There are bunch of free directories on the web besides paid ones. Some people says that free directories are spammed and it might decrease site repuation after google's updates. Are you still submitting your website to free ones ?
I think a good backlink is best then hundreds so maybe directory submission good but i believe on forums and blogs commenting with social bookmarking.
It actually depends on the quality of the directory, unfortunately most of the free directory is low quality directory because they are out of fund to manage the directory
Backlinks are always good.. if they are from relevant sites. If your site is getting backlinks from not so Authorized sites for e.g. Adult websites then your site will be penalized.
But you must try to build the links gradually... OR your link building would look like an automated ones.
Depends really. I mean if the owner is serious with the directories then they could remain up for a long time. Getting your link put there could be a good thing. Make sure it's do follow of course.
If you are limited in time you better choose PR4+ free directories and after that switch the link building to social bookmarks and article directories. It is true that every link counts but I don't think you have the time and energy to submit to every free directory available online.
Its not true that all free directories have low quality content some directory contains very high quality contents. So before starting article submission campaigns on free directories you should check the quality of that directory.
If you get backlinks from Free but quality & High pr directories who accept links as well. so its helpful for ranking.
I would be very selective with these free sites..... there are literally thousands upon thousands of them. I would first build a list of sites, get the PR of each one and drop the lower PR ones, then do one more filter and only leave those which are niche oriented and one last filter to remove those highly spammed. The end result will be golden
Yes I use free directories as part of my tier 1 links. I had stopped using them for a while as I didn't see how they added value but when I saw my competitor ranking with nothing but directory links I decided to bring them back into my main strategy
I use free directories, it's best to drip feed submissions though. I just do 1 or 2 submissions a day.
If their approval ratio is good then worth submitting there but if too many pending links then they are not bothering free links administration.