How are Directories Different from Search Engines?

Directories are important to your ranking and success with Search Engines. In a nutshell, search engines are completely automated and usually there is no need to submit. Directories all have human editors who review your site and you do have to submit to them to be listed. But you must submit the right way or you are wasting your time.

If you think getting listed in search engines is slow, try directories. Getting listed in directories takes time but it is well worth it.

One of the good things about getting listed in directories is that Google puts a LOT of weight on sites that are listed in directories. DMOZ is the most important one to Google (and therefore should be the most important one to you).

Junk sites can get listed in the search engines, but try getting a junk site past one of the human directory editors. You can't even get useful sites that are poorly designed past the "eagle eyed" directory editors. Maybe that's why Google puts so much weight on sites that have achieved the status of being listed in directories.

There are a LOT of directories, but there are only a few that you should bother with now.

Here are the major directories

www.DMOZ.org -- Free. Submit to DMOZ first. (DMOZ is also called "Open Directory Project" on their website). They take a LONG time to get your site listed, but do NOT resubmit or your site will go back to the bottom of the stack. To find out about the status of your site getting listed go to www.Resource-Zone.com and ask questions in the discussion forum directly to the DMOZ editors.

www.Gimpsy.com -- Free or pay $20 for 72 hr. inclusion and higher ranking for 90 days.

www.JoeAnt.com -- Pay $39.99 or become an editor and it's free. All editor applications are automatically approved. I suggest you become an editor. You'll learn a lot.

www.GoGuides.org -- Pay $39.99 or become a "guide" (same as editor for other Directories) and it's free.

www.Business.com -- $99 a year, but well worth it if you sell your products to businesses. You'll get a lot of interested and qualified traffic.

www.Yahoo.com -- Yahoo is no longer worth the $299 a year fee in my opinion. Skip this one.

Here's how to get listed in these major directories. Of course, you have to submit your URL to the directory to get listed, but before you do that consider the following steps: Don't jump the gun and submit a site that is under construction.

Make sure your site is well designed, easy to use, has useful content, no spam, no tricks, no broken links, etc. A human editor is in charge of "widgets" and she wants all of the sites in her widgets section of the directory to be useful to the directory visitors.

By all means spend a LOT of time reading the instruction of each directory before you submit. Don't rush to submit your site until you understand what the directory is looking for and how they want you to do it.

Your directory title and description are very important to getting your site listed in the directory. They are also important after you're listed. Your title and description are what potential visitors to your site will see in the directory listings.

Here are some tips for writing your title and description for directories.

Do NOT use any marketing hype (Never use words like "best"). Stick to the facts. Be descriptive. Choose your most importnant keyword phrase, but don't try to stuff a lot of keywords in your title and description. Tricks will kill your chances of getting listed. The human editor has to like you and your site before your site will get listed. So follow the rules!

The most important thing to do is to submit your site in the right category. Drill down to the most specific category you can. Look at your competitors. What category are they in? Look at the sites that are in the category you choose. Look at their titles and descriptions.

You want to follow these examples, but you don't want to be exactly like these sites. Directories don't want sites that contain basically identical information to what's already in the directory.

As soon as your site is completed submit it to DMOZ and get the clock to start ticking. A listing in DMOZ will automatically get you listed in the Google search engine and in the Google directory.

Of course, you can get listed in the Google search engine much quicker by having incoming links from other sites, so don't wait on DMOZ to get you listed in the Google Search Engine. Do depend on it to get you listed in the Google Directory.

A lot of people say they don't want to spend the effort trying to get listed in the directories because it could take three months. (I've seen it get done in one month, but sometimes it has taken six months.) I know people who said this over a year ago. They could have had a much higher PageRank and a LOT more free traffic by now if they had spent a few hours back then submitting their sites to the directories.

Some people make things happen. Some people watch things happen and some people wonder what happened. You have to make things happen if you want to get high rankings in the search engines.

Craige Stacey has been studying search engines optimization as a hobby and has achieved some very good search engine positions in the past for membership software

In The News:


pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


7 Affiliate Success Steps

How to get your business exposed for free!Everybody in the... Read More

Website Promotion ? Writing Articles Generates Traffic Four Different Ways

Writing articles and submitting them to free content sites is... Read More

How To Obtain Free Advertising For Your Online Business

The beauty of the Internet is that it allows you... Read More

Generating Inbound Links

Content One of the best ways to encourage website owners... Read More

How One Free Advertising Method Can Trasform Your Income

A great way to get the word out about your... Read More

Outsourcing Website Services - Can Your Business Benefit?

Would it surprise you to know that Compaq Computer? outsources?... Read More

Three Ways to Market Your Web Site Effectively

1. Tell people you have a siteThis might seem blindingly... Read More

The 5 Key Steps To Promoting Your Website

Promoting your website can seem like a daunting, complicated task.... Read More

5 Successful Tips For Marketing Your Website

This could be the most amazing article to ever be... Read More

5 Innovative Ways To Advertise Your Web Site

1. Directory Linking Create a directory of web sites on... Read More

How to Promote Websites Popularity?

Once your site is launched, half your battle is won.... Read More

How To Acquire One Way Inbound Links

How can one get a good ranking in the major... Read More

Why The One-Pronged Website Promotion Method Doesnt Really Work

Would you attempt to use a cell phone with a... Read More

Link Building Secrets - Promote Your Website with a Proven Tactic

Building links to your website is of huge importance and... Read More

Track or Perish

Who me? Track?Now I realize some turn a blind eye... Read More

DIY SEO Part 3, Advertising

We have dealt with the tags so the search engines... Read More

Do Not Build A Website Until You Have Researched Your Keywords

Imagine that you have a $25,000 marketing budget for your... Read More

How To Stop Your Site Disappearing Into The Void

Repetition is the key to getting your adverts and promotion... Read More

How To Promote Your Online Store

OK. So you took the leap and started your online... Read More

6 Ways to Keep Them Coming Back

It is estimated that it can take the average consumer... Read More

Hit the Target with Bullseye Marketing

Let's see here... as of today Google states it has... Read More

Internet Directory Submission, Sure Way To Link Popularity

Most website owners fail to differentiate between a directory and... Read More

How to Write Great Testimonials and Why it Can Increase Your Profits Incredibly!

Everyone likes to read or get a referral about something... Read More

Signatures -- The Long and Short of It

What is the accepted standard for signatures? Who sets these... Read More

Reciprocal Link versus Value Exchange

Most webmasters are familiar with the concept of reciprocal linking.... Read More

Are You SURE Your Link Partners Still Link to You?

It's a fact. While most link partners are scrupulously honest... Read More

How Important are Back Links?

When setting up your website for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)... Read More

Culture and Website Localization

Culture and Website Localization With the rise... Read More

5 Effective Ways to Promote Your Website For Free Online

1. Generate Targeted Traffic from Online Discussion Forums.Online discussion forums... Read More

Benefits of Website Localization

Benefits of Website Localization Maximising profit today... Read More

Get Listed at DMOZ

When you are deciding on the major search engine directories... Read More

The Top 10 Most Ludicrous Things You Can Do on Your Web Site

We have a running joke in our office that one... Read More

Why You MUST Have A My Yahoo! Page

Yahoo! allows you to set up your own front page... Read More