How NOT to submit to directories

Some annoyances to save yourself and directory owners both some time:

1. This is the most important one: READ the description of the directory BEFORE submitting! If it's a niche directory and your site has nothing to do with that niche, save yourself the time - case in point: your web design site or webmasters forum is not going to be accepted into a health care directory - did you not notice that there are no other such sites listed and that there isn't even a category for such sites?

2. If you have already received the rejection notice for your site, where it says you do not meet the criteria for inclusion, why would you think that re-submitting it five times will get a different result?

3. You don't need to submit the same site five times in three seconds. Once is enough. You won't get five listings out of it.

4. After you have submitted your site, check your email. Once your site has already been listed, it's listed. No need to submit it again and no need to submit five other pages from the same site.

 

Excellent post! Can be used as sticky in this forum.

 

Good post. What you say is so true!

I have a niche directory specifically meant for Invision Power Board forum sites and it amazes me how many submissions we get every day for totally off-topic sites.

 

Haha...I've just rejected the same site 4 times for being a spammy adsense site (www.somerediculouslylongnameaboutcancer.com) but they just keep submitting...oh well.

 

As the rep for The Orange Pages I must applaud you for your simplistic but very accurate posting. There is nothing worse than our editors having to look through dupes and this is a surefire way to get blacklisted with us. We review even the application for review let alone the site and perhaps other directories may or not be as vigilant as us I'm confident that most will feel the same as TOP. However! 'Once your site is listed its listed' is not always accurate. We review without warning, perhaps the benefit of having paid editors. If a site has changed significantly without advising us they will get dropped. Also we use software to check for dead links, changed material etc. so there is a very real risk of the site being dropped. We reccommend that submittors revisit the directory every 4-6 weeks just to make sure their site is still safely in place. Add the page/s listed to your fav's or write the url down. Then check. I understand that not every directory goes to these lenghts and it is expensive, however The Orange Pages plans to take over the leash from the other leading directories and as we are reviewing at a rate of knots it won't be long!

Excellent article though and one we endorse fully.

 

The link now appears to be dead, and if they are spammers, good!

 

I think it was meant as a fictitious example of a spammy looking link, Cantufind.

As for resubmitting, I wasn't suggesting "never", although for some sites that would be true. Occasionally, if I have time, I email the submitter saying that the site has promise but clearly is still under development and suggesting that s/he resubmit when the site has progressed. What I was talking about in the original post was in response to going through some submissions over the past 24-48 hours, where after having a site rejected one webmaster sent in 5 resubmissions for interior pages for the same site -- if I hated your home page, or if I just told you the content of the site wasn't appropriate for my niche directory, what makes you think I'll like your interior pages (five of them no less) any better?

 

Hi there, I know exactly where you are coming from and what you say makes total sense, I didn't twig on the name as a fake so tried the link anyway so no page got a unique visit! We won't accept sub pages unless they are relevant to a topic such as SEO forums. If we did that we would have far too many links interelated that it would make life impossible. This should be covered by the Site submittors' use of Keywords which even if it was listed in a main cat such as SEO optimization would also come up in SEO forums, do you get me? I've learned over my ten years or so playing with the web on a serious basis that you never judge a book by its cover. I've seen some pretty wierd and crappy front pages only to enter and find pandoras box!

Have a good Xmas.

 

Minstrel, I can't believe I'm saying this but good posts.

It must be bad to be an admin at a popular directory when you keep getting people who keep doing what you outlined.

Skinny

 

I want to add a few extra points.

1a)

The same goes for subtopics in general directories. Don't try to submit a site in the main topic. Find the best fitting subtopic and submit it there.

5) Submit only when your site is finished and without big errors like links to non existing subpages. Who needs a site when only the frontpage is ready?

Hugo

 

Another thing I notice is the site descriptions. Although the guidelines state to create actual descriptions, I get some that are nothing but a long string of keywords, and nothing that forms a sentence. Why go through all of the trouble to fill out the submission form, if your just going to do something that is surely going to get you rejected?

 

That particular individual who submitted five pages after being rejected has just submitted two more.

Either s/he is using a poorly written automated program of some sort or s/he is just dumb as a stump...

 

I have grown tired of people submitting sites and not even remotely following the guidelines I set down. If someone submits a site without a real description I just delete without even looking at it. After all, I am offering you a free backlink. The least you can do is help me out and follow a couple rules.

 

it's more like common sense for everyone to submit to the right directory category; doing otherwise it's like asking someone about rabbits and the reply you get has to do something with the frogs...

 

Good post and I totally agree! May the force be with everyone!

 

good post & nice tip

 

so true everybody hates being spammed! Thanks for the tip

So what is the most probable cause for being rejected?

 

someone "excavated" an ancient thread here!

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M.

 

Thanks for the tip. It is a good post. Everyone should read this thread so that they won't make the mistakes.

 

This thread is as dead as directories are.