Given up on directories?

I have!

I'm fed up of shelling out money for directories that either;

- don't perform, and end up going under
- get banned by Google
- the owner looses interest

I'm giving up on them and concentrating on exchanging links with other themed sites.

Have you given up on directories?

 

Ouch, that sucks man.

I guess it's a risk you take with who you submit to :/ As a rough percentage, how many of them go that way?

 

How many directories have you submitted to and how many did you pay to list in, roughly of course?

 

I only submit to free directories, and I haven't given up on it.

 

davedx, all of them. The free directories stick around, but PR is poor, and people get bored and just move on to another project IMO.

 

i really don't see the harm in submitting to free directories. You have nothing to to loose.

 

Link exchange has ended me up with lots of links to sites that might be seen be Google as "bad neighborhoods". Yes, I know I could be more careful, but that is an enormous amount of effort.

I still haven't submitted to all of the over 300 free directories in the FAQ. If I ever get that done, I will look at other linking strategies.

Pay directories? Nah...

 

Will is right. Link exchange is risky unless you monitor and have complete control over who you link to. Read the G Webmaster Guidelines page:

Don't participate in link schemes designed to increase your site's ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or "bad neighborhoods" on the web as your own ranking may be affected adversely by those links.

I try to submit each of my sites to a couple of free directories each week. There are thousands of them out there.

 

I'm hearing you wwhhomes - its funny I end up building my own directory after building and exchanging links with regular sites lol The original purpose of it was a link resource for my own good, but now seams like it is much more and I see many ways to improve it and make it a lot more than just a directory... I think we see directories fall much often then regular sites, just because we get back to them submitting our new clients or small projects - more often than to other sites.. Running a small directory on my own I stumbled on linking to bad neighborhoods after they were good legit sites - so many sites being bought by porn developers etc, others just quit and abandon their domains.. its all frustrating and sometimes I feel like hiring a part time helper or may be a few that could monitor this things for me - I can't keep up with that, not mention when people linking to you in order to get on your site and next day you know your link is not there... I have a way of checking my links automatically, but it doesn't make my frustration less since I can't make my links stay there.. so I just care less about that and more about improving other things. Just stick to the general idea, links are just something you cant win - get the new ones and forget about the old ones So many directories switched to redirecting tricks and other crap, so I just keep small list of well respected ones in my head. Don't get too personal with links - that's why I like DP AdNetwork

 

My strategy exactly. There are lots of them around. If they provide real links and don't DEMAND a reciprocal link or charge a fee for listing, submit away, the more the merrier. If one or two of them go under, what have you lost?

 

I also submit to free SEO friendly directories. Although it takes a lot of time and effort, I'm sure the few visitors I gain will definitely be worth it.

 

I’m all for free directories, and there are some very good ones, but many tend to be of less worth, take longer to be reviewed, and are more likely to be abandoned.

Paid directories tend to better quality, and last longer. If its a new directory i check if they are actively being promoted, and have a healthy level of backlinks.

Can be very time consuming finding quality directories. Taken me a long time to find a list i’m happy with – now that i have a list, i pay someone else to make all the time consuming submissions for me. Although, each month i work through the list myself checking for dead sites, directories that are no longer search engine friendly, and add more new directories to the list. The more the merrier, might as well make the most of them while they work.

 

With free directories it is true that the only thing you have to lose is time. But if time is valuable to you or you don't have time to submit to all of them then I suggest that you find a good list that ranks the free directories.

This list of free web directories ranks the high PR sites that are actively adding new submissions in a timely manner.



wwhhomes
Never give up.

 

I submit to every free directory that I can find.

Granted, some will fold and disappear, but many won't, and you can wind up with a bunch of strong links over time. At this point I have submitted to 300 plus since August.

I have only paid for the following directories- gimpsy (OK) and search turtle (dont bother).

For the value of 9 links, I think the MSN directory is well worth the $50.

My concern is that if google revamps its algo to depreciate directory links----

So I guess a combo of recip and directory links would be the safest bet.

 

Oh b e h a v e carowan

300 directories, Wow. Are you submiting 1 site or many?

 

just one, which does make it easier.

Once I see a new directory listed in this thread, I submit on the spot.

I also goto my competitors sites and see if they have submitted to any directories, and submit also- no use in them having all the fun

I only have about 30 recip links, all the rest are directories and as of today im #1 and #2 for my (moderately competitive) main keyword with a 35 page site.

 

If you are not going to pay for a directory submission then you will lose out on msbcentral.

 

and you will lose out on several other directories, too...

But this does not mean you will lose anything else -- there are other and often better ways to promote your sites.

 

Feel free to post some suggestions.

 

For site promotion?

There are dozens of threads here at DP and elsewhere about free directories, SEO, advertising strategies, etc., etc. Scan away....