Webmasters across the globe are involved in a race to the top of the search engine listings. Everyone has their own set of racing techniques that they swear by, some work well, some not so. However, one thing is certain; if you want to get to the top of the rankings you need inbound links to your site. But how do you get inbound links? Well, you could buy them. That gets pretty expensive. For many keywords the top ranking sites have hundreds if not thousands of inbound links, so unless you have a MEGA promotion budget then you will have to find another way. Writing articles and submitting them to resource sites (such as those listed at www.info-sales.co.uk) is another way to get many inbound links. However, not everyone is an aspiring modern day Shakespeare and not everyone has the time to research, write and then submit articles. Okay, so you don't have Bill Gates' bank balance and therefore cannot buy all the links you need. You lack either the expertise or the time to write articles. What can you do? Don't panic! The secret lies in two words, music to your ears and the answer to your inbound links dilemma... Directory submission.

"Set yourself daily targets..."

In the race to the top of the search engine rankings directory submission has to be the isotonic sports drink. Submitting your site to directories will boost its performance immensely. There are hundreds of high quality free directories available. This means that your wallet will be untouched by the process. Earlier, we discarded the idea of article submission as too time consuming, doesn't directory submission take time too? Yes. Not much but it does take time. The most time consuming job would be finding the right directories to submit to, however, conveniently other kindly webmasters have already done this for you. A number of quality free directory lists exist on the internet and my recommendation is info-sales.co.uk, a site lists the directories alphabetically, this means that if you're too busy to submit to all the directories at once then you can take it a couple of letters at a time. Set yourself daily targets i.e. today I will submit my site to the directories under A, B and C and tomorrow I will do D, E and F. This way you will get your site listed on every directory on the list in no time at all. Alongside each listing is a measure of the popularity of the directory (Google Page Rank), this means that if you are short of time you can select the more highly ranked directories to submit to first.

"...there is clear evidence that directory submission works."

Directory submission is a well established and often overlooked search engine optimisation strategy. Unlike many new techniques travelling along the webmaster grapevine, there is clear evidence that directory submission works. Before submiting to free directories, http://www.Info-sales.co.uk had a google page rank of exactly zero. Now, after submission, just one page rank update later, the same site is at google page rank 4. This is not a unique case. Right, so you're convinced of the need to submit your site but want some more tips and tricks to help you along the way. Firstly, many directories require an email address to allow them to verify your listing, I would strongly recommend that you use a free email address rather than a company one. Gaining inbound links is important but there is no need to clutter your inbox in the process. Secondly, when entering your website url, unless the form specifically instructs you not to, remember to include the 'http://'. This is important because many systems create your listing automatically and without the http:// your link may not work, being treated as a page of the site you have submitted to rather than a link to an external site. My final tip to set you on the right trajectory for your race to the top of the search engine rankings is to enter an accurate, keyword rich but not overtly promotional site description. If you try to use the description as an advert, many free directories will reject your submission. However, if you keep your description accurate and keyword rich it will mean your listing gets accepted and search engines will be able to index your site more accurately.

So how do you get inbound links without spending loads of money and time? Directory submission. Simple as that.

All that is left for me to do is to wish you good luck with your site and all future endeavours.

The author, Lee Munson, is also the owner of http://www.whatsmylinkpop.com, a useful tool for checking your backlinks after you have put all the hard work into your submissions.