Does submitting to directories REALLY help out your website?

Over a month ago I submitted my wholesale directory to 500 free directories and according to Google Analytics, I've barely received any visitors from these directories. My PR is still at 0 and I literally dropped out of site for some keywords that I had the top 10 in Google for. Am I just having bad luck or is directory submission a useless or even harmful form of marketing?

 

Yes directories are very helpful in indexing and networking your site around the web

Free directories may/or may not take time to approve etc

Be selective with your Directories which you submit your review to

Try to select directories free or paid that are actively promoted with timely Review approvals in 1 to 2 days

That will get your site back on track

 

submitting to directories is still a good SEO method.

 

How many approved your site? 0,1,2 ??

And are the pages ,where your link located , indexed ?

 

I find directories useful, they help me in various ways, you have to bring other things into the picture, like your competition, how much longer are they established, its probably a bit early for the PR thing.

 

Submitting to quality spam free, no nonsense directories does help your website grow.

Directories are like fertilizers to the growth of your site. Improper usage results in total loss, proper usage can work wonders for you.

 

Directories submission will definitely help you to get more backlinks for you site.
Submit your site to a good directory and not to the spam one.

 

I use dirzap (dirzap.com) and i have to say that some linke give me nothing but sometimes few links in good directories is enough if u care about the link (think about indexing site with ur link) and keep good anchors and uve got unique content (sometimes just a little change is needed) then often results can be better then if try to massive (500freeadddir) add links to trash dirs...

 

Barely approved . or maybe 500 free directories with same C-class Ips.
Would you like to give us the listing?

 

Hi mate, you need to bear in mind that the toolbar PR (the bit that you look at) is only updated 3 or 4 times a year, also you wont receive much traffic unless you are buying links on the top 10 webdirectories, even then its not much as directories IMO are a conduit to SEO improvements rather than a traffic tool per-se.

Just keep on in there and wait 6 months minimum to see the results, its a long haul, but worth it in the end!

 

Good advice there.

 

I think directory submission helps.

1 month is not enough time to evaluate if it's working or not for you. Patience is the name of the game in SEO and it holds true for directory submissions as well.

Of course, how many directories actually approved your site in this month..and how many just this past week which didn't have time to index/cache yet.

Other factors to consider why you dropped out of some ranking keywords are:
-how old is your site? Under a year? Then dropping in and out of rankings is normal (at least in my experience)
-What about other SEO tactics. Directory submissions along with onsite SEO is a great combination. Remember, this is a holistic game so don't rely ONLY on directories. Do it all.

Patience is the name of the game, so just keep up the good work and you will do fine.

 

Comments that will 'stand the test of time' from an experienced campaigner

 

its not enough to depend on directory listings to achieve the rankings you want
use free directory submissions as part of a campaign including relevant link building and paid submissions to bigger directories

 

Patience is the key here.

Lots of new websites ranked well when they are fairly new then drop off, I have experienced this a good few times; I’m not going to get into the sandbox debate.

Try submitting to quality directories, use unique descriptions for every submission.

Don’t spam the search engines by submitting to 100s low quality directories.

Forget this post for now and update us all in 6 months time, all will be well.

Thanks Brian

 

Without bothering to explain you simple things like

PR updates once 3-4 months
Directorys are for backlinks not for TRAFFIC
and it takes time to effect

I simply say YES

 

Directory submissions are very valuable providing you meet two criteria: your website is the type that most directories would want to include, and your submission technique doesn't suck.

I would say that on average directories don't do very well in terms of traffic from other directories. Think about it, who visits one directory in order to find another directory? Not counting directories of directories, of course.

 

Agreed ....

maybe this person and others would enjoy this site thats filed with valuable information... http://www.apromotionguide.com
as it takes an in depth look at promoting a New and old site....

thx
malcolm

 

Free directories can take a long-time to approve listings. I just got approved for a few sites that I submitted almost a year and a half ago to a popular free directory.