Are directories really worth the effort?

Thats correct. So these are worth my time to sumbit my sites to?

 

My question would be how many visitors a day they get and where they are coming from?

 

Interesting. I'm sure the competition for #1 on a niche portal site would be easy to beat. How would you go about finding a niche portal site related to "pets" for example?

 

I'm sure the traffic directly from the directory listing would be minimal. If the backlink increases my SE ranking by a few spots then that is what I'm looking for.

 

In most cases, probably, but once in a while you hit one that actually ranks for the keyterms you're after. But normally you find those thru Google and not thru directory lists.

 

No because you won't get accepted, probably.

Are you really lost for finding directories to submit to? Or is it that you can't decide wether they are worth the effort?

Theres only one way to find out if submitting to directories is worth your effort and your money. Take the risk and submit and evaluate a few months later.

Try these, they work for me and a few of my smaller sites:

www.index-it.net
www.cascandra.com
www.zendir.net
www.webndex.com
indexzilla.com
www.getaroundthenet.com
www.emillie.net
http://www.redpines.org
http://www.searchbuster.org/

And of course it also depends on your site.

 

Well, how does anyone find anything - using a search engine. My point is the SE can't and doesn't have all the information - too much of it you see. And the portals ensure they cover their niche, so everything is found, users bookmark these useful portals and use em regularly. This is where sticking in people's minds is crucial, so if they can't remember that domain name, to make a return visit - you've lost the game.

 

You may well have a point, but my question would be, how does the user find your portal in the first place? And once the user forgets the domain name, how do they find your portal again? As you've infamously said before, there are three types of people - all of whom surround boxes. Now it's time for you to show which one you truly are

 

Thanks for the links. If I were to submit to directories I would use these and the ones I find in Google search combined with a few niche directories. This would take some time. I'm still on the fence as I am not sure if directories are a good source for traffic/backlinks.

 

Traffic = No
Backlinks = Occasionally

Backlinks will help from directories, but few will give the same weight as a link from a related website to your niche.

 

Sounds like I'd be better off linkbaiting and using social bookmarking.

 

Find in the first place, would be a combination of avenues, but advertising with banners, text ads such as google, news paper, radio and tv as some examples.

forgeting and finding again is some thing the owner needs to ensure, name me a black fizzy drink, ? coca cola these people keep their name in front of you all of the time, marketing a site is no different.

I see moving forward with more and more players, more and more options the days of easy rides are over if you want to play big time, otherwise it will be yes what was that site. and yes a good name will be important, some dropped domain, like thefzzyoroange1234 just wont make the grade.

People need to be be prepared to step it up, learn there will be no free ride or yes they will be yesterdays hero, as simple as that.

 

Most of the good portal sites I've found weren't by Search engines, I found one from a link on the BBC.co.uk site. Infact, it was quite a useful site as it supplied cafe listings. The guy who runs it got fed up of paying £2 for a cuppa at Starbucks, (yeah I hate that too hehe) so he built this directory of all the quality cafes in the UK. Dunno how much he makes from it though, but there are a ton of cafes so.....

If I forget a domain name, it's a problem. And I just pray that I accidently find it again some day, but the domain is very important though so it's easy to remember.

 

Yes Sir sure can, it's Delocator http://www.delocator.net/

 

What is that?

 

It's a niche site for Cafes and Coffee shops. Useful site if you want decent cup of reasonably priced coffee in London.

I don't think this is a site that gets used regularly, it's a bit too niche - but it has a single use.

A site that offers a search service can be too niche and too general - a balance must be found.

 

Nice site but I wouldn't even really call that a directory.

 

That, my friend, is very cool!