Choosing a directory

[joebest]

Hi all,

I am involved in SEO ing of two of my websites. They are anew. And I am involved in directory submission and bookmarking for now to get some start. I am having confusion in choosing directories to submit. By what criteria I can choose them. Here are the criteria I take in account when choosing directories.

1. Whether the directory is Indexed in Google or not?
2. Page rank of the directory and the page rank of the category in which I submit my page.
3. Existence of the directory which may relate to the credibility of the directory.

Which can I choose among this to make sure I can get good back links. Also does fast approval directories which have nil or less indexed in Google has effect in my increase of back links.?

Help me to choose. Thanks in advance.

[umesh]

Hello Friend,
You can submit your link to relevant category and better to submit in those categories which are cached by search engines.

[freelistfool]

What I look for is directories that actually get search engine hits for terms on the page where I'll be listed. I start with directories in my niche or general directories that have high Alexa ratings then do a google search for some of the keywords on the page. If the page shows up in the first 100 results then I know it'll pass some good link juice. If it shows up in the first 20 results then I have the chance of actually getting some traffic from it too. This takes some time, but it pays off.

[herold]

Originally Posted by umesh

Hello Friend,
You can submit your link to relevant category and better to submit in those categories which are cached by search engines.

Why are cached directories better?

[Natural Elements]

Check my tips : http://www.v7n.com/forums/web-direct...ml#post1262876

[stoner3221]

Originally Posted by herold

Why are cached directories better?

Most people consider a directory without the pages cached to not have the pages indexed as well and won’t trust the directory. Having the pages cached is essential for any kind of success in the directory business.

[Hosting India]

I have some tips for you:

PR of the Directory
Check if the approved Websites are of good qualities.
Dofollow attribute
Neighborhood of the directory

[swedal]

In my opinion, the most important factor in determining quality of the directory your submitting to is to check the editorial integrity.

Look at some of the already approved listings either on the latest listings page or in the categories. Ensure that the sites being approved are of quality, the title and the description are not keyword spam.

The title should tell you who the business is - much like a sign on the front of the physical store would.

The description should tell you more about what the business offers in a 3rd party - non promotional manner.

[Natural Elements]

"the title and the description are not keyword spam" most of good directories allow site name or company name, so it is pretty simple for some directory owners.

Now if you are not well known on internet you better need to find directory owners that accept your keywords.

How do you define that the title and the description are not keyword spam? Please provide facts or links.

[Alexs]

Directories that have gained PR (above zero) are crawled more often than directories which are not. So submitting your sites to directories that have acquired PR will make your site indexed faster by search engines.

Check the sites listed, check the backlinks, check the whois database and see how long it is registered and most of all, submit your site to directories you are comfortable with.

[robjones]

Originally Posted by Natural Elements

"the title and the description are not keyword spam" most of good directories allow site name or company name, so it is pretty simple for some directory owners.

Now if you are not well known on internet you better need to find directory owners that accept your keywords.

How do you define that the title and the description are not keyword spam? Please provide facts or links.

Here's a piece relating to that topic written by a guy I credit with great wisdom (and wit, style, and outstanding taste in hats).
Source: BOTW Blog

Tip: Submitted Descriptions
Posted August 26th, 2009 by Rob Jones

Getting a Good Description
When submitting a site to BOTW (or almost any directory) you have the opportunity to add a site description. Some do it well, some don’t. Herewith is a list of some considerations.

Why Submit A Descrip? (Think Big Picture)
Won’t the editor just re-write it anyway? Depends on what you send. If the submitted descrip accurately describes the site and generally conforms to editing standards, it stands a high chance of being used.

I can’t make any promises what effect any directory will have on your rankings elsewhere, but for heavens sake, let’s go on the assumption it helps to write a description that will help people find your site.

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained
If you do not add a descrip, you’re simply telling the editor that recieves it you’ll be happy with whatever they put there. Why do that? There’s no reason to skip adding a description, if you do a good one the editor might use it. Must enter to win.

Avoiding Common Errors

Title Case Descriptions

Seriously… You Wouldn’t Want To Read A Paragraph Formatted Like This Would You? It Is Harder To Read, So It Isn’t Even In Your Best Interest To Send It Like This. Save Yourself.

[AND OF COURSE, ALL-CAPS IS JUST AS BAD.]

Sending Your “USUAL Description”
It helps to have a unique description. Cutting and pasting the one you have in a bunch of other directories isn’t really in your interest or ours.

Sending A Book
Look at the category where your site will probably reside. If the descriptions are all one or two lines long… how likely is it the next one added will have a descrip the length of War & Peace? It isn’t happening. Send a book, it’s the equivalent of not sending a description. The editor will probably erase it and start over.

