Look for trustworthy folks with good reputations and submit to their directories, your link will remain. Also buy featured links to stay on the first page. Also look for low-cost directories from member swith good reps that start off as paid directories, they tend to fill up slowly and you will stay on the first page longer. If you move off the first page the other pages will get some page rank eventually and you still get the benifit of the anchor text for SERPS. One of my PR4 webmaster directories is a good example of a good value because it has been paid from the beginning and only has around 67 links in total inside it. WRdir.com
i think balance is the key to life. While you maybe right on some occasions when directories do not live out to what they claim to be, but there are also others that fulfill their responsibilities to their customers and more. Directories provide quality backlinks that is not so easily found with free submissions. It's the same with advertising, u need to pay to get on. So buy some submission to good quality directories and get free backlinks from others. I believe that's the key.
Oh oh oh Im not trying to rip the industry off, in fact people who read this thread will get some good knowledge abt the areas they may have never thought abt b4, and i dnt hate directories, in fact im heavily engage in dir submission my self here I posted on this thread abt manual and automated submissions http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=300792&page=3 and im expressing my views as a directory user not as a directory owner So my duty is to talk abt the negative sides which i see, while you guys can contribute your self with the positive sides Now you have very good point there, and that's exactly what im doing, maybe in a little different way, as we all know there all sorts of research methodologies, so this thread may look threatening to the Dir industry from the surface, but dont be soo narrow minded, coz at the end of the day it's all abt getting everyone's views for the betterment of the Dir submission industry.
Sharon25, I think you have nailed down the concerns of a lot of people in this thread. I too have a directory, though it isn't suitable for a lot of the affiliate and MFA style sites some users of DP try to promote. There are certainly free and paid directories that are worth submitting to. There are also certainly unscrupulous directory owners that are simply trying to make a quick buck. As others have mentioned, the key is to try to figure out the "quality" of the directory or it's owner, so you'll know whether or not you wish to invest your hard earned money in the services they offer.
Waoo ... The owner must be trying something and would soon realize his mistake. (Looks like both sites belong to same person) Any discount for 2 or more submissions ??
To answer to your QUESTION wheather directory submission is USEFUL-- can you please find some time and read this article? If you want practical proof add me on your MSN or Yahoo. I built links for my BLOG only with directories and how it is ranking on top page of G for over 40 keywords. Directories are the main source of backlinks -- THEY ROCK