SEO
As anyone in the SEO business will tell you, the number of
quality links pointing to your site can improve the overall
ranking of your site. This does not mean that you should submit
your site to every directory you can find and, in fact,
submitting your site to some directories won't do you any good
at all and could even cause your site to drop in ranking. Let's
explore the types of directories available and which ones you
should consider submitting to.
Free-For-All While the concept of free may sound enticing, many
of these "Free-For-All" directories may be considered nothing
more than link farms by some search engines and might hurt your
site's rankings if you rely on a lot of these for listings. On
top of that, they are not likely to bring you any significant or
targeted traffic. This does not mean that all directories that
accept free listing are "free-for-all" directories. You should
visit the directory site and determine if the links at this
directory are quality links. Are you allowed to submit your site
to the proper category? Are you allowed a brief description of
your site?
If the directory has a category for the services or goods that
you are offering and allows you a brief description of your
site, I would suggest you submit to it IF your listing will be
search-engine-friendly.
What is a search-engine-friendly listing? This is a static link
that goes back to your site. For example: www.mydomain.com is a
static link while www.thisdirectory.com?id=123+CatID=456 is a
dynamic link. When there is a "?" in the URL this is a
redirected link and will not count as a direct link to your site
by the search engines. Now, by design all directories use a
database to store your listing information and rely on
programming to call up that listing. This is where the
redirected URL comes from: the id is the record number of your
listing. The dynamic URL allows the directory owner to track the
traffic you receive from this listing. However, most directories
can and should also include in your listing a direct hyperlink
to your site. Sometimes the direct link will be the title of
your listing, sometimes it might be separate within the listing.
If the directory does not have a static link to your site,
there's no point in listing your site unless the directory is
specific to the audience you wish to address. An example of a
directory to have your site included in despite the lack of a
static link might be an online directory supplied by a business
association that you belong to or a trade magazine buyer's guide
assuming the trade magazine applies to your audience.
Some of the highest quality links require monetary input,
however. Associations usually require membership to list your
site, trade publications generally only list advertisers. Many
popular online directories also want you to subscribe to their
advertising programs and your ranking position within those
directories is usually based on the amount of advertising
dollars spent. While they may say you can list your site for
free, the truth is that your site will probably never see the
light of day in ranking position at that directory if you don't
purchase their advertising package.
While it is getting more difficult to find quality directories
that provide a static link to your site without a listing fee or
that require only a small listing fee, there are some available.
If you offer industrial goods and services, you'll want to list
your site at http://www.industry2industry.com. For a more
complete list of other search-engine-friendly directories
accepting free or minimal fees, visit
http://info.vilesilencer.com.