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Improving the ROI of Web Directory Submissions
By Will Spencer

Submitting your web site to web directories is a great way 
to build high-quality inbound links, increase your PageRank
(http://www.internet-search-engines-faq.com/pr-page-rank.shtml)
and improve your SERPS. 
(http://www.internet-search-engines-faq.com/serps.shtml)

The Internet now features a large number of both general purpose 
and specialized directories. The specialized directories focus 
on a specific topic or region.

Unfortunately, submitting your web site to the plethora of
available directories requires a significant investment of 
time and effort. The key to achieving a positive ROI (Return 
On Investment) from directory submissions is to focus on those
directories which will provide you with high-quality inbound
links.

It is important to note that many web directories have issues
which prevent them from providing useful links. Taking the time
to understand these issues and submit only to the directories 
which will provide value will provide significant time savings 
in promoting your site.

A TAXONOMY OF WEB DIRECTORY ISSUES

Web Directories Which Are No Longer Managed

A survey of 79 general-purpose web directories revealed that 
62% of those web directories do not appear to be processing 
submissions.

In many cases, this is because the operators of the web 
directory launched their site with great enthusiasm, became
overwhelmed by the amount of effort required to maintain a 
web directory, and stopped maintaining their directory. These
operators leave their directories online to take advantage of
the residual advertising revenue, but no longer invest the time
required to process directory submissions.

Web Directories Which Block Search Engine Robots

Some SEO's believe that they can preserve Google PageRank by 
not giving outbound links from their web sites.

Web directories which operate in this manner will sometimes 
block Googlebot and other search engine robots from their
directory pages using robots.txt 
(http://www.internet-search-engines-faq.com/robots-txt.shtml) 
or meta tags.


Before submitting to a web directory, check the PageRank of the 
directory page upon which you expect your listing to appear. If 
that page has a PageRank of zero, it could mean that the site
operator is blocking Googlebot.

However, this same symptom can also mean that the site or the
page is new, and has not been assigned Google PageRank yet. To
research this further, examine the sites robots.txt file and 
the source code to the directory page upon which you expect 
your listing to appear.

Web Directories Which Use Scripted Links

Many web directories use scripted links to avoid leaking 
PageRank. Scripted links use PHP or JavaScript links
(http://www.internet-search-engines-faq.com/javascript-links.shtml) 
to redirect the user to the target page. Although these links 
work correctly for most site visitors, they do not work for 
most search engine robots.

To determine if scripted links are in use, place your mouse 
cursor over an outbound link on the directory page upon which 
you expect to appear. Examine the link text which appears in the
lower left corner of your browser.

A JavaScript link will look something like this:

javascript:var
handle=window.open('http://www.internet-search-engines-faq.com')

A proper HTML link will look something like this:

http://www.internet-search-engines-faq.com


Free Directory Scammers

Several web directories pretend to accept free submissions, but 
in reality these free submissions are never processed.

These directories claim to accept free submissions as part 
of a bait-and-switch tactic to upsell webmasters into paid 
submissions.

Often these web directories will claim to provide free 
service for web sites which meet certain defined criteria. 
It just happens that no web site ever manages to meet those
criteria!

Web Directories Which Require Reciprocal Links

Some web directories require you to link back to them in
order to be listed. This helps build the PageRank of the
directory, which benefits all web sites in the directory.

Some people view these sites as link-farms.

If your web site is unable to provide a link back to these
directories, do not invest your time submitting your web site 
to these directories.

Reciprocal linking is not an appropriate strategy for all web
sites.

Paid Directories

Some web directories charge for submissions. These web
directories charge either a subscription fee, a one-time fee, 
or a Cost-Per-Click (CPC) fee.

Some of these web directories charge exorbitant fees -- and a
few of these web directories charge this fee whether your site
is accepted or not!

Although there are exceptions, the general rule is that paid
directories do not provide a positive ROI.

BETTER DIRECTORIES

A few web directories stand out by offering good user interfaces, 
speedy inclusion, and plain HTML links which pass PageRank:

All The Web Sites (http://www.allthewebsites.org/webdirectory/) 
Ezilon (http://search.ezilon.com/)
illumirate (http://www.illumirate.com/add_your_site.cfm)
Jayde (http://dir.jayde.com/cgi-bin/submit.cgi)
JoeAnt (http://www.joeant.com/) 
Massive Links (http://www.massivelinks.com/) 
Mavica (http://www.mavicanet.com/) 
Search City (http://searchcity.biz/cgi-bin/links/index.cgi?ID=13251) 
The Super Ultra Mega Web Directory (http://www.sumwd.com/) 
Tygo (http://www.tygo.com/)
World Site Index (http://www.worldsiteindex.com/)
Wow Directory (http://www.wowdirectory.com/how_add.php) 

SUMMARY

Submitting your web sites to web directories is an excellent
method of building quality inbound links.

Submitting your web site to only the best web directories can
net you 90% of the results with 20% of the effort.

================================================================
Will Spencer is the webmaster of The Internet Search Engines FAQ 
(http://www.internet-search-engines-faq.com).
================================================================

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