I notice a pattern with you. When you are challenged and you don't have an answer, you take the "You don't understand" route. It's actually kind of humorous.

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matt5409

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Dave Rodman

You think it's a waste of time/money to submit to a bunch of useless results. I said that it takes more time/effort to reevaluate directories every few months when you can just submit to all of them and be done with it.

I notice a pattern with you. When you are challenged and you don't have an answer, you take the "You don't understand" route. It's actually kind of humorous.

as much as I do sort of agree that Andy has been hard work, at least for me, in the past, I think in this case he is right. you really need to keep on top of promotional activities, non more so than web directories. they burn brightly then disappear very quickly, some dont have many pages indexed, and most just deliver no value.

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Dave Rodman

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by matt5409

as much as I do sort of agree that Andy has been hard work, at least for me, in the past, I think in this case he is right. you really need to keep on top of promotional activities, non more so than web directories. they burn brightly then disappear very quickly, some dont have many pages indexed, and most just deliver no value.

Web directory submissions are not something you do ongoing.

My Way: Pay someone to put you in ALL of them, that way there is no monitoring necessary. You can put 650 submissions for $50. Some are good, some are worthless. But they're all done. If one goes from worthless to worthwhile, then you already have your link in the directory.

AndyHenry's Way: Check all the directories, validate they are worthwhile, submit to them, and then continue to monitor ongoing.

Researching web directories every few months is not only not a time saver, it's an incredible time waster.

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matt5409

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Dave Rodman

Web directory submissions are not something you do ongoing.

My Way: Pay someone to put you in ALL of them, that way there is no monitoring necessary. You can put 650 submissions for $50. Some are good, some are worthless. But they're all done. If one goes from worthless to worthwhile, then you already have your link in the directory.

AndyHenry's Way: Check all the directories, validate they are worthwhile, submit to them, and then continue to monitor ongoing.

Researching web directories every few months is not only not a time saver, it's an incredible time waster.

but what you have said can quite literally be translated to taking your eye off the ball.

there are millions of directories. loads are no longer maintained, even those that do get around to approving your link might go under, and even if they don't there is no guarantee that your link will be indexed.

if you can provide solid proof that getting X number of links helped to improve ranking then i might be interested but personally, i dont even bother with web directories any more.

i used to have a small handful of decent sites but now i just put my time into article marketing instead.

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Dave Rodman

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by matt5409

but what you have said can quite literally be translated to taking your eye off the ball.

there are millions of directories. loads are no longer maintained, even those that do get around to approving your link might go under, and even if they don't there is no guarantee that your link will be indexed.

if you can provide solid proof that getting X number of links helped to improve ranking then i might be interested but personally, i dont even bother with web directories any more.

i used to have a small handful of decent sites but now i just put my time into article marketing instead.

Don't get me wrong. I never said that directories were a good source of links. If someone insisted on submitting them to directories themselves, I'd say skip all of them except maybe 5. If you do that, you'll get 95% of the value for 5% of the work.

Going through all those web directories, however, is a waste of time. You're spending way too much time on an activity that has an extremely low ROI.

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John Romaine

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Dave Rodman

My Way: Pay someone to put you in ALL of them, that way there is no monitoring necessary. You can put 650 submissions for $50. Some are good, some are worthless. But they're all done. If one goes from worthless to worthwhile, then you already have your link in the directory.

Your way is what I call "shotgun marketing". Its all about blasting the hell out of everything and hoping something gives.

I asked what I did in this thread for a SPECIFIC REASON.

Its about eliminating waste.

Blasting your link across hundreds of web directories can be done by any monkey. If this was something I wanted to consider, I wouldnt have wasted my time posting this question.

Obviously you missed the point.

The whole point is this...

1. Post your link to ONLY those web directories that bring results. PROVEN results.

2. SAVE TIME. If I can post my link to 5 web directories within 10 minutes myself, and it brings about the desired results, why on earth would I consider outsourcing, or paying for it to be done?

3. SEO professionalism. If Im offering my SEO services to a client, and that PAYING client asks .."So which web directories will you submit my site to, and why?" and I respond, either in person, OR within my seo proposal "Oh look, dont worry, I just blast it across 650 different web directories, somethings gotta work" I not only look like an idiot, but I sure as hell dont offer much in the way of confidence to my clients.

