If you're brand new to running a website online or you've been doing it for a while, you may not have heard about one of the simplest ways to get good results in the search engines.  Submitting your website(s) to a good online directory (or more than one) is a great way to help with your SEO (search engine optimization) efforts. If you've never heard of that before or have but want to know more, don't worry, we have you covered in this basic guide to directory submission for SEO.

 

We'll first take a look at some of the reasons to submit to directories and the benefits you can expect to receive from the process. Next we'll take a look at what type of directories are available out there. Then we'll talk about the different ways to actually go about submitting your website to a link directory online. Finally, we'll overview everything and talk a little more about how all this applies to you and your efforts to make a decent living (or better) online. Ready to begin? Great.  

 

Why Submit to Directories? 

 

SEO is the general idea behind submitting your website to an online directory, but here's a look at some of the more specific reasons that directory submissions can help you. From building links (one of the cornerstones of any good SEO campaign or plan) to building exposure for your web brand to getting targeted traffic for your website, submitting to directories online can help you in a lot of ways. Here's a breakdown of why to submit your website to link directories. 

 

Link Building:

 

If you know anything about SEO, you know that links are one of the big factors in how your website ranks in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages.) With that in mind, any way that you can use to get more quality links to your website, the better off you are. Submitting your website to online directories is one way to quickly and easily gain some links to your new or existing website.  There are things to consider before you go submitting your site to every directory you find - see below for more details before you rush off and do something that might be harmful to your SEO efforts.

 

Brand Exposure:

 

Another reason to submit your website to a directory is to build your brand online. The more people see  the name or brand of your website online, the more they're likely to think about it next time they're thinking about what your site revolves around. Submitting to directories is a small way to build your brand online, but it's one that can have positive effects quickly and cost effectively. The more ways you're getting your brand out there, the better your chances of your brand or name sticking in someone's mind - maybe enough so that they tell someone else about the website and you begin to get word of mouth traffic.

 

Targeted Traffic:

 

More than just being a link for SEO purposes, a link in an online directory can be a source of targeted traffic to your website. That is, people who visit directories are usually looking for websites about specific topics. People who come to your site from a directory, especially a niche directory, are very likely to be interested in the topic of your website. This is one of the reasons you should always try to pick the very best category possible when submitting to a web directory. Targeted traffic is one of the best kinds of traffic there is because it converts really, really well.

 

Where to Submit to Directories?

 

There are many different types of link directories on the Internet. Knowing more about the different types of directories out there, the better choice you'll be able to make when trying to pick the best directories to submit your website to on the Internet. Here's a look at some of the big things that matter when thinking about submitting your website to a directory online. Hopefully it will help you find the best place to submit your website.  

 

What Types of Web Directories?

 

Paid Directories

 

Paid link directories refer to link directories that require you to pay a monetary fee to have your website listed. While a small dollar amount is sometimes used to keep out the mass submitted spammer sites, other sites like Yahoo Directory use a larger amount ($299 for example) to generate revenue and keep the cost of entry rather high.

 

Whether or not you should pay to list your website in a directory depends on how badly you need the link in that particular directory. Is it an authority site in your topic or niche? If so, it might well be worth it to pay the money to have your website listed there. Think it might not be worth it? Reread the reasons to submit to good directories above.

 

Free Link Directories

 

Free Link directories have no cost associated with listing your website. As a result, a lot of free link directories quickly become link farms for a lot of "bad neighborhood" type websites. If your website is listed among them, it's not going to look good. For this reason, you should really think twice before submitting to any and all directories thinking that quantity is better than quality. When it comes to links and SEO, quality trumps quantity any day of the week.

 

That said, some still do have human editors that "hand-check" all sites before allowing them in a directory. This may slow the process down a little bit, but it's worth it as it increases the value of the directory by keeping out spammy or unrelated sites. With an increased value for visitors, people are more likely to use the directory then click through to your site.

 

No-Follow Directories

 

No-Follow directories refer to directories online that tag their outgoing links with a no-follow to let Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search engines know that they shouldn't "count" the link in ranking because it may have been purchased for money. While this does have a small effect on SEO, don't let it rule your decision. If you can get quality, targeted traffic from the directory, your website should be listed there even if it's no-follow.

