What is a Web directory?
Web directories are similar to the yellow pages in your phone book. A Web
directory provides pages for many different categories and on those pages they
list Web sites that are relevant to that category.
What are the benefits of submitting to Web
directories?
There are three main benefits for a Web site being in quality Web
Directories. a) Click though traffic; b) Web site indexed by the search engines;
c) Higher rankings on the search engine results page for keywords you are
targeting.
a. Click Through Traffic
For searchable directories that have lots of traffic you will get what is
called click through traffic. People view the category pages that interest them
and go to the Web sites on those pages.
b. Web Site Indexed
The search engines send out spiders to the links they find in the directory
pages. This will bring the search engine spiders to your site and will get your
site pages added to the search engines indexes.
c. Higher Position In The Search Engine Results
In the anchor text of the link from the directory to your Web site you should
place the main phrase a person looking for your services would have in mind.
This gives better click though rates. So if you are a SEO Company and you want
you people search interested in SEO Companies you would put that key phrase in
the anchor text line this SEO Company.
This also helps you ranking higher in the search engines. The more links you
have pointed to your site, with some variation of the key phrase you want to
rank high for, the better ranking in the search engines you will receive.
If links from the directories bring search engines
to my Web site is there any reason to hand submit or use a free or paid search
engine submission service?
There is little or no reason to hand submit or use a free or paid search
engine submission service. If your Web site is an English language site your
main traffic is going to go from Google, Yahoo and MSN. Getting a few link from
quality directory's will bring the search engine spiders to your site with in a
week and many times less. My personal opinion of paid search engine submissions
is that they are a poor use of resources and those moneys would be better spent
on purchasing submissions to quality search engines.
What about Google sitemap submissions?
This is a new process and should be done for all your Web sites. There are a
number of clear step by step how-to's that will show you how to do this.
What are the main ways to get inbound links to my
Web site?
There are 5 main ways to get inbound links to your Web site. a) Links based
on content, b) Web directories, c) reciprocal links, d) link rentals, e)
syndicated articles.
a. Links Based on Content
When you have quality content and lots of it, other Web sites will naturally
link to your Web site. The quality of these links is better as they are in the
main content of the page which gives better click through traffic, and the links
are one way. These are the best kind of links to get but also take the most work
to get.
b. Web Directories
Directory links come in three different submission types. Paid, free, and
free but requiring a link back (reciprocal link). Directory links are placed on
pages with other links that are related. Some directories give more than one
link. High traffic directories and directories that have lots of Web sites in
each category are the best. Some SEO experts feel that one-way directory links
in the lower quality directories are being devalued.
c. Reciprocal Links
Reciprocal links are link trades and are two way links. Typically a number of
pages with different subjects are created and relevant links from other Web
sites are placed on those pages. Reciprocal link requests are then sent out to
these placed sites. The links that don't give a link back are removed. More
links are then placed and the process is repeated. Some SEO experts feel that
two way links are devalued.
d. Link Rentals
Link rentals are links that are placed in the footer or one of the side
columns of the Web page the link is placed on. You pay a monthly rental fee for
these links. The value of these links used to be rated by their Pagerank (PR)
value. With the search engine ranking weight of PR being devalued to the point
where most SEO expects feel it has no ranking weight, link rentals are being
valued by other qualities.
e. Syndicated Articles
Syndicated articles are articles you write and offer to other Web sites which
publish them on the site. The Web sites that publish the articles give a link
the author's Web site for the right to publish the article. These are one way
links and the links are content links as they are usually at the bottom of the
article. There are some issues with duplicate content where the pages can be
dropped from the search engine index and while if that happens the links
wouldn't help for ranking but will still provide click thought traffic.
What makes a good title?
Most directories use the domain name or company name of the Web site for the
title. Other directories give more leeway and allow a key phrase after the site
name. If allowed, the key phrase should be the key word(s) users would be
searching to find your Web site or page.
How do I write a good description of my Web site?
If your title catches the eye of the searcher the next think they read is the
description. Your description should be non-promotion and clearly note the
features, products, and services of the Web site and the company or person
behind it.
Do some directory offer extra links and what is
their value?
Some directories provide more than one link to your Web site. These links are
called deep links as they link to pages other than the home page. Some times
these extra directory links are right under the description of your submitted
Web site and other times they are on their own page which has a link under the
description.
The anchor text of these links should correspond to the topic of the content of
these deep linked pages. In some cases the additional links have a higher review
fee, but they are well worth it. These extra links bring the search engine
spiders to your site more often and will help gets deeper pages crawled, they
give you more click through traffic, and give higher ranking for the keywords in
the anchor text.
How do I get my submitted Web site to the top of the
directory category?
The easiest way is to have your domain or company name start with a number or
the letter "a". Of course if you already have your Web site it's too late for
that but you can have your Web site voted to the top of the category if the
directory has a voting system. Also a number of directories have a featured
subscription price that puts your Web site in the featured area at the top of
the category.
