SEO Directory submission

SEO Directory Submission

Have you heard of link juice? No, it’s not the latest diet craze, although some website owners would argue that good link juice is as crucial to survival as any health regimen. Link juice, or link love, is what you get when you send out directory submissions to have your website or article included. In fact, any SEO Agency will tell you that directory submission should be near the top of your strategy list.

Basically, web directories are aggregators that list websites by category – and depending on that category, it can be filtered down through several subcategories as well. Article directories work the same way, but with content arranged by category instead of simply website links and descriptions.

Directory submission is a good way to get your site high in search engine rankings, targeted traffic, links and back links to your website. All these factors will improve every aspect of your online business.

But, not all web and article directories are alike in the world of search engine rankings. Those web spiders are tricky little devils, and they know what’s simply a link dumping ground. So, their algorithms look for directories that have a human element to them.

What does that mean? Simple – there is someone on the back end of that directory, checking submissions and monitoring the site for dead links and old URLs. Just as writing a blog keeps your website relevant in the eyes of the search engines because it tells them that there’s life behind the link, so too do updated directories make web crawlers happy – and because they have to many links and back links, they’re going to be high enough in the ranking to bring your site up with it. But only if the search engines “see” that the site is being regularly maintained.

Directory submissions cost money, so like any business investment it’s wise to have some research under your belt before taking the plunge. After all, you don’t want to throw good money after bad just because you found what you thought was a good deal. While a good directory submission can mean a serious ROI for you, a bad one can tank your search engine ranking. So, take your time and weigh several factors.

The most important thing to look for is back links – whether or not other legit sites with authority are linking to that directory for their own visitors to use. That’s a sign not only that it’s trusted by others – it means the directory will help your site or article climb the search rankings.

Another thing to look for is the advertising directories have on their site. If you see that they’re selling ad space, then that is usually a good indicator that, again, it’s trusted by others – as opposed to a site that will put up any old list and fill it with Google ads.

Check out the forums where webmasters and Internet marketers hang out. There will be a lot of fake positive reviews for directory sites that include affiliate links; but weed through those, and you’ll soon start to see the directories people are talking about most – and what the sentiment is. Go for the ones that have the best rep among insiders. When in doubt, stick with Yahoo! and DMOZ.

Some directories allow you not only to do a directory submission, but they will come back and crawl your own site to pick up RSS feeds of blog entries. This, too is a great little tool that gets your content “out there.” You just want to make sure that the other feeds are relevant – if someone comes to the directory and sees that it’s a lot of SEO gobbledygook, your site is not going to be treated as it should.

Finally, go on the directory site itself and click around. Are the links correct? Is there a detectable human presence behind the directory? What’s their editorial policy like? Is their directory submission policy a good one, well thought out?

As we said, there are a lot of factors to weigh, and it is a monetary investment. Your website’s reputation – and search engine ranking – is too important to leave it to chance. So, why do all the work yourself? We can help you choose the best sites for your directory submissions, and we can even craft SEO-friendly articles for article submission sites as well. We’ll make sure that your website gets seen by targeted groups that are the most likely to purchase your products or services.