Why You Should List In The Web Directories

If you’ve ever wondered how to get your website from the D-list to the A-list, listing in the directories can play an instrumental role in boosting your website’s potential in a number of ways including: Passes on page rank/ link juice, amplified website authoritativeness, and boosted traffic to name a few. The trick is, not all directories are equal, which is why the goal is to get the most out of the web directories.

Why Directories Are Important
Not all web directories are created equally, which means they don’t all provide the same results. Strongest Links offers info on over 200 directories on the web and gives you all the info on price, subscriptions, submission requirements, the directories page rank, and so on. The mechanics of listing in the directories as well as the bottom line benefits are as follows:

• The most authoritative directories help search engines understand what your site is about and help improve your relevancy and position.

• Having links to authoritative directories intrinsically helps improve your website’s authoritativeness and promotes link juice.

• Many search engines like Google make it extremely rewarding for a webmaster to  list their site in many different directories. In that, the more directories you’re listed in—the more Google and other search engines will view your site as authoritative and subsequently reward you with higher page rank.

• By listing in the top directories you’ll also inherently boost traffic from web surfers looking through the directories. In addition, you’ll also get the front-end traffic from the search-engine results as Google and other search engines continue to boost your authoritative web pages up the listings.

Nuts and Bolts of Listing In The Directories
Generally, to list in the directories your website has to be on point. Though many directories differ in their submission requirements, the general guidelines to be considered are:

• No broken links
• Must have highly authoritative content
• No pages can be under construction
• Every aspect of the website has to be fully functional
• Website content has to fall within acceptable directory criteria
• *In most cases, directories will not refund your money if they should decide that your website isn’t worthy of being listed, so you’ll want to get it right the first time.

Types Of Directories

As a general rule of thumb, it’s best to target the top 20 directories listed on Strongest Links. An example of some of these directories are as follows: Yahoo Directory, Business.com, and Best Of The Web to name a few off the top-5 list. A couple of other important directories and web guides are: About, the GoGuides, JoeAnt and Gimpsy. Know too, if you’re on a limited budget, there are several free directories that are excellent to list in like: DMOZ, Joeant, and Gimpsy.

Topical or Niche-Specific Directories

Many niche specific directories are focused on quality and provide static text links to your site. These directories not only improve your site’s relevancy in search results but also drive a significant amount of prequalified traffic to your site. Many niche specific directories are works of love and provide free listings.

Be Aware Of Bogus Directories

Some unscrupulous money hungry parties have established web directories that accept any site that pays them; the catch is that the directories are bunk and usually don’t last long before Google blacklists them. Most of these directories, which are created to Sell AdSense and cheap link rentals, have increasingly made it easy for other bunk directory providers to create garbage directories to collect your money. In addition, you’ll also want to be aware of duplicate directories, which are sites such as emfind.com, pearlfind.com, moonfind.com, findeyes.com, beyondfind.com, and findww.com. Generally these sites are easy to spot because they all look exactly the same. If you’re unsure about the directory you’re considering listing in,  just remember–the top 20 on Strongest Links is always  a safe bet. If, however, you’re going to venture elsewhere, know that well referenced directories with lots of high quality links from editorially robust sources are likely to carry far more value than those whose links stem from directory lists, SEO-centric communities or paid/affiliate links.

Bottom Line
For all intensive purposes, listing in the directories can dramatically influence your search engine rankings, organic traffic, authoritativeness, and overall link juice. If you plan on listing in the directories, make sure your website is completely functional and know that selective is good. If you’re site has all the right refinements, it’s worth paying the extra cash to list in the authoritative directories as it will pay higher dividends in the long run.