Is Submitting To Directories Worth Your Time?
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You may be wondering , as was I , whether or not submitting to directories is worth doing anymore. There was a time, in the not so distant past, when you would regularly hit the web directories with hundreds or even thousands of submissions, and get a good return of linkage. The landscape has changed a bit nowadays.
While the web directories are still out there, and more than willing (especially if you are using a paid directory) to take and put up your link, the search engines have gotten smarter. Now they take a good look at the directories in question, and determine whether they are nothing more than a latter day version of a link farm, or actually have an amount of value for the searcher. Niche directories often have a better chance.
So the question now is, does it make sense to spend time and resources into submitting to directories? My answer is a resounding yes! When it comes down to it, a link is a link. The possibility of a lot of links very cheaply is enough of a reason. You can help yourself by making sure the directories you are using are not only live, but active, have some Alexa rank, and if possible are niche oriented. (This last one isn’t absolutely essential; just nice to have. Link relevance is a bit overblown.) If you are looking to have a presence in your niche for a long time, or hope to establish an authority site, it may be worth it to look into submitting to DMOZ and Yahoo. You’ll spend some time and money on those, but in the end it may be worth it.
Take advantage of automated directory submission software, as it can save you many hours of time, and can find one’s that you’ll miss. Here is the best tool for submitting to directories that I have found. It is fast, submits to more than 500 active directories, solves CAPTCHAS and supports spinning and much more. Plus, it’s dirt cheap and can be given to your outsourcer!
Two important things to remember when it comes to directory site submission: first it takes some time to see them show up. Many of these are not updated as fast as you might like, and it can take a bit for the links to start showing. Second, you should remember to promote your link in a directory page once you get it. This can be as simple as pinging it, social bookmarking it, or throwing a link at it. Remember, promote your promoters!