Mission Statement as Description
You just submitted a site for Wee, Fleecum, & Flee, LLC, practicing law in Martha’s Vinyard. Maybe someday your hopes and dreams will come true and it’ll rank well for terms contained in sentences that begin…

“Proactive firm with expanded world view and a commitment to excellence, striving to support hollistic approaches to (bla bla bla)”.

That said, I hope you don’t depend on the net with descrips like that, cause you’re screwed.

Seriously, wouldn’t you be better with 1 -2 lines including terms like “attorney”, “product liability”, and “Martha’s Vinyard”? Leave the Mission statement on the wall (to show that you got something from the guys in wingtips in return for the $50 grand), but write descrips based on real world keywords.

Keyword Stuffing

WidgetWorld is the site of a premier widget manufacturer. Offers left handed widgets, right handed widgets, big widgets, small widgets, and many more types of widgets, all available on this widgety site about widgetness and widgeousity.

I don’t feel a need to explain why that one would be erased. Adding appropriate keywords is good. Repeating ‘em incessantly is not.

Superlatives / Personal Notes / Calls to Action
The world’s finest this-or-that is hard to prove. We probably won’t include it, so if you send us a bunch of subjective BS when submitting, you might as well have left it blank.

Same goes for personal messages suggesting the person “Come to this site to experience world class (whatever)”. Use the description to tell what the site is about. You can do calls to action on the site itself, not in the description. It looks unprofessional on our end to include that stuff.

What DO We Want?
A quick line or two, (maybe 3 if short) explaining the business and site. Include some good keywords that flow naturally in real sentences and you’re on the right track. Before sending, try reading the descrip aloud to see if it reads well.

Win-Win
Hope this helps. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have on the topic, but it’s pretty simple stuff. It’s in your interest and ours to have a decent description, and if you submit a unique description we can work with AND it accomplishes what you want, we all win. Saves us time and helps you at the same time.

[Natural Elements]

I know Btow.org and I am listed on their directory

How about v7n directory do you think it uses editorial integrity?

Compared to Yahoo directory which one use better the editorial integrity?

[robjones]

I'm just offering tips on writing effective descriptions. The point I'm making is a tightly crafted short description can be many times more powerful than a huge description built wrong or a spammy keyword list that won't be accepted by the kind of directory people *should* be submitting to.

As we're talking in V7's forum... I'm sure they'd prefer to address their own product. Matt Cutts has mentioned Yahoo in relation to this (presumably he knows what SEs want)... so we'll let him address editorial standards and their effect on directories.

+ YouTube Video

[~CReed]

Originally Posted by Alexs

Directories that have gained PR (above zero) are crawled more often than directories which are not. So submitting your sites to directories that have acquired PR will make your site indexed faster by search engines.

Not necessarily true. Toolbar PageRank is no indicator of actual/current PageRank. There are directories with no visible PR that are crawled more frequently and deeper than those with PR.

I would rather be listed in a directory that is crawled and has cached pages from 5/6 levels deep over one that is only crawled a couple of levels down. Better chance your listing will actually be counted.

Look at what the search engines are telling you about a directory using indicators other than just PR. Cached pages, age of cached pages, how deep it the directory crawled and what they are linking to.

[Natural Elements]

Robjones I have more confidence about V7n directory editorial integrity than Yahoo directory.

Matt can talk about the Yahoo directory editorial integrity it is his opinion, it doesn't mean that he is always right.

Yahoo directory lack of editorial integrity when sites are gone and registrar pages show tons of Ad senses and deep links pointed to his own site. Also you can see often redirected links to unrelated sites.

Yahoo editorial integrity? Editing the description is ok with me, editing the description with the wrong keywords unrelated to my site show amateurism or $300 sabotage!

[subet]

Actually, PR is the most important criteria. But If the directory is new, check if the links are quality. Because the directories with quality links get better PR.

[biscayne]

when you are submitting your website into the web directory, you should be remember that web directory has PR, it is crawling in google or not?...

[banless]

Normally I look at the age of the directory and it's over all strength, such as backlinks and popularity among other directory owners. Page rank is good but there are other places to get that from so this is not a factor for me. I also look to see who else is listed in that directory. If I see other directory owners that I know and respect or competitors that I am trying to pass in the rankings then I am more likely to submit to it.

[coltter]

When i choose a web directory to submit to,
must to check their listings first.
and Google crawl rate is also important.

[ebiz101]

For choosing a directory you must take account whether the directory is not penalized ans see the category under you submit your site must be cached by search engines.