Directories really count towards your link juice?

[quicksilver101]

I've submitted one of my websites to about 50 directories over the last 3 months.

So far two have appeared as links in google.

How many of you actually have worthwhile directory listings?

[webcosmo]

It definitely counts. Directories are the best way to get free one way links. If you could get links from related directories thats the best.

[DJMC]

Yesterday I signed up for Google Webmaster Tools.

They show you ALL of the counted links that seem to be updated quite frequently (more than shown to the public).

For example, most "Public" link viewing for my site has about 71-96 results.

When I checked "External Links" in my Webmaster Tools, Google told me that I had 1,978 links and then provided me with a list, either on screen (up to 100 results per page) -OR- in the form of an XL spread sheet.

The amount given to me privately by Google is very close to what Yahoo is reporting (around 2,160 links).

A few months ago, I only had 1,550 counted links on Yahoo.


Surprisingly, Google DOES count siggy links from Forum chatboards, but not to the same extent as Yahoo.

[zexy]

Nowadays I focus on the most famous directories mainly but submitting to just every directory you could find won't do any harm as well ;)

[snowbird]

I've submitted one of my websites to about 50 directories over the last 3 months.

So far two have appeared as links in google.

How many of you actually have worthwhile directory listings?

I have sites that are PR 4's with backlinks from directory submissions only. This directory list I used to get those sites to PR 4's is in my signature.

50 directory submissions over three months is not much at all. Go to roboform.com and download their free form filling software or get a plugin for Firefox. That will help speed up the submission process, but you still need to stop and change titles, descriptions, etc. Because you don't want all your listings to be the same.

Make sure you are targeting keywords that actually bring in traffic. Here's a free windows keyword research tool (http://www.vmoptions.com/nicheexaminer.exe). After install, click "main keyword" enter it and click "ok." Then click the "gather keywords" button. It will generate a list of 100 keywords with traffic estimates. Then, click "gather data." This will show you the number of competing pages in Google. Fewer competing pages will be easier for you to rank for, but try to work in the main keyword(s) into your submission title if possible.

Directory submissions are a good start for building backlinks, but social bookmarking, articles, blog commenting, etc. can help as well. Good content will also help since people will be more inclined to link to you.

Happy link building! :)

[lightlysalted]

djmc makes an excellent point here

[matt5409]

i hope it does. i spend all my time submitting 7/8 sites to every directory i find. i use keywords as my site titles, i've yet to find any real SOLID evidence that dir submissions work though.

[Mental]

Heres an article that might help answer your question,

Directory Submission Article (http://www.webtacs.net/directory-submission/)

[Breakaway11]

Wow... pr 4 just from directory submission? That's pretty impressive.... Could you PM me one of your pages that you did that with?

[snowbird]

Heres an article that might help answer your question,

Directory Submission Article (http://www.webtacs.net/directory-submission/)

Interesting article, but I do not agree with submitting to high PR directories only.

You should also learn to not submit to just any old directory. It should have a high enough page rank. Not just PR2 or PR3 because this is just all to normal. My personal limit for submitting to directories is it has to have at least a page rank of 4, nothing less. Next, with directories with paid links, my limit is even more strict.

Think about this... Everyone is chasing PR so these directories have huge backlogs of free submissions. The wait for review time at some directories is over 6 months. This is fine if you want results six months down the road.

Also, high PR directories tend to have very high listing standards for free submissions. Not that this is a problem for most, but a couple adsense blocks could be all it takes to have a submission declined.

I've submitted a good number of client sites to free directories. Some of the higher ranking directories still have not approved or denied my submissions a year later. This makes one wonder if they are simply deleting free submissions. And I think some are.

My clients want results today, so I always submit to the lowest PR directories first. Then I move onto directories with higher PR. New directories tend to have a very small wait time to be reviewed, and they also have more flexible listing standards. In addition to this, newer directories also have very few listings. This means that approved links get indexed very quickly, which helps my clients improve their serps substantially within just a week of the submissions.

IMO, it is much better to have a listing in a PR 0 directory then to wait for six months to get reviewed by a high PR directory. By the time that high PR directory submission is reviewed, the PR 0 directory will have gone through two PR updates...

@ Breakaway11

I'll consider giving you a link, under conditions that nothing specific (site name, detailed niche info, etc.) is shared or blogged about.

[ebyun84]

If directory listing don't count, I've wasted a lot of my time.

[dannyibiza]

I paid for the service and was added to about 800 free directories and ive seen a few show up on google backlinks. But i think of it this way any one way link to your site cant harm you so why not

[zingo]

Nice tool SnowBird.. much thanks my friend.

[dspohn23]

Directories definitely help, the best directories to submit to, are high ranking niche directories that are related to your site.

[kg_lew]

Directory submissions do help with PR....

[c4cyber]

submitting to directory is the way of building links, not the only one..
so try some other ways as well.