Whenever I submit to a directory, I try to come up with unique content as a description for the site that I'm submitting. Some directories request this and some don't. I have been trying to stick to this because if the search engine picks up duplicate content and kicks the directory to the curb it's wasted effort on my part, right? Or am I wrong and I could be saving time by cutting and pasting away with a lot less effort? Is unique content in descriptions important or not? If it IS important, why don't directory managers require that the descriptions pass plagiarism detection so that their directories will remain healthy?
Oh my lots, of questions there. Let me give it a shot. Duplicate content penalties on any page will make the link less valuable to anyone linked to from that page. There are some directory owners who do research and demand unique descriptions; some in that group simply rewrite every description. Because we are talking about a couple of sentences on a larger page, IMHO, I question how much an issue this really is. But, there are folks here who truly believe it does make a difference. Keep in mind, with most directories the only content on the pages are the listing titles and descriptions. The better you can craft your description, again this is my opinion, the more relevant you can help make the directory page which in turn will provide you with a more topical link. There's also the possibility that the directory does get traffic and your description should be treated with the same amount of respect that you would treat any advertising piece. It should be written to entice someone to visit your site. It's like most things in life, the more effort you put into it, the more you will get in return.
This is for LINK directory submissions, right? If so, you're confusing site descriptions with article originality. The latter is used for article directories and yes, it would make sense to submit all original materials for each directory. For link descriptions I dont think the duplicate penalty applies. We've submitted many clients to hundreds of directories manually and their PR still goes up. If there was a penalty, then the PR would have remained N/A.
The directory is not kicked to the curb, but your link detail page may... Why cut and paste? Use roboform.com's free form filler. It saves a lot of time. Since it's your submission, write them in such a way that they are unique. If you are mass submitting, try to change everything (including keywords, submitters name, etc.) every 20 submissions. Good luck
Been doing this for over two years now and never thought of that. Duh. Great point. Would'a greened ya, but it won't let me.
I think thats correct about the detail page and when a submitter searches for his site in google he will have a much better chance of seeing his listing if the detail page has a uniquely written description I know writing a unique description is time consuming but I think it has to be worth it in the long term unique content is always favoured with google
Try to mix up the titles you use for your site in web directories. Make them a variation of the keywords you're targeting for the search engines because the search engines use the anchor text as one of the major criteria in moving you up high in the rankings.
Titles are a bit tougher - just don't make them spammy. When it comes to descriptions I feel it is important for them to be unique. To that end submissions to my directory are researched for uniqueness of description and then based on the results they are either completely rewritten of tweaked to ensure some uniqueness of content. You can either believe unique descriptive text helps (as I do) or not but no one can argue that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
I would create the content even before I created the directory. People search the internet for content not of endless lists of links.
I don't think there is a need to make unique description for each directory. Desciption is less important than title in SEO except you use the description as the anchor text.
You can see this link for example http://www.yourjoker.com/shopping/c...-class-highlight-mobile-span-deals-l5655.html Detailed page of a website submitted to this directory.
As snowbird mentioned, the directory won't be but the page where your description is located may get kicked. No you are not wrong, I have been telling people for years to write unique descriptions for every single submission that they carry out. That is if they want to get the most benefit from it. The problem is that there is a boom in these "Manual Directory Submission Services" so people would rather pay $5 to get someone to submit to 100/200/300 directories than actually spend the time doing it themselves. What they don't realize though is that half of these services use automated and semi-automated software and the other half who actually do it manually don't do it properly in the first place. There are a few exceptions of course.... but anyway, I digress.... Yes it is very important to write unique descriptions for your submissions because you want these directory pages to rank well in the search engines so that they pick up traffic and ultimately deliver that traffic to your web site. It depends on the directory. Your average Joe Schmoe who sets up a directory to try and make a quick buck will often just approve whatever it is you write. Some don't even look. Most of the more experienced directory owners will do one of the following: rewrite, research, check plagiarism, etc. I rarely get a submission where I think to myself "Wow, that is actually written pretty well" and I end up editing 99%.