Business.com is a business directory that costs a couple hundred dollars annually to
list your site. In general, Business.com is a strong link that most businesses should
buy in on. Business.com and some other directories allow you to list multiple links
in your listing.

There are also many industry-specific directories you can find by searching for
terms such as “<my keywords> + add URL,” “<my keywords> + submit,” or
“<my keywords> + directory.” I usually try to find directories that have one-time
submission fees or directories that look as though they are going to be longstanding,
quality directories.
Tips to Pick Directory Categories
Oftentimes a site will fit many different categories. When choosing a category to
submit to in a directory, I look at a few different ideas.
• Is my site likely to be accepted if I submit to this category? I tend to
be more conservative when submitting to a free directory than if I am
submitting to a paid directory.
• Are there reasons that this organization, or other sites outside of this
organization, are going to place extra emphasis on (or otherwise link
into) this category?
• How many links are listed in this category?
• Where does this category fit in the directory structure?
• How related is my site to the sites listed in this category?
Reasons Why I Like Second Tier Directories (Great Value)
Since second tier directories are smaller, your link is usually closer to the root page,
and most pages have fewer outbound links than large directories. If the categories
in a large directory are full of hundreds of sites, or are many levels deep into the
directory structure, you may gain greater link popularity in a smaller directory than
in a larger one.
Keep in mind that the quality of the other sites listed in the directory matters too.
If they list many junk sites, then few quality resources are going to link to their site.
It is probably not a good idea to list your site in hundreds of directories if you have
not built up significant trust. Also remember that some links may count as a
negative, so try to be somewhat conservative with what you consider to be of good
quality if you are hoping to rank well in Google.
Directory Traffic
Directories rarely provide much direct traffic. The bulk of the value of a directory
listing is in how search engines evaluate the links. Occasionally, you will find a
general directory that does provide good traffic—that is the exception more than
the rule.
Niche directories tend to drive decent traffic. Any site that ranks well in related
search results may be a good place to get a link, because ranking for relevant search
queries means they stand a good chance of being a well-trusted link source and
sending you direct visitors.

Reciprocal Link Required
Some directories require reciprocal links to be listed in them. I do not recommend
swapping links with most of these types of directories. Directories are intended to
list sites. Sites are not intended to list directories. If you like something, then feel
free to link to it, if not, then don’t. Some vertical niche directories are of high
enough quality to deserve links, but most are not.
Link popularity is a currency, and if you are lacking money (as I was when I started
on the web), you may need to reciprocate a few links off the start, but if you get
too aggressive with link trades, you will be digging yourself a hole by making your
link profile unnatural, and you can waste many hours of time.
The exceptions to this rule are that I am usually willing to reciprocate links with the
following directories:
• Extremely powerful sites that I do not believe are going to get
penalized. Generally this type of site still should be on the same topic
as your site.
• Directories that are well-focused and are defined as an industry hub in
my topic. The SEO Consultants Directory, for example, would not be
a bad directory for SEO sites to link to.

Directory Warnings

Some sites that pose as directories do not provide static text links and/or their
pages do not get indexed. Many of these databases will never provide any direct
traffic or link popularity. Additionally, many directories require reciprocal linking
and use their sites to promote aggressive high-margin products. If you link into
sites that primarily promote off-topic high-margin items, then you are sharing the
business risk that site owner is taking.
If you choose to spend money on directory submission, you should ensure that the
directory provides direct traffic or link popularity. You can do this by checking to
make sure their directory pages have some PageRank on them and are in Google’s
cache. Search Google for “cache:www.directory.com/page.php,” and check the
links of listed sites. When you scroll over a link in the directory, the status bar at
the bottom should indicate the domain that the link is pointing to and not some
sort of redirect. You also can right click on the link to copy link location and then
paste that to the address bar.
• You can check PageRank by downloading the free Google Toolbar.
• To ensure that a page is not showing phantom PageRank, check that
the page is in Google’s cache. Search Google for
“cache:www.whateversite.com/whateverpage.com.”
• Also make sure that the cache date is within the last month. If a page
has not been cached for many months, then search engines do not
trust that page much.

