When you are first building your blog, there is no doubt in my mind that you will stumble across what are known as “blog directories.” Personally, I’ve seen recommendations to submit my site to X directory literally hundreds of times… and it used to be one of the easiest and fastest way to boost your traffic and search engine ranking positions (SERPs). The question now is: are web directories still useful?

While I hate to give this kind of ambiguous answer, the truth is that people aren’t really sure. Google is constantly revamping the way that it looks at websites, how they appear in search results, etc. However, if I had to bet money I would say that web directories are still a viable way to artificially boost the number of high quality incoming links to your blog. Sites with more links, and links of higher authority (AKA Google Pagerank), are better placed in Google results. Sounds like something we want, eh? :razz: Let’s get to submitting!

The (“Self-Proclaimed”) KING of Web Directories

One of the most frustratingly powerful directories out there on the internet is a place called DMOZ.org, the Open Directory Project. These guys are Google’s favorite directory, and will give your website a huge Pagerank 8 link back if you can get yourself listed. They don’t take cash for positions, and professional bloggers try everything from bargaining with the site’s official editors to paying $100s to people who claim to offer successful listings in order to get into this self-proclaimed dominant directory. You don’t need to bother with that… you just need to cross your fingers and submit your blog yourself for free!

How to Submit Your Website to a Directory

There are two methods to submitting your website: do it yourself, or hire a freelance worker to do it for you. I recommend the latter, as people will typically submit your website themselves dozens of times over for just a few dollars. However, many people like to save on costs (I know I sure did when I first started out) and do this themselves.

To hire a freelancer: Check out the webmaster forums at DigitalPoint or Warrior Forums. You’ll find loads of professionals ready and willing to do this.

To do it yourself: Since we are going to be filling out a lot of forms, it might be smart to automate the process with a form filler such as Roboform. You will then want to fill in on each site you enlist to things such as: Site Name, Keywords, Description, Link.

Always remember that the higher Pagerank you see on the web directory, the more powerful it is. I really wouldn’t bother submitting to anything less than Pagerank 3, as these directories won’t add much of anything to your search engine positions. I won’t be providing a list of “suggested directories” for you to apply to, as it would be more useful for you to search through Google for a few lists on your own. If you have a few bucks, the second best directory is the Yahoo! Directory… but I would argue it is overpriced. ;)

Try your hand at getting listed in high-PR web directories, because it will potentially give life to your Google-based traffic from the start!

-The Net Fool

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