What are the characteristics of good directories?
The following characteristics are what you will fine in quality directories.
a) Free submissions or editors activity adding Web sites; b) Large number of Web
sites in each category; c) Large number of pages in Google, Yahoo, and MSN; d)
Large number of backlinks in Google, Yahoo, and MSN; e) Low Alexa ranking; f)
Pagerank on pages; g) In DMOZ and Yahoo directories.
a. Free Submissions or Editors Activity Adding Web
Sites
Having free submissions or editors that add up Web sites will increase the
quality of the directory. Many times Web sites that are added via paid
subscriptions are not the highest quality. Having a free subscription will give
you the opportunity to review many more sites and pick the cream of the crop.
Likewise when a directory has editors that search for and add up quality sites
the directory will be of higher quality.
b. Large Number of Web Sites in each Category
While new Web directories will not have a high Web site to category ratio,
established quality directories will. Having categories with one or two Web
sites in them is not conducive to attracting searchers. The Web site to category
ratio is an important matrix to look at in determining the value of a directory.
c. Large Number of Pages in Google, Yahoo, & MSN
The more quality pages a directory has in the search engine indexes the
better the ranking and the more traffic that directory will receive. A directory
with no pages in one or more search engines may be under a ban or a penalty. A
directory with just a few pages could also mean a penalty or could just be a
sign of a new directory.
d. Large Number of Backlinks in Google, Yahoo & MSN
In most cases the more quality inbound links a directory has the more click
through traffic it will get. Also more inbound links gives better search engine
rankings for the keywords in the anchor texts of the inbound links. A directory
with just a few inbound links is either a new directory or one that has not been
promoted well.
e. Low Alexa Ranking
The Alexa ranking is calculated by the number of people that visit a Web site
with the Alexa toolbar installed and turned on. You can get the Alexa toolbar
from www.alexa.com. Alexa's toolbar is not
the best indicator of traffic as there are programs that will lower your Alexa
ranking. Users going to Web sites that are more technical are more apt to have
the Alexa toolbar on than non-technical sites. Therefore those Web sites are
more apt to have a lower Alexa ranking even though they have less traffic. Yahoo
has an Alexa ranking of 1.
f. Pagerank on Pages
Pagerank is Google's one to ten ranking system for Web pages. A high Pagerank
used to be important when Pagerank had high Google search engine ranking weight.
That has all changed now and most SEO experts hold that Pagerank doesn't matter
for ranking. Pagerank it voted to your site from the inbound links you have. The
higher the Pagerank of the inbound links and the greater the number of inbound
links the higher the Pagerank your Web pages will get.
Pagerank can be viewed by installing the Google toolbar and turning on the
Pagerank feature in the options. You can download the Google toolbar from
toolbar.google.com. When Pagerank had
high ranking weight some people determined the value of directory submissions by
the PR the directory page had that your link was put on. This is no longer the
case. While some cry that Pagerank is meaningless it does still serve some
purpose. It is an indication of how many inbound links you have and how many
inbound links the pages that your inbound links are from have.
It also can let you know when a site has a penalty or a ban. If a directory
all of a sudden goes from a PR6 to a PR0 on the home page there is a good chance
the site is under a ban or penalty. Even if the PR6 home page drops down to lets
say a PR3 and the other pages on the directory are a PR5 or PR6 it is an
indication that there maybe a penalty in effect. To sum up, Pagerank has little
or no ranking weight but it is a indicator of number of backlinks and indicates
when a site has a ban or a penalty with Google.
g. In DMOZ and Yahoo Directories
If a directory is in the DMOZ and Yahoo directories this is a good sign.
Yahoo cost $299 and both a free Yahoo free inclusion and a DMOZ inclusion are
hard to get. Having a directory in both Yahoo and DMOZ directories is an
indication of quality.
Should I be concerned about directories that
advertise link popularity or PR transfer?
Beware of any directory that is advertising their directory based on the
Pagerank of their home page or category pages. They should be telling you more
important things that matter like where they are in DMOZ and Yahoo directories,
the number of pages and backlinks in the top search engines, the keywords that
they rank for in the search engines. Advertising the value of a directory based
on the PR of the home page and category pages is not only old school and way
behind the times but it is dangerous as Google has in the past banned Web sites
that sell links based on the Pagerank vote they will give.
Advertising a directory solely for getting higher ranking in the search engines
for the banklinks they will give your Web site is also highly frowned on by the
search engines and the directory could receive a penalty or ban for doing that.
As there is little or no value of having your Web site in a banned directory it
is best to say away from directories that are advertising the value of
submitting to there site solely on Pagerank vote or high rankings in the search
engines results. While submitting your site to a directory will give you both of
these, emphasize should not be put solely on these two items.
Are directories bad neighbourhoods?
While some directories may be part of a bad neighbourhood based on their
practices, over all directory are not considered as a bad neighbourhood.
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