I have been considering using a 'submit directory' auto software program to submit my sites to search engines but after reading the comments on this thread http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=640713 where some people are advising using automated submission others are saying it's a complete waste of time and they are also saying you could be banned from the main directories. How do I decide who is giving the correct advice I would love to hear some more opinions and any helpful tips as to what action to take, I don't want to ruin my ability to be listed on all the search engines possible Cheers Viv
The life is a strange thing. Though there are some truths you might as well use in the cyberworld. I mean, if you always try to go the easiest way, you may end up in a deep ditch. Think for yourself: why there's a lot of webmasters out there who spend their time and shed sweat to manually submit their sites to directories, build reciprocal links etc? Because they are stupid? No. Because they are camp? Nope! Because promoting the site in a natural way is a proven method of having success. If you are looking to submit a site to a search engine, the first (and at the moment the only) thing to do is signing up for a Google account giving you access to Webmaster Tools. Now what you do is submitting a sitemap and just keep updating your site (and the sitemap, of course), adding loads of content; and make other sites link to yours. You'll find loads of free directories in DP forum's Directory section.
It is true that using automated submission is not good...manual directory submission is proven and you are safe in penalization.
Thanks 'Tankard' I appreciate your frank and honest opinion. I understand what you are saying about taking the easy route and being a newbie I wasn't sure about whether I would be being foolish so I will go on over to my google account and take a look at the webmaster tools. And thank you too, 'Bomberman' you have reinforced what Tankard has said. I value both of your opinions. Cheers Viv
A recent study found that Four out of Five website visits come directly from search engines, so if your website doesn't have good search engine rankings then you're missing out on 80% of the traffic you could be getting. This translates to making 80% less money from your website than you could be. Any search engine optimization expert will tell you that submitting to directories is one of the fastest and single-most effective means of improving your search engine rankings.