Is directory submission still a good SEO practice?

in my think the directories which gives you a direct link without NO FOLLOW attributes is useful for increase your PR

especially if it had high pr in the sub pages.

 

i have not got more traffic from directories,
as i am using google analytics and extremetracker but i have seen very less amount of visitors on site from directories.

how did u got traffic from directory? please explain in brief.

 

I've had no more than a handful of visitors from directories in a year - and that includes big ones like BOTW. However, I think they do play a good role in improving performance in SERPs when the right anchor/ title text is used.

 

That's a very good point. The major advantage of directories is that you have an influence on the anchor text.

 

Interesting reading - thanks everyone

 

HI

You need to use as many different titles, descriptions and keywords for as many directories as you can.

You will get better results by doing that... Some directories will give you traffic others won't, but I only really submit to the directories for the backlinks I get to improve my serp ranking.

Tom

 

Just make sure the directory allows meta tags and a few anchor text links. There is also big difference in SEO performance when the niche directory is narrow vs. broad. I had a simple directory jump to a PR3 in just 30 days because I believe it was in a tight niche. www.estate-attorneys.net

 

It depends on the directory. There are many out there which are useless. There are some which you can get some link weight from, but not much. Then there are a few that remain very very strong in terms of increasing backlink juice to your website. These directories have been around 10-15 years and have a substantial link profile with search engines as well as their own pagerank which they pass to your site.

Those directories which are worth the time and money:

DMOZ.org
Dir.Yahoo.com $299 Annual
Business.com $299 Annual
Botw.org $99 Annual

In each case, a link achieved from any of these sources normally result in a substantial push in rankings for the site listed. Just try to include target keywords in descriptions, and abide by the submission policies so you get listed without a problem.

 

I benefited by submitting my blog to directories.

 

Three week old directories set up as link farms work as well as any. They might not last as long but they work short term and can be used to break up patterns that might form whilst you are doing more serious link building.

Dmoz yes but does its value inceases beause "its old"? Yahoo maybe but is that not just because they are the "competition"? Common sense dictates that an established site is a better choice over one which is still just a twinkle in the owners eye. But does that make it more valuable? Possibly, but I would say its marginal at best and the value lies in the fact that you have a better than average chance of seeing that link mature and grow with time. What I believe is that a five year old link has a lot more oomph than a two year old link and everything else is just wishful thinking.

Dont agree. Dmoz is a free site but is it worth jumping through the hoops to get there? Some will swear by it. But I can get by without the aggro. I can also get the results I need using the throw away links offered by the free directories.

As for the others Yahoo is too damned expensive. It should also be "no followed". Buiness.com I don't know but Botw appears to have no problem listing informational sites explaining all you need to know about Acne and you need your head read if you are going to pay $99 a year for a link in any directory.

 

Dmoz doesnt have to involve "jumping through hoops"... you spend a few minutes submitting, then walk away. Doesn't cost anything, it isnt a guarantee you'll get in, but it improves your chances substantially. People that agonize and gripe dont improve their chances any more than those that submit and move on.

As for pay-for-review submissions to the others... you may not agree that they are worthy, but many well respected SEOs say otherwise.

 

Got nothing against for pay-for-review submissions. I use them myself but I don't like being strung a line. I take exception to directories that talk up the value of their links pretending that they are somethng they are not. I also have zero time for the self same "well respected SEO's" who seem to spend a lot of their time blowing hot air out of their backsides trying to convince everyone that east is west.

Which is why I am a long time Dmoz editor. Its the hype that goes with it that doesn't wash. If it as just another submission I wouldn't bother posting. But ...........

 

Oh... longterm? OK, I was only there from 1999 - early 2008.

I agree the link is overhyped, just saying the idea that it should be a subject of aggravation is a wive's-tail... it takes only minutes to submit and walk away, but it is a good thing if it gets accepted and if not it only cost a few minutes.

ANY individual link can be over-hyped. As has been stated earlier any link is best seen as a facet of an overall plan, not a one-link-fixes-all SEO cure. I don't think it is a shock that some are worth paying for.

Nor do I suspect that SEOs are by nature full of hot air. Some are, some aren't, but many of the better known SEOs have a lot of good info to share... I don't feel a need to denigrate the benefit available from learning from the good ones. Life's too short to make all your own mistakes, so I see value in learning from those somebody else already field-tested.

 

If it was only that simple. I am getting a bit long in the tooth and short of breath these days and resent the fact that I have wasted a whole lot of valuable time chasing down bad advice from people I thought I respected.

 

Will Rogers said whern it comes to learning there's three kinds of people...

• Those that learn by reading about others experiences...
• Those that learn by watching others...
• ...and then there's the guys that just hafta piss on the electric fence theirselves....

 

That's the problem trying to learn anything on the internet, anybody and everybody can spout anything they like and if they dress it up nicely enough people believe it. I learned more in a year doing a couple of Open University courses focused on a result than I have in many more years chasing around online.

 

Wasn't always this way and I think Wordpress is a testimony to what can be achieved by people who recognise that there are opportunities to change the way things work. We have set up an experimental workshop, I am sure there are others and at some time all we have to do to close the circle is to link the dots.

Its not all doom and gloom but it sure is a pisser if you start adding up everything you have wasted getting there. Free three week old directories are as good as any, short term. They work but the question of what to do long term still remains.

 

I can say ony positive things about the directory backlinks, they are useful, but keep in mind you need mixed backlinks (directories, blogs, social bookmark, ...)