Are directory submissions still worth doing?

I gotta admit, I was somewhat downcast when I read this. However, after a little contemplation, there's really not much cause to be depressed. Directory submissions CAN STILL work if your are selective regarding where you submit. In particular, look for:

i) free sites with relatively high PR
ii) directory sites that are indexed deep
iii) directories that are specific to your niche/category
iv) directories where your category is not too crowded
v) directories that have actual content--not just listings

The good thing at looking at all these hurdles is that it allows you to take rifle shots regarding your submissions campaign and you actually might accomplish MORE (seo-wise) while doing LESS.

Maybe it's the SHOTGUN approach to directory submissions that's diluting the value of this marketing activity. However, with a little study and a focused approach, it might still hold quite a bit of value.

 

With a free directory i dont look for high pr at all, and regarding content well listings are still content, i know what you mean, content other than the listings alone.

I still dont know where these regular suggestions come from about directory use not being worth it anymore, some of my other sites do good from directory submissions, they work, its as simple as that.

Theres no science to it, you want a backlink, submit to a directory, you want a trickle of targetted traffic, use a niche directory, you want to move up the serps, use a directory, just mix it up with some other promo methods too.

 

If you submit to a penalised directory which has only few pages indexed, it is hard to believe that this backlink will count for Google.

 

Well theres yahoo, msn, the others, browsers stumbling upon your listing etc etc, the backlink is just one thing, you can benefit in other ways.

 

it is necessary in link building

 

Great job linkbaiting Arizona crap by the blog poster.

 

Why is everyone still going on about PR? Is it still even worth anything? That's a simple question btw becuase I honestly don't have a damn clue these days?

 

It shouldn't be ignored completely, i think it would be foolish to do that, but i think virtually everyone got the message that you shouldn't be promoting it, or using it for promotional purposes.

If you dont own it, dont promote it.

 

I don't think everyone has got the message pipes, which prompted me to ask the question. I think PR is utter crap, that has been and always been my stance and I make no bones about it.

Your right when you say people shouldn't at the very least 'openly' promote it because we're only going to get a repeat of the last fiasco when all the innocent people got slammed due to the actions of a few greedy people. I for one don't want to see that and any directory owner who's put hard work into their respective projects will agree.

 

Ok, well i can only put this accross in the most polite way, please please dont bring back to life the old discussions from the last 6 months of have we all got the message, if you would like to see every last member of DP take it on board then forget about it, have a look through the other boards, the discussions of pr still have plenty of life.

Seriously im begging you, lol, we had the Phoenix guy (you know him) and a number of others, lets at least move on from one thing at least.

The message is very clear, dont promote it, at the same time still dont tell other people to remove it from their directories or to forget pr completely, because thats almost the same as trying to sell on the strength of it.

Lets just work, forward thinking, learn from the past, stop talking about the past.

 

Well I will still submit to quality free directories as anyways a backlink is a backlink ! also just compliments to your link building efforts.

@ pipes - that is a nice avatar mate.

 

Thanks Red_Virus and i agree too.

 

so there's no chance at all if people want to start their web directory business ?

 

Reading the the blog post linked to by the OP, the author really doesn't say directories are crap. The posts gives some guidelines for evaluating whether a directory is worth submitting to/paying for.

Really, these factors could be applied to ANY site you're looking at getting a link from (of course, you accept the ones that are given voluntarily, regardless of these factors ).

Not really anything to get worked up or worry about.

 

Yes, submissions in directories that get traffic are well worth listing your site(s) in. I find I get a fair amount of traffic from my own listings in other web directories. I think niche directories are even more valuable as the people that found them are generally looking hard for some specific type of information or sites.

Cheers

 

I'm going to say this : Any link can help

 

After reading the post mentioned - I don't think the poster is saying that directory submissions are worthless. Rather saying to be selective and submit to quality directories.

The thing is that is one persons opinion. Everyone has an opinion but writing an article and posting it in your blog does not make it gospel. Just makes it one persons opinion posted in a blog.

Sometimes people will even take a controversial stance in a blog post that they don't even believe to generate controversy and get traffic. So you never even know if the poster actually believes what they are writing. They may have just done it for link bait.

My opinion is that quality directory submissions significantly help when promoting a website. Then there are some directories of lesser quality that are filled with adsense/sitewides/banners or poor editing that may not help you so much. But I don't believe that any inbound links hurt a site. Any link to your site is a portal for traffic and a vote.

 

The problem I see is one of weaning one's self from the idea that more is necessarily good. Maybe it would help to think in terms of cost-benefit analysis. Maximizing results from scarce resources. Sometimes (as the Zen saying goes) "less is more".

 

I suppose its dependent on being choosy ...


thx
malcolm