Are Directories really effective in Ranking positions

Directory submissions are still alive. They can not be dead because where else can you get so much back links by such miserable price?
Directory has been predict to death at least five years ago. And they continue to live and give a benefit.

A good list of free directories is an important issue because on this depends the success of directory submission.
Via link you will find a list of the current directories with high PR and good attendance.

 

Directories are good and especially SPECIALISED directories
For example directories of doctors, directories of realtors...

Use a directory submission service and carry on to another IM method

(I always submit my sites to at least 100 directories)

 

directory submissions will alwyas be good if you do it on reputable directories. You will also get traffic from these directories. not a lot but some

 

I have a question about directories. To make directory submission useful, you need to submit to the correct category. However, as the correct category is often 5-6 pages deep. The page where your website appears (if it appears) usually has no PR. Will this help ranking?

Also, I've read many books on this topic and seems that the yahoo directory, DMOZ, and BOTW are the three major ones you should consider. Is this correct? It has been suggested that having your link in just a few high quality directories is better than have 100+ links from bad directories. Is this true?

 

Hi everyone,

As an SEO, do you really think that directories are really helping you out in getting that traffic to your site and if so then how much of traffic is coming from these directories. Are directories more active in passing the traffic to our site.

I would like to know the opinions of everyone who have worked on directories.

Thanks
Dorothy

 

Doesn't hurt what so ever to submit to a directory, Its free backlinks , and free website promotion.

 

Some quality directories can be good just as a source of good links when starting a new website or blog...for direct traffic, not much comes from directories for me

 

it doesn't help to get traffic in my case. but sure it provides good backlinks

 

Well, because 99.8% of directories out their are individually run and lack the funds to make it better known like Yahoo and thus many are unheard of, if not heard of, no one comes.

If you could remember back in the early 90's when almost every web portals had their own web directories and there where sites like DMOZ (still today) and ZEAL(dead). Every one was using web directories,..then came Google (which killed every one that was some one) and made finding web sites "easy" with a few strokes and relevant sites are there in the first page, off course villains like SEO's found many ways to manipulate the algorithm of the search queries and which relevant sites are really not so relevant any more.

Come back for a minute and take a look at a well manage directories and some comes in many Niche, but most are clone of the other just sitting there waiting for some one to submit a paid submission and others wont bother to even review sites and will just include it in which gives some a bad name.

Since search engines can be manipulated regardless on how many times it change it's algo, some one will always find a way to manipulate it, the results on the pages are just as good as those "bad" web directories that many now a days are complaining about, so in a reality, web directories and search engines are not perfect, but you can always choose which one you like to most, but neither one will fade away because even though web directories are "ancient" as far as technologies goes, it is still very useful for those that want to find something relevant.

A web directory is run by humans, this way it can determine what sites that should be included, if the editor of that directory knows what he/she doing and knows what to look for and what to add or not to add, then you will have a quality place to find what your looking for, I take DMOZ as an example because it is well maintained and place sites accordingly for which it belongs.

Not even Google can top a well maintained web directories, it can't do it and it has the best (and probably) the smartest tech people in the world.

To answer your question about whether directories can give you traffic? Not the ones you would normally submit to, if your chances are easy to be included in a directories, then most likely their wont be any traffic coming your way. Directories like Yahoo,Business.com where they charge an arm and a leg (yearly) and it is not even guaranty that they will include your site, there's a good chance of getting some traffic, but not by much based on what I have read in some places, but I'm sure it all depends on where the sites are place.

General directories usually contain hundreds if not thousands of categories and even if that directory is getting 10,000 visitors daily you'd still might not get much traffic from it.

As most had said already that the power of web directories this days lies in the back link department which are exposed to search engines and thus will improved your ranks but it all mounts to how many of those you have and how powerful those that are linking to you and the relevancy.

Web directories are your friends, find a good one and spread the love

 

Generally nowadays directories are not used for traffic. They are helpful in getting backlinks and improving your page rank.

 

So I can use couple of directories without worry that Google will blacklist my site?

 

so how do know which directory to add your site to? or do you just add to as many directories as you can? and where do these directories get their traffic from?

 

By having at look at how it looks, the latest sites listed, any latest posts/articles....one of the most important thing I tend to look at is how often it's content (be it listings, posts or anything else it might have) is being updated. I like to know whether the owner himself actually visits the site and takes cares of it in the first place. PR is the LAST thing I look for in a directory...

 

Like with any other, you have to work at it, you cannot rely on one source alone, you must do research on which ever sites you wish to be associated with, not all are created equal. Avoid submission companies that tells you it could submit to 1000's of search engines and web directories, get the list and examined those list and opt-out of the gray areas.

 

It depends on the quality of directories. Most of them is for free.

 

Directories aren't meant to just help increase a site's traffic, they are primarily meant to increase your sites page rank and number of backlinks. This helps to legitimize and thus monetize your site later. Traffic that's driven to your site from directories is just an added bonus but can add up over the long run as well.

 

Hi,

So do you mean to say that the directories are no more of any importance in Google's eye. If so then how about Web 2.0 Concepts?? Are they really helpful in driving traffic to your website.

 

Directory submission is a off page activity but little bit time consuming.

 

Yes/No

Here are just the 3 directories that I will add here that have some importance:
DMOZ.ORG
Yahoo Dir
Business.com

Most of the directories that you might have submitted in the Solicitation area have little or no importance in Google's eyes, could be because it has not gained any authority or could be because one guy owns a thousand directories and you've submitted to it all and had not seen any importance in your SERP.

Web2 as in Social Networking sites? depends on what contents you deliver to them. Like with Digg, if you have something to give them, they will Digg your articles which would result in massive traffic your way.

 

Can any one suggest some directories for new websites?

Thanks