This whole mindset of "try everything" and eventually something might work isnt a BUSINESS SYSTEM, its gambling, and quite honestly, Ive wasted enough of my time and money to continue this behaviour.

PS. Andy if you care to share your list via PM Ill paypal you some money dude.

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Dave Rodman

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by ramone_johnny

Your way is what I call "shotgun marketing". Its all about blasting the hell out of everything and hoping something gives.

I asked what I did in this thread for a SPECIFIC REASON.

Its about eliminating waste.

Blasting your link across hundreds of web directories can be done by any monkey. If this was something I wanted to consider, I wouldnt have wasted my time posting this question.

Obviously you missed the point.

The whole point is this...

1. Post your link to ONLY those web directories that bring results. PROVEN results.

2. SAVE TIME. If I can post my link to 5 web directories within 10 minutes myself, and it brings about the desired results, why on earth would I consider outsourcing, or paying for it to be done?

3. SEO professionalism. If Im offering my SEO services to a client, and that PAYING client asks .."So which web directories will you submit my site to, and why?" and I respond, either in person, OR within my seo proposal "Oh look, dont worry, I just blast it across 650 different web directories, somethings gotta work" I not only look like an idiot, but I sure as hell dont offer much in the way of confidence to my clients.

This whole mindset of "try everything" and eventually something might work isnt a BUSINESS SYSTEM, its gambling, and quite honestly, Ive wasted enough of my time and money to continue this behaviour.

PS. Andy if you care to share your list via PM Ill paypal you some money dude.

If you actually read my post, you realized that I recommended only 3 link directories to post your link to. The rest can either be eliminated or just shotgunned through by someone making $1.25/hour.

If you think that submitting to web directories is some kind of "business system" then you have a long way to go. They are what they are...an easy way to build links. NOTHING MORE. This isn't 2001. You submit and you move on.

But be my guest...go ahead and look for PROVEN RESULTS from submitting to web directories. You'll find you're at least 10 years late to the game. If this makes/breaks your SEO, you have bigger problems.

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Andyhenry

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Dave Rodman

You think it's a waste of time/money to submit to a bunch of useless results. I said that it takes more time/effort to reevaluate directories every few months when you can just submit to all of them and be done with it.

I notice a pattern with you. When you are challenged and you don't have an answer, you take the "You don't understand" route. It's actually kind of humorous.

Excuse me for not wanting to feed your aggressive misinterpretations of my comments.

I never said "you don't understand" - I'm sure that I probably didn't make myself clear. You're putting words in my mouth and then wanting me to defend them - I have no interest in playing games with you. This wasn't your thread. I answered the OP.

I never said anything about checking a massive list of directories in order to find useful ones - that's all YOU. I never said it.

I have no interest in trying to convince you of anything or try to change your mind about anything. I'm not pushing some agenda that requires you to agree with me, so there's really nothing for me to gain by playing the games you think I'm playing.

Do I think submitting to directories should be anyone's top strategy? No! - of course not.

Do I think there are some directorie worth getting links from? Yes! Absolutely.

Are those directories the same for every niche? No.

Is it worth having a shortlist of ones that are worth considering? Yes.

Do I suggest trawling through thousands of directories to find them? No!!!!!!!

This is not a one or the other situation.

There are quick and easy ways to find directories - there are quick and easy ways to check whether they're worth bothering with.

And I'm not going to defend myself from your attacks anymore.

If you don't like my answers to someone else's question - that IS your problem not mine.

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Dave Rodman

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

Excuse me for not wanting to feed your aggressive misinterpretations of my comments.

I never said "you don't understand" - I'm sure that I probably didn't make myself clear. You're putting words in my mouth and then wanting me to defend them - I have no interest in playing games with you. This wasn't your thread. I answered the OP.

I never said anything about checking a massive list of directories in order to find useful ones - that's all YOU. I never said it.

I have no interest in trying to convince you of anything or try to change your mind about anything. I'm not pushing some agenda that requires you to agree with me, so there's really nothing for me to gain by playing the games you think I'm playing.

Do I think submitting to directories should be anyone's top strategy? No! - of course not.

Do I think there are some directorie worth getting links from? Yes! Absolutely.

Are those directories the same for every niche? No.

Is it worth having a shortlist of ones that are worth considering? Yes.

