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Are Directories Worth It? Let's see some figures...

by cozandeffect
14 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I purchased a book on SEO and it lists HUNDREDS of directories to submit your site to.

From an SEO standpoint, is this really gonna help?

Cheers,

Coz
#directories #figures #worth
  • Profile picture of the author IowaGal
    Originally Posted by cozandeffect View Post

    I purchased a book on SEO and it lists HUNDREDS of directories to submit your site to.

    From an SEO standpoint, is this really gonna help?

    Cheers,

    Coz
    I'm assuming you're referring to straight-up directories like the Google directory or the Yahoo directory not article directories.

    In a nutshell - no.

    Not all directories are created equal. You do want to stick with the more well known directories even though some of them do have a pretty hefty fee (Yahoo being the worst).

    Some you should consider (aside from Yahoo) are:
    • GoGuides.com
    • JoeAnt.com
    • Gimpsy.com
    • and of course DMOZ.org
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    • Profile picture of the author dburk
      Hi Coz,

      A good rule of thumb would be to look at the directory, especially the page where your listing will be, and try to come up with a reasonable estimate of how much traffic that page will get and what kind of traffic it is likely to send you. If you can expect a fair amount of targeted traffic then it's definitely worth considering.

      There are paid directories that get lots of high quality traffic that are certainly worth while. If the directory has little or no traffic then it's probably not worth the time to submit your site, even if it's free. It's all about the traffic.
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      • Profile picture of the author cozandeffect
        Originally Posted by dburk View Post

        Hi Coz,

        A good rule of thumb would be to look at the directory, especially the page where your listing will be, and try to come up with a reasonable estimate of how much traffic that page will get and what kind of traffic it is likely to send you. If you can expect a fair amount of targeted traffic then it's definitely worth considering.

        There are paid directories that get lots of high quality traffic that are certainly worth while. If the directory has little or no traffic then it's probably not worth the time to submit your site, even if it's free. It's all about the traffic.
        Hi Don,

        My main goal for building backlinks is to improve ranking in SERPs (though the traffic from the directories themselves would be a great bonus).

        Most of my pages are optimized for REALLY low hanging fruit, so it should be relatively easy to get to top 20 results.

        As someone with much more experience in this than myself, would you agree this is approach is sound?

        Thanks as always,

        Coz
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  • Profile picture of the author krishananda
    There are thousands of directory sites out there, you can leave backlinks there but your links probably end up in directory pages with low PRs or even 0 PR.

    The ones you should consider are directories that Iowagal said, especially DMOZ.
    If your link accepted by DMOZ, chances are google will pick up the link from DMOZ, so you get two listing on two huge directories.
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  • Profile picture of the author scene4u
    You should check the stats (pagerank and traffic) of the page that the site to your site is likely to be placed on before submitting. I tend to only submit my sites to the top 100 directories because after that the time taken to manually submit is not worth the return.
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  • Profile picture of the author danhughes
    Yahoo is the best but, $300 per year... Pay someone to get you into DMOZ, don't try it on your own... Make sure the people you are paying have a good guarantee.

    Seriously, don't spend much time on this at all. With the exception of Yahoo and DMOZ you can buy better links than this and save the time hastle.... It is definaetly better to use the sweat equity of submitting to free directories to build other links.
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  • Profile picture of the author MarketingDude
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  • Profile picture of the author ~kev~
    Directories are a relic of when the internet was a lot younger. Back in "the day", if you wanted to find a website on a topic, you went to yahoo and looked through its directory. This was before google, msn, ask, dog pile and the other search engines came along.

    Once google came along, directories were pretty much useless. Even for link building, some directories use a nofollow tag. You could submit to 100 directories and if 98 had nofollow - you were wasting your time.

    If you want to build links, use your forum signature and only sign up at forums that do not have <nofollow> in the signature. When you sign up at a forum, look at the source code of a thread where there is a link in a signature. If there is <nofollow> in front of the link URL, do not register in that forum.

    When I started trying to promote my site I probably submitted to 100 directories over 6 months. I have yet to see a back link from any of those directories, and this is 2 years later.
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  • Profile picture of the author seoexpert2009
    Hi,
    There are several benefits of making directory submissions:
    • If you have a new website, directory submissions are a good way to get your site indexed and recognized by search engines.
    • Directory submissions help search engines classify the theme of your site based on the category your site is listed under and the link/anchor text used.
    • Directories provide one-way link to your site. Search engines value these links more than reciprocal links (links exchanged with other sites).
    • You can control the anchor or link texts with which a directory links to your site, which will help your website rank high for searches made with those target term
    • The higher you rank, the more popularity you gain and the more incoming traffic you will attract.
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  • Profile picture of the author chailak
    It changes what kind of site you have . Generally small directories are not generating any traffic or any advantage for high ranks in search engines. But there are some tips about local directories which are supporting your page well .

    Example : a co.uk domain in a co.uk directory

    Thats just a tip good luck
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  • Profile picture of the author RichardLegg
    You can find a free list of about 800 directories to submit to at:

    Add URL.nu : Add your URL to free SEO friendly directories

    I personally prefer to outsource this work and one of my favourite places is:

    SEO Firm : Directory Submission Link Building Service with Article submission

    It costs about $60 for 750 submissions and I have found it to be of benefit, particularly in smaller markets, for improving rankings.

    Richard
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  • Profile picture of the author internutontheloose
    Directories help generate traffic cause they also pop up on google and yahoo search engine results. however, you should always keep in mind the credibility and traffic the directories generate. it would be futile to submit sites on directories that people don't really go to.
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  • Profile picture of the author NetVenturer
    Originally Posted by cozandeffect View Post

    I purchased a book on SEO and it lists HUNDREDS of directories to submit your site to.

    From an SEO standpoint, is this really gonna help?

    Cheers,

    Coz
    It will help. What people seem to forget is the reciprocal link "thing" about listing with directories. Each link back to the directory helps boost the directory's PR which increases the value of the link coming to your site.

    You're doing this for SEO purposes, not traffic. Any traffic you get is a bonus. It's the link that counts.

    Some directories that might be PR0 or PR1 today could easily be PR8 in six months. Don't be too quick to judge.
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  • Profile picture of the author Solidsnake
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    Originally Posted by cozandeffect View Post

    I purchased a book on SEO and it lists HUNDREDS of directories to submit your site to.

    From an SEO standpoint, is this really gonna help?

    Cheers,

    Coz
    There are thousands of directories anywhere for free..

    Anyway, directory submission is a dead meat... Submit and forget... better to focus on forum posting and blog commenting..
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