Directory Submissions 101

[Nick W]

Ok, so it was suggested (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=2778) and seconded that we have a good thread for the directory submitters amongst us. Apart from providing a good resource it might go some way to saving the recent posts list from directory destruction :eek:

Here ya go, feel free to add more as you find them and let's keep this place tidy heh..

Directorylist.org (http://www.directorylist.org) - Anthony's new site
New SE Friendly Directories (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=2213) ~ seobook
any FREE directories? (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=2743) ~ tvideal
56 Directories to Submit to (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=2769) ~ bobmutch
Best Directories to submit to (http://www.seozip.com/forums/thread88.html) ~ SEOWhiz - SEOZip.com
Getting Directory links that count (http://www.seozip.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10) ~ seobook - SEOZip.com
Are Directories the New FFL? (http://www.searchguild.com/tpage16447-0.html) ~ Brad - searchguild.com
Good Directory Scripts (http://www.v7n.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11347) ~ nandina - v7n.com
Comprehensive list of free spiderable directories (http://forums.seochat.com/t11803/s.html) ~ disgust - seochat.com
Important Directories (http://www.highrankings.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1102) ~ carbon12 - highrankings.com
The Web Directory List (http://www.v7n.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7616) ~ JohnScott - v7n.com
Here's a List of Directories (http://www.seo-guy.com/forum/thread1170.html) ~ seojon - seo-guy.com
Best Paid Directories (http://www.seo-guy.com/forum/thread3294.html) ~ jaimebon - seo-guy.com
List of High Ranking Directories (http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=21900) ~ greeneagle - webproworld.com


Directory Resources

Resource Zone (http://www.resource-zone.com/) - for Dmoz submission questions
Submitting to directories - yahoo & dmoz (http://searchenginewatch.com/webmasters/article.php/2167881) ~ danny sullivan
Major SE's and Directories (http://searchenginewatch.com/links/article.php/2156221) - danny sullivan


Other Directory Forums

V7N (http://www.v7n.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=6) - includes non dir forums aswell
SEOChat (http://forums.seochat.com/f12/s) - Yahoo! Dmoz - Other
SEO Guy (http://www.seo-guy.com/forum/directories.html) - general
Web Workshop (http://www.webworkshop.net/seoforum/viewforum.php?f=17) - general
Digitalpoint (http://forums.digitalpoint.com/forumdisplay.php?f=25) - general
Search Guild (http://www.searchguild.com/forum6.html) - dmoz
Cre8asite (http://www.cre8asiteforums.com/viewforum.php?f=20) - dmoz
SEOZip (http://www.seozip.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=17) - general (smal but worth supporting IMO)
SEO Place (http://www.seoplace.com/index.php?c=2) - dmoz, zeal, yahoo, other (small but worth supporting IMO)
WMW (http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum17/) - general

There, that should keep you all busy for a while :cool:

For Directory Owners
Please add your directory, and please try to stick to the followng format so that we can all skim through this thread and find the good stuff..

Link to Your Directory
Paid or Free? - How much?
2 lines maximum with any other relevant details

Have fun!

Nick

[randfish]

Good thread (surprisingly). Here's my 2 cents:

List 150+ SEO Friendly Directories (http://www.socengine.com/seo/guide/seo-list-of-directories.php) with submission requirements, PR, # of Pages in Google's Index & BLs (according to Y! linkdomain)
Strongest Links List (http://www.strongestlinks.com/directories.php) with detailed submission info & Alexa ranks
Google Directory List (http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/Searching/Directories/) ordered by PageRank

[Nacho]

Great post Nick!!!

[I, Brian]

Ahem, Nick - you forgot this:
Best Web Directories (http://www.platinax.co.uk/webmasters/articles/6/)

:)

[I, Brian]

As a general pointer, it's worth ignoring the majority of directory recommendations in SEO forum threads - because clueless people simply start listing and pasting anything that's a directory, rather than making any kind of value judgement on whether the directory offers any kind of SEO benefits at all. Typical of SEO forum behaviour, I guess. :)

Anyway, in addition to my personal list I'm developing at Platinax, as posted above, here's a couple more decent resources for directories I also have bookmarked, which are otherwise major resources on internet directories:

Good FAQ list of various directories, with various sorting options:
http://www.internet-search-engines-faq.com/submit-url-free-directory.shtml

Plus a general list of directories for webmasters in general here:
http://www.strongestlinks.com/directories.php

Also - ISEDB directory list:
http://www.isedb.com/html/Web_Directories/

Plus Randfish's guide, of course:
http://www.socengine.com/seo/guide/seo-list-of-directories.php

Hope that helps. :)

[Nick W]

Thanks Brian! Looks like a great addition to the list :)

somebody hit his rep, ive overdone it with Brian and his good posts lately lol...

[SearchGuy]

Hi, any feedback on which directory has a very effective way to capture data elements pertinent to localized search?

For example, using zip is a hard way for unfamiliar users to find a restaurant near a conference they may be attending out of town....using a familiar landmark metaphor such as "Near the... Whitehouse" may be a better way.

See any best practices for local search?

Thanks, SearchGuy

[Nacho]

Thank you for participating on the "Directory Submissions 101" thread and welcome to SearchEngineWatch Forums for the new members that just joined. We hope you enjoy being part of this community.

The purpose of this thread is about posting or discussing about best practices for directory submissions and it is not meant to direct members to directory services on the web as a method of promotion. We will edit any such post that does NOT follow this objective and appreciate your understanding.