To check that links are indexed by search engines, scroll over a listing
in the directory. The status bar at the bottom of the browser should
show “www.whateverlisting.com.” A few good directories happen to
show some funky characters for redirects. Yahoo! is the only major
directory I know of that shows funky characters and still provides text
links that search engines index.
Most directories that show some funky tracking characters are not
providing static, spiderable links. If in doubt, ask questions at SEO
forums before spending any money.
• Some redirect links do get indexed, but there is no simple litmus test to
make sure that they do. You can right-click and copy links from within
the directory and do a server header check on them. If they show a
301 redirect, they will probably add to your link popularity. If they
show a 302 redirect, they probably will not add to your link popularity.
If they show a JavaScript redirect, then they do not count. When in
doubt about whether a link counts or not, ask in a couple SEO forums.
• If you use the Safari browser, you can use a tool from Digital Point to
view PageRank.

Crap Directories
Some people buy a directory script, create a ton of categories, and then only add
links if people buy them. The problem with this is that many categories will not
have unique content. Many of these same directories will list any business that
wants to pay for a link.
If there is no unique content, or if the content is all sponsored links, the site does
not add value, and search engines may not want to index it. When looking at a
directory, ask yourself, if you were a search engineer, would you want to count links
from that site? Would you want to allow that site to influence your search
relevancy algorithms?
You can view how many pages Google knows about from a directory by searching
Google for “site:www.directory.com.”
Some directories (such as SevenSeek) do not have many listings as compared to the
number of pages in their site. This will cause some search engines to either avoid
indexing the site or only index a small portion of it. The index saturation of a site
in Google can be found by searching for “site:www.directoryURL.com <signature
text>.”
Signature text for a site is any common text that appears on every page, such as the
copyright. Sites that consist of many pages with the same or similar content may
trip duplicate content filters. If you run a directory make sure you do not let search
engines index the “add URL” pages.

Places to Find Directories

I created the Directory Archives, which should only list directories that parse link
popularity to sites listed in them or directories that look like they might drive traffic
to listed sites. In addition, Search Engine Guide and ISEDB each have a large
directory of directories (though many of the directories listed in those may not
parse link value).
Ensure that the page is in Google’s cache and that the address bar shows the
location of the site the link is going to before paying for placement in any directory.
I also created a Microsoft Excel Directory Checklist sheet so you can track your
submissions to many general directories. Some of them are a bit sketchy, but some
of them are decent, and most of them provide links for free or for a one-time fee.
The directories with a blue background are the ones I believe provide the most
authority in Google or are priced cheaply enough to provide value even if Google
does not count them.

The Value of Directory Listings
The value of a single directory link is usually not very great. Directories add value
after you list in many of them, especially if you are listing in high-quality ones next
to other sites that are in your same vertical.
If you have a keyword-rich domain name, it will help you get descriptive inbound
links from directories. Most sites on the web only have links from a few dozen
sites. By listing your site in a half dozen to a dozen quality directories and also
getting links from other relevant quality sites, you can quickly build up a great
linking campaign at minimal cost.
Known SEO Circles
Most directories are not of amazingly high quality, listing many lousy websites.
Martinibuster, a link building guru, often emphasizes avoiding being heavily located
in known SEO circles.
For example, common SEO strategies for a new site might be to list a site in a
bunch of directories, write a press release or two, trade links with many low-quality

sites, get a few links from signature files from SEO forums, and submit a few
articles to various article banks.
If your link profile matches that of most SEO websites, then it may be harder to
rank than if you can come up with creative ways to get links from places that few
other SEOs are listed.
Large portions of the web are well trusted and virgin territory to most SEOs. If
you can think of creative ways to relate your site to people with great trusted and
rarely abused link equity results will show far quicker than if you follow the same
path taken by many people who are obviously SEOing their sites.

