Most free are worthless. It's not the # of backlinks it's the quality. 100000's of free crappy links may be as good as 3-5 great links.
Bestseo, what directory do you run? I just created a site as well which kind of like directory/toplist but there are so many of them I don't know which ones to submit them to. Any suggestions ? I'd be willing to dish out some money as well.
I think so both work. When u are new u should submit your directory to free directories. its my personal exprience when i didnt spend on my site i just use to submit my site only to free directories. i got PR2 & then PR3. So free directories works. Its fact that some of time free directories honour get tired to have 1000 free listing not a single paid & they start using crap ads to earn which effect on their quality but still there are many who are spending alot & offering free. Soon u'll see the example One of the best free directory on internet & it'll have worth to submit
It takes many free listings to count as good as the paid ones... The paid ones: - moderate better - promote their sites better - get you more traffic - weigh more for your keywords