Submitting your site to web directories is a common and useful SEO tool that can improve your sites rankings in search engines and increase your link popularity.   There is, however, an unbelievable amount of mis-information, exaggeration, and outright lies about directory submission and what is most effective.   We have made the mistakes already and spent a good amount of money finding out the hard way. Learn from what we have found.  The directory submission game is chock full of pitfalls.  Here is the naked truth.

First, do not fall for the literally thousands of website that “will submit your web site to 10,000 directories for only $24.95” These services all use directory submission software that usually incorrectly categories your directory entry and your entry usually gets rejected by the directory anyway.  Most of these sites claim to “hand submit” but it just isn’t the truth.  We tried a few and got 150 directory submission confirmations in 10 minutes (It takes about 10 minutes to hand submit to just one directory” so there is no way possible that they are doing hand submissions.   Even if you use a service that does get you in directories they are usually directories just set up for SEO and are saturated with low quality sites and are often only around for a short period of time (so you link will soon be useless).

Search engines do not favor new and SEO friendly directories.  Search engine companies have smart people who make sure these illegitimate directories do not carry any weight with their search engine.  Three guys in Pakistan are not going to outsmart Goggle.  It is tempting to believe, especially when you have a new site with little traffic, but it just isn’t true.  We tried it several times (when we where younger, more naïve, and possibly just a little bit less jaded) and it simply does not work.  Remember, search engines have a huge interest in their searches producing relevant data to their customers.  If a brand new site with little content or traffic can beat out well-established sites with lots of good info and traffic, no one would trust them anymore.  Search engine companies literally have teams of people that continually update their search algorithms to ensure relevant search results.

Okay, that paints a pretty bleak picture but all is not lost.  There are quality directories that you can hand submit to that will improve your sites rating with search engines.  First, we will cover the “best” directories.  These are not listed in order as “best:” is always changing.  Of the three best directories only DMOZ allow for free listing.

1.  Yahoo:   Yahoo is a very high quality directory but the main drawback is price.  It cost about $300 a year to be listed in the Yahoo directory but it is yahoo, one of the oldest directories and search engines.  It commands a great deal of respect not just from Yahoo but also from all search engines.  It is expensive but give your site a lot of credibility.
Yahoo Directory

2.  Best of the Web directory:  This is an older directory (started in 1994) with lots of high quality inbound links, and is a favorite of many SEO enthusiasts.  The older a directory is, generally, the more weight it has with search engines.  Last time we checked it cost $240 for a lifetime listing.
Best of the web directory

3.  DMOZ (The Open Directory Project).   DMOZ is also one of the oldest and most respected directories and is universally loved by search engines.  Also IT’S FREE!   The drawback is that DMOZ is run by volunteers who do not get paid, so directory work is probably not their biggest priority.  It can take a very long time
DMOZ (The Open Directory Project) Directory

Although the three aforementioned directories  are considered the best directories, they are not the only game in town and there are plenty of other very high quality free directories you can list your site at.  All submissions must be done manually and make sure you follow their instructions.  Each directory has its own guidelines so make sure you read them.  Yes, this is time consuming and tedious but it is the only proper way to do it.  You can see a great listing of well trafficked and well respected directories at the Web Ad Helper Free Directory List.   Plus, all of them are free!

Lastly, the final category is niche directories.  These directories are usually for small segments of the business market and are very targeted to a certain type of service of product.  Search engines love these directories as they are targeted and tend to be more reliable.  To find them, just type in your business field into a search engine (ex.  Macintosh Compatible Software) and put the word “directory” behind it.  If there are directories for your niche, check them out and do a submission.  Niche directories tend to approve submissions more quickly as the receive a lot less submissions than general directories.

Best of luck, you truly can improve your rating with search engines but the only way to do it is to put in the time by manually submitting to high quality directories.  There is not a magic bullet out there, we have looked, we wished there was but if it did exist everyone would be doing it and soon, it wouldn’t be magic any more.