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Submitting Your Website to Link Directories

Over the next few weeks, we will examine various methods to get those one way incoming links to our website. Link directories are one way to get literally thousands of links. The only directories we will be concerned with are those that do not require a reciprocal link, so we should get full benefit from the incoming link.

Paid vs. Free

This is a question that really depends on you, and how much you can afford in your link building strategy. Some of the most trusted, authoritive directories require either a one time review fee or an annual fee. So, if you have the funds available, I recommend submitting to the paid directories early in your campaign, to get the most initial link boost possible. If funds are limited, don’t worry, there are plenty of free directories out there.

Assuming you have the funds, here is my list of the first seven directories to submit to, along with the cost (current as of this posting):

• Dmoz http://www.dmoz.org/ (Free) – Yes, they are once again allowing submissions, and yes, they are still as slow in reviewing as in the past, but a link here is well worth the time.
• Yahoo Directory http://dir.yahoo.com/ ($299 a year)
• Best of the Web http://botw.org ($99.95 a year or $249.95 lifetime)
• Starting Point http://www.stpt.com/ ($99 a year)
• GoGuides.org http://goguides.org/ ($69.95 one time review fee)
• JoeAnt http://joeant.com/ ($39.99 one time review fee)
• V7N Directory http://directory.v7n.com/ ($49.95 one time review fee)

Submitting to all the above will cost you an initial $700, then around $570 each year after that. If that is too much for your current budget, you might try Dmoz and Yahoo alone ($299 a year) or even Dmoz, GoGuides, JoeAnt, and V7N ($160 one time). If still above your budget, submit only to Dmoz, as there are still plenty of free directories out there.

Manual, or semi-automatic

Fully automatic submission should be avoided completely, since this results in submissions to wrong categories, and typically many more rejections.

Ideally, manual submissions should always be used, to ensure everything is correct prior to clicking on the submit button. But this would take days upon long days to do.

An alternative is using a semi-automatic submission software, where most of the work is done for you, leaving typically only having to select the proper category and perhaps filling out the CAPTCHA field.

There are many semi-automatic submission software choices available, some with at least a free version. However, the free version is often limited to a small percentage of the available directories, and those directories are usually the low PR sites. I personally use digiXMAS Directory Submitter. It does have a free version, so feel free to try it out, and upgrade if happy with it. What I like about my submitter is that during preparation, I can add several different versions of my title text and description text. Then during submission the program will rotate these texts, so I get anchor text and descriptions that vary from directory to directory. It also includes a learning system, so as I choose the appropriate category in one site, it looks for the same category on the next. As the process goes on, eventually you only need to verify that the program got it right, type in any CAPTHA displayed and click on OK. Depending on connection speed, I find it submitting to around five sites a minute.

Use a little strategy

Don’t submit to all the directories available at once. Growing such a huge list of inbound links in such a short time is not natural, and the search engines tend to frown on it. I recommend doing a set number at a time, then waiting for a while before the next set.

Recommended Product

I highly recommend you try out digiXMAS Directory Submitter. You will find that submitting links will be much quicker than manual submission, for a price much less than outsourcing.

Featured Article

Is a Website Submission Tool the Solution to Building SEO Links Effectively?

Website submissions to directories are a tedious, often frustrating part of any new web-based business. SEO consultants from Michigan to Melbourne will tell you that doing link building effectively is essential if you want to pull rank in the search engine listings. Reciprocal links seem to be losing clout, while the engines give more credence to quality one way links. While outsourcing the search engine and directory submission process may be the ideal, many new website owners can’t afford this option and need to find the least time-consuming way to approach one way link building.

The idea of using mass search engine and directory submission services sometimes seem attractive, but due to many variables in the submission requirements, this is unlikely to produce satisfactory results. Search engines don’t like mass marketing of any kind. Mass submissions can also become quite an expensive proposition, as the process has to be repeated regularly. So, if you have to do directory submissions yourself, what are the steps you need to take to make the task as painless as possible?

Thousands of directories are waiting for your free website submission. Countless websites supply excellent lists of directories, complete with their pagerank and submission criteria. They may also offer directories specifically catering for your particular niche area. Opt for the older directories with a higher pagerank.

Before you start, make sure you have all the information you are going to need, on hand. Double check every detail for spelling and accuracy. You will save a huge amount of time if you can simply paste the text into the relevant fields on the submission form.

You will need the full URL of your website, including the ‘http’ part. The form will also ask for the title of the site. In addition, you need to write a few short descriptions of your site, varying in length between 100 characters and 300 characters, as every directory’s submission guidelines are unique.

Write in ordinary full sentences and be careful not to overdo the use of keywords. Remember that your description will determine whether someone clicks on the link or not. Put some thought into it, making it as clear and compelling as possible. This is in fact an ‘advertisement’ for your website. Also make two short lists of your main keywords, one with and one without commas. Some directories have keyword fields where you can supply between ten and twenty phrases that are relevant to your website.

You will also need to supply your name, sometimes an address, and a category for your website. Some directories may require you to register, before you can start the submission process. All in all, the undertaking is extremely time-consuming.

Fortunately software evolves constantly. Shop around and you may just find the ultimate website submission solution. During the first step, such a submitting tool prompts you to fill out a form for each website. The fields are identical to those found on directory submission forms. You may even be invited to enter variations for your title and description, in order to ensure that all the links pointing to your site are not identical. This process is done only once.

The next step usually is to access the list of directories serviced by the directory submitting software. A quality program should provide you with the pagerank and traffic details of each directory. As you select a directory, you will be taken directly to the submissions page where you will see that the form has already been filled out for you with the details you supplied in step one. You can then just make sure everything is in order, select the relevant category and click the ‘Submit’ button. This saves you a bundle of time. All you have to do is to follow the links in the directory list. Every time you click on a directory, the directory submission form will be completed automatically.

The difference between this type of software and a regular mass submission, is that you are in control of the information used, the way it is used in each instance, as well as the pagerank of the directories you choose to submit to. You can also use the software again and again, for an unlimited number of websites. The directory list should also be updated from time to time, giving you new options. Website submissions don’t get much easier than this!

Wouldn’t you begin to see website submissions in a completely different light if you could do it with the click of a button? Thanks to innovative software developments, the tedious days of one-at-a-time directory submissions are coming to an end to the relief of webmasters all over the world.

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