Submitting your website to directories is one of the most straightforward ways to build links to your websites, however such a practice is not without problems, there is a prevalence of small web-sites and site operators who mainly exist to swindle you. For instance – a directory operator may constantly launch new world-wide-web directories, focusing all the PageRank they have on the new ones, to make it look like an attractive submission, then eventually they may get banned for manipulating Pagerank etc, or submissions dwindle, and they open a new one, forsaking the old one. Hence, that nice listing you paid for, quickly evaporates.

Directories alone also cannot be your only link building endeavor, you need other types of links as well, that being said, here three of the most important and powerful directories on the web:

DMOZ.org, the poorly managed free site. It will take a long time or years to get in, and then a competitor who is a directory editor can just remove your listing or not approve it to begin with. There have been predicaments in the past where even higher up DMOZ.org editors (so-called meta editors) were corrupt in this way. Eventhough, every new site should be submitted. You cannot count on it.

Yahoo, the highest regarded pay-directory, has vastly dropped in importance due to Yahoos own decisions to devalue and de-emphasize their directory site in their search results and throughout their site. Meaningless and less traffic browses their listing than what used to. They also require a yearly fee, not a one-time fee, of $300 a year. So, for you to submit to them you need make sure you will earn at least $300 a year directly off the traffic & link benefits you gain from the directory site listing. In general I consider listings for sites whom I think can be rewarded with an increase of at least $10 a day through higher traffic. I know, an actual positive return on investment would be around $1 a day, but there are other methods for raising traffic than a Yahoo submission, that would give a much better return on your investment, so the gains in my mind have to be substantial to justify it.

Best of the Web, what is considered the final of the top tier directories, has the benefit of being very similar to Yahoo, but better in that they have one time fee submission options. With a single submission you have 5 years, 10 years, to make up the cost, it is much easier to justify than Yahoos yearly fee (Best of the Web also has a yearly fee option). BOTW has been around nearly as long as Yahoo as well, and throughout the directory website Page Ranks are very close. They have significantly less traffic than Yahoo of course, but they are much cheaper too.

Link-building is as much about your blogs standing as your sites rankings, and I think being discriminating in your submissions is a good thing and will help make sure you do not over do things and trip any present or future filter or penalty.

Great directories worth checking out: web directory, directory, and then male enhancement.

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