Blah, hell no. Google doesn't care about directories so why should I spent money for them. Only free ones for basic G ground and other SE's.
Using paid directories can be a good way to get some more links, after you already submitted to the hundreds of free ones of course. There are alot of newer paid directories that ask for 10 bucks or less for lifetime link, which can be a good deal if they are SEO friendly, have some PR, and are not Google banned. As far as some major directories to submit to, and ones that cost a bit of money, I'll start off by suggesting these: www.site-sift.com www.botw.org www.elib.org (shopping) www.goguides.org www.joeant.com www.skaffe.com
It is all about value. If the directory owner is spending the submission money on advertising the site, building the site up and offering you valueable features then it is money well spent. If the directory owner simply charges to stop receiving a slew of submissions every day then it is not worth anything.
everyone thinks "general directory" when someone says "directory". Specific niche directories are not only good but necessary to rank in the serps. If you're selling widgets and the keyword your looking to rank with is "widget" and when you search the term 3 widget directories rank in the top 10 you'd be nuts not to pay them or recip IHMO.
Thanks for the feedback. donttrustthisposter, I just checked out your directory and was going to add my website, but I don't see a category for photo hosting or classifieds. Did I miss it? Thanks!
I certainly do, I pay whatever it's worth. Most I've spent on one listing was $25ish a few times. Depends on the quality for what I pay. PortProphecy listed some good ones.
I paid for a yahoo directory, and a few low money directories ($5.00-$10.00 range). Havent done many of those though.
I've never paid to any directories for myself, but most of my customers websites has been suscribed into the Yahoo directory for 300 dollars a year. It's quite good, with the association of the keywords and the link popularity it has a good rank on the directory... but who goes on such things to find your website ? but do not underestimate them either.
Nope, I haven't as of yet paid for a listing in a directory and to be honest I don't think I ever will but who knows I may change my mind at a later date.
If its in my niche, I'll definately pay for a listing. If it's cheap (under $3) and SEO friendly (meaning spiderable and passes PR), I'll most likely pay. Other than that, hell no. Yahoo is a prime example of something I won't pay for $300 a year and passes no PR? What's the point? Maybe if Yahoo had 60% of the search market and it was an easy way to get in the top ten, but ... For an interesting lesson on the economics of running a directory, read my post in this thread: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?p=446581#post446581 It might help you determine that value of the links you will pay for.
Yes, $3 seems to be a reasonable amount for a good directory. I think I don't value my time like I should. The most important cost in running a directory is due to time dedicated to review sites, create categories, move sites, delete spam,... (unless you paid for the script, or pay to be included in other directories or buy links from sites with good traffic).
I've never understood why some directories as so popular? I'm not a SEO guru but directories which charge $50/year or $150/forever, and have PR4 on the page of 20 links, I really don't see the point? I also don't like the choice of paying yearly or forever, it annoys me, I'd rather have just 1 choice as I think I'm getting a bad deal whichever one I pick.
I only understand paying $50+ for niche directories. For example, my wife owns a DJ company. We pay to be listed in the big DJ directories like wedj, 800dj, discjockeyonline, etc. This actually chaps my @$$ to no end because I know they take her money and use it for ppc ads and/or to rank better for HER keyterms! But, they do send a constant stream of traffic to her site, so...
It's a catch 22. If they didn't try to be tops for those keywords, they wouldn't get the traffic they get, which means you wouldn't recieve alot of that traffic you get from them.
Yes, but my ego keeps needling me saying "With the $300 dollars she spends annually at those sites, YOU could do fantastic things!" to which my cheapskate side adds "plus you could probably save her money!", then my lazy side kicks in and says "Yeah, but that would be work...". Grr! The voices in my head just can't come to consensus on this one.
I may do with whatver worthly enough. Most of directories do not worth to pay for, depends on its owner about their promotion and drive some unique traffics to them but some do. If it was me, I may look for good directory with one-time fee or annual fee if they've good pr and not much outbound links with sef too.