A lot of folks poo-poo directory submission as generating useless links. That’s not true – get links from the right directories and they can give you a boost.
Directory submission is pretty basic. It’s also an absolutely critical part of a link building campaign.
1: Get the must-have directories
First step is to make sure your site is in the must-have directories. I am not a fan of automated submission software, but even if you are, submit to these directories by hand. Make sure they get done, and done properly!
You can use this list as a guide. We update this every few months. It’s the exact same list the Portent Interactive team uses in link building. Enjoy!
2: Get the rest
You can also start hitting all of the other directories that are out there. There are automated programs to do this, like SubmitEaze. I’m not a fan, though, because I see a lot of submissions get rejected when automatically submitted.
A better route is to build a list of directories – there are thousands, if not tens of thousands of them – and set a schedule. Submit to 1-3 per day. You can also outsource this, if you want.
A few places to get directory lists include:
- StrongestLinks.com
- Web-directories.ws
- SEOMOZ has a list of quality directories that they update. You have to be a paid member, but it’s worth it.
- Aaron Wall’s SEOBook has lots of directory listings, as well. Again, it costs money, but it’s worth it.
A few rules
- Unless you have a monster site that’s accumulating links at a really high rate, never submit to more than 15 directories/week without first reading about the dangers of spammy link building. The reason: If a web site has only been acquiring 1 link/week, and their link velocity suddenly jumps by a factor of 10, search engines may flag them for review. That’s not a big deal on its own, but the search engines may also ‘sandbox’ the site.
- Don’t write garbage listings. Treat the directory description as a marketing piece, because it is one.