Comments on: SEO Basics: Are Directory Submissions Still Worthwhile?

By: Jilan Wagdy

Jilan Wagdy — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:49:59 +0000

I didn’t get much traffic from directories, yet when i analys my backlinks I will be glad if i found a Dmoz link.
First: it took a long time to appear if you submit your site as a free service.
Second: I think you can trade link submission with PR.
It will drive traffic more than directories

By: Bloggeries

Bloggeries — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:35:42 +0000

I understood it was removed as many novice webmasters were simply assuming that just submitting to directories would suffice. Sadly they would submit to thousands of worthless ones. They aren’t discounted just not being promoted anymore.

By: Dead Man Walking

Dead Man Walking — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:27:39 +0000

I believe they are still worthwhile, but again, there’s a lot of rubbish out there.

We work on behalf of many local businesses, we submit sites to DMOZ, Yahoo Directory & BOTW primarily, but we also list them in as many industry specific and local directories as possible. Local ones in particular do seem to get a nice amount of traffic (we create our own as well, and the amount of businesses without a web presence we list on our websites we come top for is nice).

However, a lot of terrible directories out there, like there are a lot of terrible forums and blogs, an SEO’ers job is to sort the wheat from the chaff and effectively promote their clients wares

By: Sharmi

Sharmi — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:29:55 +0000

I have my clients who want to submit their sites to 1000+ available SE Directories inspite of its unusefullness..so how to convince them regd this? Any ideas pls..

By: Pravish Thomas

Pravish Thomas — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:49:37 +0000

Hey guys don’t underestimate anything.
Yes i agree that there are only few directories which give relevant traffic.

I advise to go for LOCAL Directories , Local Search Engines that are target based but must be optimized via LOCAL SEO
Now here is a tip that i think might be useful.

BEFORE SUBMITTING TO DIRECTORIES FOLLOW THIS:

#1 Say if u are targeting a Directory with PR 8 , 7 , 6 then target the category which has got a great page rank.

# 2 The category must be relevant and also ur site must have at least a PR of 1 so that u can gain value from the relevant directories.

# 3 By having a good PR 2 or 3 for ur site, Directories would include ur site asap.

# 4 Go for the category where u think most of the users would search for ur relevant category : ex Regional based

# 5 Optimize ur Title + Descp + keywords + Anchor text with the Rich keywords in the content before u submit to Directories.

# 6 LOCAL SEO Optimization must be made compulsory if ur GEO Based ex: NYC Online Store, Miami Hotels

Hope this may reach the right ppl

Cheers,,,,,,,:)
Thanx

By: Conedify Technologies

Conedify Technologies — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:56:00 +0000

Directories are really not been a good source for traffic to a website but they do help in gaining good position in search engines if we consider the folowing points:
submiting to niche directories,
where the website been listed in directory having good page rank,
directory is coming on top pages for targeted keywords in google or other search engines.

By: paisley

paisley — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:56:31 +0000

i was going to write something, then i read the comments and i think Eric Ward said something different than i was going to, yet, just as perfect.

By: Top Search Engine Optimization Tips for October 2008 | Online Marketing Blog

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:34:06 +0000

[...] SEO Basics: Are Directory Submissions Still Worthwhile? – A topic that’s pretty much a blast from the past, this post questions the value of submitting web sites to directories to attract traffic and for SEO. Google’s recent changes to their webmaster recommendations gives the impression directories are even less valuable than previously thought. Also this post earned TopRank a spot on “SEO Rockstars” at WebmasterRadio.FM. [...]

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:40:53 +0000

local directories are a great way to market your comapny but are only truely effective if you know what you are doing. First you would need to know waht yoru goal is. Are you trying to reach new customers? are your customers just in your local area of nationally? here is a tutorial about local marketing that shows you a few listings that have been optimized. next you would need to know what components you should add to your local directory listng. Do you have a video you want added? Do you have Pictures? Should you add a logo? Finally you will need to know how to optimize it. There are only really four options: do it your self, use PPC, pay an SEO Company (that specializes in local marketing), use directory services. Each has a niche. Doing it yourself is free and also the least effective way, PPC is limited and if you use yellow pages or super pages you will end up paying 3 to 4 times as much for the same end results and will not be on the same part of the pages. By using an SEO compnay you are actually get the highest ROI just make sure they are not charging more than $300 per month casue if they are you are paying too much.Finally using directory services, this option is okay however they only list you in directories there is no optimization it needs to be added to one of the other options.JeremyPeakstudios.com

By: Directory Submissions Revealed on Tonight's SEO Rockstars | WebmasterRadio.FM Blog

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:36:49 +0000

[...] scoping out the landscape…when I found my buddy Lee Odden asking that age old question: Are Directory Submissions still worth anything? Do they help or hurt? Do they even matter? This really is an age old question [...]

By: Bureau 24

Bureau 24 — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:47:17 +0000

Directories are pretty worthless. Traffic is negligible and the SEO benefits are pretty sad too. Social Media sites are far far far better to submit too. DMOZ is a joke and ought to be delisted from the major search engines.

By: M Purtell

M Purtell — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:15:52 +0000

Unless the directory and your product/service is really nichey, I really don’t see a whole lot of value in directory links. People rarely use directories to locate business anymore and I doubt search engines place very much weight on those links.

By: Ammon Johns

Ammon Johns — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:42:46 +0000

Hate to disagree with Eric (Hi Eric) but outside of the US, the smaller directories outside of the ‘Big 5′ can be essential submissions.

If you want to do well in local search, it can be vital to have locationalised backlink data (i.e. to be listed in local directories, or national directories in the right locational categories).

I realise that such a tip is not necessarily a ‘basic’ one, but it is a very important one in creating the right back-link profile. Geolocational backlinks help with geolocational search.

By: Engago team

Engago team — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:57:13 +0000

Our experience with our B2B website is: hardly any visits from directories.
We track every individual visitor as this is our service.

By: Lee Odden

Lee Odden — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:54:07 +0000

Overall, I think if your process allows you to efficiently identify relevant, quality directories, then why not submit? Just don’t rely on them like people were able to do in 6 years ago.

By: Lee Odden

Lee Odden — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:52:52 +0000

Hey Eric, I agree. Thanks for stopping by.

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:54:00 +0000

The directories must work some – as soon as I submitted to just a few for a new site it (the site) started getting traffic – I haven’t started advertising yet, so…
I doubt it’s coming from the search engines!

By: Don Bowlby

Don Bowlby — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:11:53 +0000

Other than a few niche training directories we’ve slowed down our search for directories quite a bit. Originally we were submitting for the inbound links and the hopes that someone would occasionally stumble across our site. We’ve found that the traffic from most of the directories is virtually non-existent.

By: Edwin

Edwin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:54:35 +0000

The only reason to want to be included in any directory should be backlinks. Expecting traffic from it is unrealistic and a bonus at best.

By: Jamey Bridges

Jamey Bridges — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:09:52 +0000

Thanks for reminding about the update in the Guidelines from Google, definitely a good idea to check for updates.

Great point that niche directories can be valid. I was reviewing some of our web reports for some our real estate websites and found a free directory had not only been sending traffic each month, but those visitors were converting into leads.

It definitely helps to evaluate which directories might be worth some time and which ones you can save on.