There are so many viewpoints as far as directory submissions go, I was interested in getting your views. I have been submitting my site to free directories that do not require a reciprocal link. But, based on comments (on other forums), I am confused as to whether or not I should be using this tactic. Can anyone help me out here? Food for thought, Will directory submissions help or hurt se rankings? Are directories considered spammy, link farms by se's? Are these submissions useless or worthwhile? Is this a good process to include in your link building? How many of you submit your sites to directories on a regular basis? Have you received positive results from your submissions? Do you receive any traffic from these directories? Would you recommend or discourage directory submissions and why? Does submitting to too many directories dilute the effectiveness of your keywords? Thanks for any feedback you can give me. Edit: One more thing. What are your thoughts on this concept regarding some directories? I am just getting nervous here since I have submitted my site to a lot of directories thinking it was a good thing to do. Links from other sites can be dangerous because of the way that Google and MSN handle 302redirects - they sometimes attribute the target page's assets to the linking page, and the linking page can end up taking the place of the target page in the search results. Most small directories that do not link directly to the target page, use the 302 method, and are dangerous to the listed pages.
Will directory submissions help or hurt se rankings? No, they will help as long as the directory's SEO tactics are compliant w/ Google. Just make sure they have pagerank or have pages indexed in Google. Are directories considered spammy, link farms by se's? No, link farms are not categorized. They have links about cooking, sex, science, busienss, etc. all listed on the same page. Directories are categorized and serve a purpose to a user browsing for a particular topic. Link farms are basically for spam. Are these submissions useless or worthwhile? Directory submissions will help you rankings. They're worthwhile How many of you submit your sites to directories on a regular basis? I submit to as many as possible. Have you received positive results from your submissions? Yes, increased traffic, increased visiblity to search engines, etc. Do you receive any traffic from these directories? From niche directories I do. Not so much from general directories.
You must also make sure that the directories that you submit to also are not full of empty pages. These are normally the new ones that say something along the lines of "there are no listings in this category yet".
I agree, that you have to start somewhere. I plan to create 2 directories and add all my sites to them as a starting point for the directory. But both names already get traffic and one has a PR. Starting from Ground Zero would be the most difficult, 0 traffic, 0 PR, 0 links.
Submitting to most directories takes a few minutes, its free and there is loads of evidence to show that it helps you build links. In summary there are loads of plus points and no downsides.
For my expirience they can help with backlinks and pagerank. From time to time I look for new announced directories here in forum and submit to them because links are approved fast.
I see alot of directories on the Web are rather empty and they say rather empty for a year or two. These directories have categories, but have nothing in them. So these pages all look like duplicate pages to Google then and they may get penelized for it. I am not 100% sure though. I also agree that you have to start somewhere.
the good ones are really few and far between. Most are just link farms sharing the same database. good ones worth the time are botw, dmoz, site-sift, yahoo dir
They won’t get penalized. They just won’t get cached in most instances making them worthless to submit to.
Exactly. Submitting to crap directories may be a waste of 2 minutes but it won't ever hurt your site. Todays empty PR0 directory could easily make PR4 at the next update.
Directories tend to attract links and pagerank, because people who submit to them tend to create lists of directories to submit to. So they tend to receive pagerank, and as far we know, that pagerank is passed normally to listed sites.
The only problem with web directories is that it takes so long to submit to them. From about 5 you submit to you probably only get your link in about 3 or 4 of them.
Atleast if they are new, and your site does get listed on them, then you have more chance of getting direct traffic from them as there is less links for the visitor to click on, which means you have a better chance of getting a visitor from it than what you would do with a directory that has a large amount of sites that is contained within the directory.
How would you get traffic if the pages are not cached due to the lack of content and the majority do not spend any money on advertising? It’s a total waste of time to submit.
Just because a directory is new, how can you say for sure they are not spending money on advertising? How do you come to this conclusion?
I agree! I never hardly submit to directories as I think it is a near waste of time because of how long it takes. But I don't think you should comment on the advertising. When most directories are new that is the time when they are likely to do alot of advertising just to get them known more.