is it worth submitting to directories?

does google or other search engines frown upon this or is this a good way to increase pr and obviously traffic?

 

I won't hurt anything. If you've got some time to kill and the directory is free go for it.

 

Yes it is.

 

Whenever i get a new site i always submit it to a list of directories that i have. I add to this list whenever i see a new one.

Its a free link afterall. It may not be worth much in some cases but every little helps.

 

Even if you dont have time to kill We ll do it for you

 

As far as I know the search engines don't penalise you for having links in a number of directories, so it's definitely worth submitting when you have a few spare minutes. Personally I've never noticed many referrals from the ones I have submitted to, but it only took perhaps thirty minutes of my time to find and submit to five or six of them and if I get a couple of visitors a month from each one it's probably been worth the time.

I don't believe being listed in directories will increase your search engine ranking much, but that's going off my experience with the sites I currently run. It's worth it for the extra traffic though, no matter how small.

 

I haven't even had a time to submit my sites because of all the submissions that I do for clients. But months ago I put up a one-page site for some people I am trying to help on a charitable basis, got around 20 ? backlinks from free directories and that alone was sufficient to got ranked for some non-competitive wholesale business phrases in MSN and Yahoo (google doesn't like one-page sites that much). (From that time on, it also acquired few other links from other sources, but for months it was only running on those ones from directories with same top rankings.)

The traffic for 99% of those dirs, however, is from directory editors and competitors who are also submitting, IMHO.

As already said, it depends on the phrase you want to rank for.

 

I think directory submissions are a must, it is worth the time spent to get non-reciprocal links. I kick off every new site with submissions to about 100 directories. When the first Google PR comes around I will get a PR2 or PR3.

If you don't have the time it is definately worth it to hire a submission service.

 

Actually, I'd say it's the other way round. The link will help to increase your search engine ranking, although a whole lot of other factors go into that so don't expect miracles.

On the other hand, I'd expect little or no traffic from general directories -- people use Google, MSN, and Yahoo to find things, not directories, not even the big directories like DMOZ.

From a traffic perspective, expect a little more from a niche directory - people will use those because it narrows down the field a bit from what the search engines give them.

 

I started a new forum about two months ago, the first thing I did was submit it to as many search engines and directories as I could find. After the PR update a day or two ago, the site has a pagerank of 3. That's pretty good, I think, considering there aren't many active members and it's not getting a whole lot of traffic just yet.

 

From the point of view of a search engine, I would say directories are both well categorized and human edited, so I think there will be a continuing value in search engines looking at directories, and I'm sure they will develop methods for determining the ones that offer the highest level of quality.

 

And since we're both here, if you're looking for the best directory script available, try this one: http://www.phplinkdirectory.com/

 

if its going to help us increasing the SE rankings, how long does it take to showup?

 

Count on months. Some directories will approve in days, but many take months to get in. Ad the time it takes the search engine to index (if it is a new or badly indexed one) or re-index the directory. So most probably we are speaking about months.

 

IMO directory is a big factor to rank on SE's. It gives you one good inbound link and even a one way link.
Directory submission needs a lot of patience to be able to results. Approvals of your links may vary from instant, 1 day to months.

 

I've done directory submissions for one site and I can say that his ranking changed on better.

He's moved for main keyword from 10 page to 4 page on google.

 

Dear All,

Submitting your site in free search engine's will never hurt you but always benificial for you. It don't increase the PR of the site, neither increase the traffic( may be little bit), but it is very helpfull in indexing your site in major search engines like Google if you just launched it. I am telling you gentlemen on behalf of my personal experience. Just do it on your self and see the results.

Thanks You,
Bill

 

Link popularity is still an important factor when thinking of achieving good ranking in major search engines. Some benefits include
1. Link popularity will increase (Make sure you submit to the right catagory)
2. Excellent chance of increasing Page Rank. Some directories such as DMOZ, & Site Sift, Yahoo Directory, etc, have excellent page rank in most of their catagories. Your link there will help you achieve good PR.
3. Traffic - You can not expect a lot but, some directories can send you decent traffic to your site.

Unlike Yahoo & MSN google does not show all your backlinks. It takes time to see the real benefit of directory submissions. Most of the directories are free to submit and I assure you that your link there will not hurt you.

 

Google started out as a web directory. Yahoo and MSN are still directories.
So No it does not hurt.
What more, search engines have an easier time 'figuring out' which category your URL belongs to looking at the directory category and similar sites.
In this sense you can hurt your site as well. If for example 80% of the outbound links go to porn site and your site is a non-porn site - by association your site 'could' be porn related so you need to watch where you post and the links around you.

 

Yes, I agree with all of you.

After jagger update, niche directory submission is far better than general directories, so I sorting directories niche wise.

Yes, Directory submission help in SERPs and PR both.