I have begun to shy away from submitting to some of the larger and very populated directories. I'm not so sure there is much value in submitting to a category with hundreds, if not thousands of sites. These get spread over so many pages that by the time you get to the end (page 40 or something) there is no PR to those pages. And of course my submission goes to the end of the list. I often see in a PR 5 directory that the category page is PR4, subcat page PR3, page 2 is PR2, then pages 3 to 5-10 are PR 0 and all the rest are PR N/A. Not a big deal if the dir is free. PR may eventually be passed to those far off pages (but not much). Now when the Dir is paid, thats when i have to say "not a chance, am i paying to be in there" And because they are a big directory with a pr 5 or 6 home page they have the odacity to charge $25, or more (much more), for a listing. Now if i could get at least a pr 3 link I would consider paying but for a PR 0 , at best, even from a well establisherd directory with trusted link status, its still not worth any more than $5. IMHO. This does not include some of the large directories that do a good job of passing PR to far away pages. I am getting what I pay for here. This is not meant to be a rant (some DP members may be owners of such dirs), but i would like to hear others opinions on these sorts of large directories. I have now started to do more submissions to new directories in order to get in early before it fills up too much.
I hear ya! But I know of large directories that are very much worth the price of admission to get a good position. Position is in my opinion the bottom line in any directory large or small. If I see value in the directory, or I know the owner promotes it heavily, I will pay the price to get listed. I own one of those PR6 homepage directories you spoke of, quite frankly, I'm starting to get bored with it, even though it's a goldmine.. LOL!! You say you are going with the new directories in order to beat the rush? Have you considered true niche directories? That's the direction I'm heading into.
I do submit to some niche directories for some of my sites, when I come across them. I still submit to established directories, just starting to avoid the over populated ones with the problems i mentioned above. Plus the new directories, the odd niche directory, and a few pay directories once in a while. Taking a broad approach, i guess.
What matters is the PR of the page on which your link is likely to appear. For free directories, atleast if it is cached by google(that means the page is indeed). it will be worth. For paid directories, I will be a lot more careful. Dont use any directory if it cant give a backlink on PR 3, atleast. I would say, keep a minimum PR 4. Actually, some directories allow paid listings on toplevel, which will be having goo PR and ffew links. That would be good.
We cannot diminish the value of listing at large directories because they have lot of listing and PR will be divided. If it would have been the case Dmoz, yahoo and Google directories have lost there position. It is worth listing at large directories in appropriate categories ( PR no matter) as you will get link from relevant page.
I guess what I don't understand is why when a directory has a cat with 10, 15, or even 20+ pages that the owner doesn't try to break up the category into several new ones. Wouldn't this increase the value for being listed and create more categories to sell feature links on? And more pages that will actually be viewed for the CPC programs? And create more PR4, 3 and 2 pages? I know that would take some time, but wouldn't the added revenue possibilities quickly pay for the time expended? I don't currently have a directory, but have the layout designed (on paper) and domain name for a niche one; all I need to do is bite the bullet to buy the software I've chosen. So, I admit this might be more difficult than it seemed in the demo directory software I looked at; but it would seem a much better solution than letting any one cat get so out of hand.
I think every submission is worth a little to the website you are promoting. The submission process may take a little bit of your time, but a listing is a listing. You can't really devalue a directory just because it has a lot of categories unless it is an unmaintained free-for-all list.
I am not worried about this. I just keep on submitting my sites to any directories that I come across. Submitting to a directory can never hurt. If it doesn't benefit you, it will never harm.
I think it is important for directories to create subcategories when a main category is receiving a lot of listings. I definitely think getting listed on page 42 would have a diminished return, and search engines will be less likely to index such pages. Search engines do a lot better job of indexing subcategories.
If I visit a driectory that has thousands of listings but only has a couple hundred categories (or worse), I usually just move on. Why submit if you are going to be on page 87 of the category Internet.
3rd level categories do help. I come accross directories that have 3rd levels and still pass good PR to them. Then the number of sites in there is much more resonable, and far more relevant. And then i end up on page 1 or 2 and still get some pr. I have, from time to time, pointed a link to an un-indexed directory page my listing lands on. Just to help speed up crawling. I check it once in a while and when I see pr 0, I pull the link. This is rare though, must be a high quality directory with good PR passed to most pages. I just happened to land on what is probably a new page that google bot has not yet discovered. I know it will eventually, i am just helping to guide him in.
I usually don't submit to a directory with more than 50 webiste in each category. Unless that free directory has a PR more than 4