 

The debate over no-follow and its implications on SEO in general and link directories specifically will probably continue for years to come. In the meantime, though, you need to consider that even though the link isn't transferring any search engine "juice" it can still deliver targeted traffic. If that, the traffic, is the end goal, a no-follow tag shouldn't really bother you when deciding what directories to submit your website to online.

 

Do-Follow Directories

 

The flip-side of the above is the do-follow directory. Just because a directory is do-follow doesn't mean it's a good directory. In fact, a do-follow link from a bad neighborhood directory could actually harm your website. You really have to be careful where you submit your website. While it's said that you can't be harmed by sites that link to you, in the grand scheme of things, it has to play some effect on how your website ranks.

 

That said, there are a lot of great do-follow link directories out there. Sometimes people don't see beyong the no-follow tag and realize that links of all types can be useful for various reasons. Some directories, especially some of the human edited ones, use do-follow links because they have checked out the websites submitted and vouch for them being good or decent sites.

 

Quality Directories

 

There are a lot of online directories. There aren't that many great online directories. Keeping that in mind, you should shoot to have your website listed in the highest quality websites only. By submitting to both high quality and super low quality websites, you take the chance of damaging the reputation of your website in the search engines' eyes.

 

How to Submit to Web Directories?

 

Once you're comfortable with why to submit and where to submit, you need to consider the different methods to submit your website to directories online. Here's a look at a few things you should think about before plunging into getting your website listed on a directory.

 

Manual Directory Submission

 

This is the tried and true method of directory submission online. As the name implies, you type up all the details of your website for each directory, fine tuning the submission for that particular directory. Is it based in a particular region of the world? If so, you might want your description to read a little differently. Manual directory submission gives you this control.

 

Beyond that, manually submitting your website to directories gives you time to investigate each and every directory to make sure that it's a good fit for your website and won't harm your online reputation. Slow and steady wins the race. Manual directory submissions allow you the control and flexibility to make sure you get the most out of your website's entry in the directory.

 

Automated Directory Submission

 

Automated directory submission refers to the practice of using a script or program to automatically submit a name/link/description (plus other fields) to a lot of directories at the same time. While this is a time saver sometimes, you do run the risk of submitting your site to directories that you might not want to be on.

 

There are some cases when automated directory submission does make sense, though. If you have control of how and where the automation takes place, this type of submission can save you a lot of time if you have a lot of different websites.

 

Do-it-Yourself Directory Submissions

 

Some people, whether they really know what they're doing or not, insist on trying to do everything themselves. If someone has the right knowledge, there's no problem with this. If you don't have the right knowledge or even worse have bad knowledge about directory submission for SEO, you could end up hurting your website's reputation while trying to save a few bucks by doing it yourself.

 

On the other hand, it's a pretty straightforward process. It doesn't take a lot of complicated knowledge to fill out a few forms to submit your site. The trick is more in knowing what directories to submit to and what directories to pass by.

 

Directory Submission Services

 

Even those who know a lot about directory submission services sometimes find it easier to "farm out" the work to someone else - either a company or an individual consultant. Prices for this service run the gamut, but you should always remember that you get what you pay for as the saying goes. More expensive doesn't always mean better, though.

 

When looking for a directory submission service online, be sure to browse around and see what different people are offering. Beyond that, try to see if there are any reviews (independent reviews are the best) about the directory submitting service. While there's always the possibility of one or two disgruntled customers that were the problem, if you see a lot of negative reviews on forums or blogs about the directory service, you might think twice about shuffling them some of your hard earned money.

 

Web Directory Submissions and You 

 

That's a lot of information to digest, but remember this is just the tip of the iceberg, a basic guide to directory submission for SEO purposes if you will. Hopefully this will jump-start you into getting in on a great way to increase exposure for your website, generate targeted traffic and also increase your visibility in the search engines.

 

Submitting your website or websites to a directory won't instantly solve all your SEO problems, but it's an important part of the whole process, one piece of the entire SEO puzzle. By adding this piece, you're making sure you take care of the basics so you can later fine tune your efforts.

 

Hopefully you've gained a little knowledge about submitting your website to a directory. Remember, though, that this is just the beginning. The world of web directories is constantly changing along with the rest of the Internet.

Good luck in the rest of your quest.