Thank you! :)

[sebastian]

QUESTION: How are directories any better link farms? ...especially paid ones?

Currently, i submit to as much as possible that makes sense; however, directories that except payment for inclusion have an incentive to accept just about any site out there.

How is this different than just creating a site and mad linking all over the place?

Also, now that some peeps have recognized the potential for directory creation, directories are everywhere. As we all know, obtaining page rank of 2/10 to 6/10 is relatively easy. Especially if you own 3 or more sites in which to cross link and your domain name makes sense. (say what you want about domain names, but i have proven it to still help...)

So again, maye i am missing something, but it seems that with the onslaught of directory links which seo(s) claim are 'golden links', we are really continuing to somewhat "graffiti" the web in a manner that dances awfully closely to spam.

again... call me cynical - but all these NEW directories, and worse joining them all, seems a little spammy...

christian "sebastian"

[Nick W]

>>seos claim are "golden links"

Not this one mate...

Are Directories the new FFL (http://www.searchguild.com/tpage16447-0.html)
Directory Madness (http://www.threadwatch.org/node/207)

the 2nd link is a discussion of the first, both make for good reading. Personally i'd think twice about submitting to any directory that sprung up on a message board with "free pr4 links!" or any of the other such desperate titles you see out there on an almost hourly basis these days...

Pay particular note to what Woz says here (http://www.threadwatch.org/node/207#comment-653) <-- he's a smart fella

[sebastian]

ahhh - i see i am not alone in my 'questioning'

the frustrating part is all the warnings regarding "who links to you", "how many FFL you *seem* to have" ....and on and on... yet i still see many people in my industry benfiting from these tactics.

we have reported them for spamming multiple times to multiple engines. we have continued to stay on the path of straight and narrow so as to keep the "higher ground" from an integrity perspective - but it's frustrating to see spammers still pull it off.

it makes the "other side" quite tempting.

been then i can only imagine how bad it would suck to get axed, banned or even penalized and i change my mind.

oh well - off the soap box and on to more daily edu-ma-cation...

[Nick W]

we have reported them for spamming multiple times to multiple engines. we have continued to stay on the path of straight and narrow so as to keep the "higher ground" from an integrity perspective - but it's frustrating to see spammers still pull it off.


Let me make 100% sure that i understand you: You report your competitors for spamming, because they submit to many directories?

[sebastian]

...naw - sorry - my mind was wandering into the spam-part of the discussion and less focused on the directory thing... by spamming, i am alluding to doorway pages, masked as content, and submitted to multiple directories.

but your question brings up an interesting thought: when is it spamming and when is legitimate submission?

i guess many can say that any submission into any directory is "ok" due to the fact that most directories are "categorized" and therefore you are submitting relevant content (assuming no cloaking going on).

but then it seems awfully 'spammy' to be sitting there, ten hours a day, just finding places to post links to yourself.

{...please excuse me for having this discussion seemingly with myself, but...}

then, the other side of my brain says, "the internet is big and getting bigger and one must keep posting links as their competitors sure will"

i guess the days of just having the "big boys" link to you are over ...but yet, i feel like such a smuck posting links to schwag directories... ultimately, it can't hurt you as, from a search engine perspective, you can't control who links to you and therefore shouldn't get penalized.

...grrr - confused. and reading everyone's opinions only deepens the confusion. who knows? who doesn't? ...and who's just blowin' smoke...

personally, we rank well - don't cheat - and continue to grow. perhaps i should stop hunting for that "magic wand" and simply continue moving forward.

{sorry again, for the seemingly solo conversation with myself}

[Anthony Parsons]

Pay particular note to what Woz says here (http://www.threadwatch.org/node/207#comment-653) <-- he's a smart fella
What stands out from that is also my big belief, look at who-is information for the duration the domain is registered when it comes to paying for directory submissions. Mine is 10 years currently. I take into account my outlay cost being dependent upon the directory submission cost vs. the domain expiry. If its registered for a long time, chances are your domain is going to also be listed for that time, as a minimum. As a directory owner, I believed my clients had the right to that satisfactory time limit as their minimum investment. Obviously, I will most likely take it out to twenty years (more you buy the cheaper it costs + clients have a better reassurance).

Directory owners need to seriously look at this if their serious about being in the directory industry. Way to many fly by the seat of their pants owners, get in, get the bucks while the hype's up, get out.

If a domain is registered for 10 years from scratch, the person gets jack of it after one year, all they have to do is walk away and leave the domain in peace and your link will continue to validate. No doubt we will also see the slime in amongst this, though hopefully limited.

[I, Brian]

Whenever there is perceived to be any kind of "market" then there always grows a series of vendors trying to feed it - but eventually these drop off to a core group who can sustain a presence in the market for the longer term.

I have to admit, I wasn't sure about www.WowDirectory.com when Bruce first set it up, but now it's become one of the more significant directories out there.

Many of the directories listed in the various lists won't offer sustained linkage - but it's one of those facts of life of the internet that sites and pages come and go - it's simply about adapting to the conditions at any time.

At the moment directories look to be useful sources of links - but it's a minority of the directories that may be able to offer any kind of longer term usefulness.

[stoner3221]

Thanks Brian,
WoW has become a bit more of a project then was expected this early and has gone in some rather fascinating directions. I enjoy watching it grow but keep a large bottle of Tylenol at my work station.

[Crichey]

For a new directory, wow has already sent me some good real estate traffic. Too bad more directories weren't set up like that one.