Every once in a while I here someone say something like "I submitted to 500 high PR directories and it was a waste of time". After doing some research I have come up with some of the reasons. - many of the directories are dropped domains that have not been around very long. - more and more of the directories are not SEO friendly. - too many of the high PR directories are not actively adding free listings. - there are too many large networks of clone directories hosted on the same IPs. - there is too much duplicate content on the directories. I am going through our free directory list, looking at each directory individually. I am half way through the PR3s. I am making it easier to identify the directories to stay away from. I am concentrating on sites that are not approving free submissions. It's a huge task but I believe that the list is much more useful than it has ever been.
Your site has a great list and every effort undertaken by you to continually review the list is definitely worth applauding. Keep up the good work!
I was just going to say "Pls check your list (web-directories.ws) -- but you are way ahead of me. Its great that you are modifying your list as most of those so called high PR directories on that list are on dropped domains. Appreciate your hard work.
I too have noticed in the past that some good directories do not seem to be adding any new sites. You are doing great work with your directory list, thank you, I have bookmarked it for future use.
Yes, I have noticed it too. You can't be too hard on the free directories as many of them probably get 5000-10000 real submissions per month.
In my opinion, all of the free directories are waste of time. I had a free directory once. I had about 1,000 submissions (most of them spam) each day. I couldn't check all of the submissions and just after a few months i have choosen to make it paid. I requested at least $1 to submit. Then all spam submissions have been cut out. So, if you submit your link to even a new started PR0 free web directory and if the directory is quality and human edited, you have to wait long time to be approved. Or, if this directory allows spam, then i prefer to not to submit it. It is a disadvantage for my website, not advantage. If you want to submit your link to a PR2 or higher web directory, think about the number of submission that this directory gets...
Most people submitting are lazy, and submit the same garbage to hundreds or thousands of directories. This is why people complain that directories don't work. Well if you are too lazy to write good titles and descriptions, don't expect someone else to do it for you. Put forth little effort and try to cut corners and your results will be poor.
Me and many SEO experts would be pretty interested listening your thoughts. What do you mean when you say dropped domain PageRank values and how do you relate it to same IP's.
finally some one understood, keep up the good work, it should help lots of people b4 they go out for submission
dropped domain PageRank values - means that a PR5 that is a dropped domain is not really a PR5 just because the toolbar has 5 green bars. Instead of creating one good directory, many people create 20 (or even 200). They stick these directories (usually identical) on the same host. They often use dropped domains because they can make some short-term money, as they are often not in it for the long run.
Even I feel that madness about directory submission is not useful and is simply wastage of time .Good quality content with few backlinks are more than enough to be visible.
Yes this is very true, at one time i had a bunch of free directorys but the spam submissions made it impossible to continue with which was a shame. Good to have a nice list CanandianEh, thanks!
Nowadays very few people do directory submission. Your observation is right. Free directory sites do not approve new submissions quickly and it is less effective compared to other available resources.
90% chance that your listing will never get cached within the free directory, therefore it will never have any value.
one might summarize what has happened to directories in the last year or two (as I've been working on increasing backlinks with free and paid directories) is The Attack of the Clones. there are just so many of these directories now, & as C-Eh points out, there are just too many large networks out there now, many "hosted on the same IP" as you so frequently note, and frankly of lot of them aren't so useful for the simple fact that many end up with tens of thousands of listings (and many have the same categories as hundreds of other directories) and even more importanly google never gets around to indexing/caching but a small fraction of any of those page/listings... in my opinion often better to stick with a the more established and well known older paid directories that have unique categories and design and good quality editors - those also tend to get more thoroughly indexed/cached by google...& age in this case is often factor in their favor. good work, C-Eh, I refer to your listing regularly and also will send you a report when I find something amiss...
Thank you and thanks to all the loyal users who fill out the reports. I usually check them out and update the database within 12 hours. Along with the automated and manual checks we do, the directory reports are a key part of making the information useful. Keep them coming