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Directories

Directories started life as a eclectic lists of a web surfer's favorite sites, for example "Jerry and David's guide to the World Wide Web", which was the original name of the Yahoo! Directory. Directories are important for optimizers because they provide inbound-links from popular sites and can help a page get indexed rapidly by search engines. They are also a source of annoyance for web masters. In the early days the people building directories were only too happy to get suggestions of interesting new websites. However as the web grew many directories became inundated with requests and either started taking inordinate amounts of time to include sites or began charging for inclusion.

Many webmasters get frustrated with directories because they don't read the submission guidelines first. These vary from directory to directory but in general to get listed a site must offer something to the visitors of the directory. This means original content. Affiliate sites that are just a restyled front-end to another website will only get listed if they provide something extra, such as product reviews. Sites should have a reasonable number of pages, these should be written in correct HTML with no broken links and viewable on a range of browsers, operating systems and screen resolutions. Remember that the editor who checks your site may Mozilla on Linux or Safari on an Apple Mac. Sites should be finished, an 'under construction' logo is a sure way to get rejected. The web server that hosts the site should also be reliable, long periods of downtime will mean that the editor cannot check the site and may result in existing directory entries being dropped. Check the appropriate categories by looking at the current entries. Some directories will only allow first submissions at the bottom of the directory tree. Prepare your site information, you will need the title, a short description and long description. This should be factual and not contain hype, phrases such as "the best resource" or "the number one" are subjective and will be rejected.

The two principal directories are DMOZ (aka the Open Directory Project: <http://dmoz.org/>) and Yahoo Directory! <http://dir.yahoo.com/> Both offer free inclusion and both can take an age to include new websites. DMOZ provides listings for the Google directory and, because it is open, is probably one of the most widely copied directories on the web. A single entry can easily provide dozens of inbound-links from various sites although Google's duplicate page algorithms will eliminate many of these from the Google search index.

To suggest a site, browse to the appropriate category and click on the suggest link text. It is worth submitting to both Google and Yahoo! as they can boost ranking in respective search engines. The inclusion process can be expedited in Yahoo! by paying a fee.

Zeal is also popular and supplies results to the LookSmart directory. Users must register and pass an online exam to submit a site. Submissions must then be approved by an editor. Read the guidelines very carefully as rejections are common. Other web directories can be found by querying search engines.

Although directories often do not provide a huge amount of traffic as most people use search engines they are an additional source of visitors which can help protect against major updates in search engine algorithms. Not all directory listings are worthwhile. Watch out for zero PageRank pages, maybe they are not indexed by Google and other search engines. PageRank dilution is also a problem, the outbound-links on a directory's nice PR6 page may be spread over hundreds of links. Be careful about directories that require you to link back to them but then try to stop any PageRank leakage by redirecting your site through another page or using some Javascript link cloaking.

Keep a record of the directories and categories you submit to and periodically check to see if your site has been included. This also stops you resubmitting to the same directory.

Paid Submissions

Paid directory submissions should be treated like any other paid inbound-link, they will generate a small amount of traffic but their worth is largely in terms of anchor text and PageRank. For example the Microsoft Small Business directory currently charges $49 for submission. If you look at the directory with the Google toolbar installed they are at best selling a PR6 page with around 30 outbound links and at worst a PR0 page. Is that worth making a very rich man even richer?

Directories

Paid Submissions

See Also