Do I suggest trawling through thousands of directories to find them? No!!!!!!!

This is not a one or the other situation.

There are quick and easy ways to find directories - there are quick and easy ways to check whether they're worth bothering with.

And I'm not going to defend myself from your attacks anymore.

If you don't like my answers to someone else's question - that IS your problem not mine.

Please. Spare me the outrage. I've seen you getting questioned on things and you act like you're the President getting accused of murder by some homeless dude.

By the way, you didn't really even attempt to answer the OP's question. Either with specific directories or with a strategy about how to find directories. So you can act like you don't need to answer my questions, but it's not like you really offered any insight on his question either.

Maybe I'll start answering questions like that. Someone will say "Hey, what's the best PPC platform and I'll say"...."Well, I have my own data that works for me. But the ones that work for you will depend". That way I'm always right!

The way most people give advice is by telling them their findings and encourage them to test it out for themselves. Just a thought.

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satrap

13 years ago

I only submit my site to free directories. I mean, yes directory links are quality one way backlinks, but I dont think its worth spending money on. Also, I dont think paid directories are any better than free ones (except maybe a few). Plus, paid links are a no no with Google.

Find a list of free directories, and simply use a form filling tool like roboform and submit your site to them. Since most directories have a similar forums, it only takes a short amount of time to submit your site to hundreds of them.

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John Romaine 13 years ago

Originally Posted by satrap

Plus, paid links are a no no with Google.

Why then does Google reward sites listed in the Yahoo directory with better search rankings?
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indiatext

13 years ago

over your question I can only suggest you to go for the higher pr web directories first and the others later...pr of the directory really matters a lot...

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Aira Bongco

13 years ago

Hey John,

I have stopped using directory submissions. I don't know if they are still as effective because people use Google than visit a directory to look for websites. To get traffic, I simply go where my target market goes. It had generated me the sales I wanted so far so I don't fuss so much about ranking so long as I see the sales.

Aira

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Mar

13 years ago

OK, here's my beef - I have run a couple of web directories in the past; however, they got over-run by spammers who refused to pay for their links and it became an administrative nightmare. The people who were honest and paid for their links got approved quickly and got value for money.

I took the submission procedure offline because of the flood of spammy submissions.

I do use directory submissions myself when I want a targeted link to my site; I take the trouble to find the appropriate category and usually buy a featured link which generally will put me at the top of the relevant category. Occasionally I will buy a standard link in a new, on-topic directory.

If you find niche-specific directories, then featured or front page links can still be a good deal for marketing your keywords.

M

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hotftuna

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Mar

OK, here's my beef - I have run a couple of web directories in the past; however, they got over-run by spammers who refused to pay for their links and it became an administrative nightmare.
M

All you have to do is review submission when you get an email notice of a payment received. Then "check all" and "remove" the rest. How hard is that? Just think of how hard some have to work at a j.o.b.

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Mar

13 years ago

Originally Posted by hotftuna

All you have to do is review submission when you get an email notice of a payment received. Then "check all" and "remove" the rest. How hard is that? Just think of how hard some have to work at a j.o.b.

... er, I already have a full time job, thanks

I run a coffee/gift shop including doing the home-baking. Running a directory isn't difficult; however, for every 1,000 links submitted, probably less than 20 were paid for. At the time I was running them, there wasn't a mass delete option and the paid entries didn't cover the cost of deleting the spammy links.

I've just undergone some hospital treament and have some follow-up treatment to come; once recovered I may look again at the directories especially as there are probably updates which would allow mass deletion of junk.

Mar

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jeffwheeler 13 years ago

BEsides the usual top tier directories, if the directory is niche specific I will consider it.

google search : "keyword" directory

They must have some quality to them before Ill submit,directories are considered low quality links same as bookmarking sites. I would not go blasting to every directory I can.
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Jeremy Barker

13 years ago

This is a little different from the original topic but directory submission is a good job to outsource I have found. There are places on the internet (odesk, elance, fiverr) that you can find someone that will send your site to many directories for little money. Of course, some of the directories nobody has ever heard of before but you just have to ask questions and do your research.

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Trapped

13 years ago

Some that I always use with sites on which i give more attention to are botw and v7n's directory (both are paid directories)

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Web Directories - Proven, effective strategy, which ones are worthwhile?

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