Let's say that I am successful in getting listed in 90% of these directories. My questions are: 1. Are all these one way links actually worth it to me in terms of improving my serp's? 2. Should I target the exact same anchor text on all, or divide it up among my 5-10 top key word phrases? Thanks for the help and advice in advance.
90%? If you are speaking about free directories, such a high percentage is almost impossible to achieve. Unless we are speaking about a combination of very positive factors (very high quality site from non-problematic field, submissions immediately after new directories are opened, etc.) Links are worth, but usually they are low quality. Go for multiple anchors.
It will take time, some free directories take up to 3 months to list you, they will probably dribble in.
i submited to 700 and my serp has improved a lot i had only four anchor text and my serp did improve in all four and some other related ones for sure
i was assuming (there is that word again) that our site would be included due to the content in it, the fact it is a PR5 and has been online since 2001. Maybe I was wrong. Anyway, from what I am reading, I think it will still be a good value for my site. Can't hurt in anyway I can see.
Yes, it should help your site. It takes time (weeks, months) for many of these free directories to add you, then even longer (more weeks or months) for many of these low PR pages to get indexed, but it should provide some visible results over several months. Definitely vary the anchor text if you can, otherwise the link profile could start to look fishy
try to get different anchor texts (based on the keywords you are interested to rank for)... Getting listed in 90% of the directories.... good dream... Good luck though.
Some directory owners are lazy,sometimes the approval takes longer than you thought,because it's a free directory!