I do not necessarily have the best answer for that question. If you are building a
site for temporary profits, then even most of the low-quality ones can help you
build links that will be effective for ranking in MSN or Yahoo!. The problem
comes about when some of those links that help you in less sophisticated
algorithms end up hurting your Google ranking.
From the above picture, you can see that search algorithms are reliant upon linkage
data. If you look at a site’s inbound links (I will explain how to do this later on)
and find few links from quality sites, few or no related sites, and many low-quality
links, that is not a good sign for the long-term potential of the link.
When you look through the listings in your category and throughout the directory,
there should be, in general, many high-quality sites that were added for free by an
editor for each site that paid for a listing. You do not need to view the whole
directory to figure out if it is good or bad, just a few categories that you know well.
Are quality sites listed there? If mostly junk sites are listed there, then you probably
do not want to pay for a submission.
If the categories are almost all blank, then wait to see if an editor will be making it
useful. If the directory consists only of paid listings or blank pages it is probably
not worth paying to be listed. Directories with many empty categories often get
flagged by duplicate content filters for having too much similar content, since there
is little content on most of their pages beyond the directory structure.
Another thing to look out for is site-wide or home page ads to high margin sites in
areas like casino, prescription, or debt consolidation. Avoid those types of
directories as well, since they are more likely to be above radar and search engineers
would be more likely to want to discount links from those sites.
I believe TrustRank is not implemented to the point where you get large negative
scores for just a few bad links, as scraper sites virtually guarantee all top-ranked
sites gain a few bad links, but perhaps it could be used to help figure out the good
link to bad link ratio and flag high PageRank sites with low trust scores for human
review.

Directories Worth Getting Links In
The two most popular directories are DMOZ and the Yahoo! Directory. Just
about any quality search algorithm should trust and place weight on links from
those two sources.
The Open Directory Project
The Open Directory Project (DMOZ) is free, but sometimes it can take a while to
get listed. DMOZ editors work free of charge and are under no obligation to list
your website.
Ensure that you take the time to submit your site to the right category and follow
their directory guidelines. If your site is not in English, make sure you submit it to
the world category. Regional sites should be submitted to their respective regional
category

With DMOZ, you do not need to keep resubmitting over and over. In the past,
they allowed webmasters to ask for status checks on submissions, but they
discontinued that in May 2005. If you do not get accepted, it is not worth losing
sleep over. Submit and forget it.
If you have general questions about DMOZ, you may want to ask at Resource
Zone.

Become a DMOZ Editor

You may want to apply to become an editor if you really enjoy your category. You
should take your time when applying to become an editor. It is easier to become
an editor for a small, non-commercial category than a large, highly commercial one.
After you become an editor and do a good job, you can gain editing privileges over
other categories as well. Also, it is best if you do not disclose that you are
interested in SEO. They would prefer to hear you say you want to help organize
the web and make it a better place. Saying you are a hobbyist, enthusiast, academic,
or retired person is far better off than telling them you are the CEO of a company
in your field.

The Value of a DMOZ Listing

The Open Directory Project is syndicated by many other sites and inclusion into it
often provides your site with dozens of inbound links. Many people are quick to
state that the Open Directory is worthless or that it is super important.
The fact is, it is fairly important for some sites and fairly unimportant for others. It
really depends on how many other good places there are that may be willing to link
to your site and how creative you are in making things they would want to link at.
There are many variables that go into the value of a listing. I usually just submit
and forget about it. I do not find that it helps to be preoccupied with a DMOZ
listing. Many high ranking sites are listed in DMOZ and many high ranking sites
are not. Most of my original useful sites were accepted into DMOZ. Most of my
spam sites were not.

No ODP Meta Tag

It is easy to create a compelling meta description tag that emphasizes your brand
strengths, but if a website is listed in the Open Directory Project, search engines
may prefer to use your ODP listing information over your meta description or
page content when displaying your site in the search results. If you do not like the
ODP listing information, you can prevent search engines from displaying it when
your site appears in search results by using the following meta tag:
<meta name=“robots” content=“noodp”>

The Yahoo! Directory

Your site will still list in Yahoo! powered search results even if you do not submit
your site to their directory, but their directory is well worth its cost for most
commercial sites. Yahoo! charges a $299 recurring annual fee for commercial sites
(double that for adult sites), which is a bit expensive for small-time webmasters, but
not a large fee if you are serious about making and marketing a quality website with
a legitimate business model.
A number of people I know have changed their credit card details and found that
their Yahoo! Directory listings still stayed even though they did not re-pay their
recurring annual review fee.
Unlike most directories, Yahoo! shifted their directory to list sites in order of
popularity, instead of alphabetically. They also paginate the results, so if your site is
new and there are 300 sites listed in your category, your site will not be appearing
on the first page of the category unless you also pay a monthly directory category
sponsorship fee, build significant link popularity from a variety of sources, or find a
more niche category to which you can submit.
Non-commercial sites can list in the Yahoo! Directory for free, and I can attest to
the fact that they have listed multiple sites I own for free. I have also submitted
dozens of paid listings and they have yet to reject any of them.
When a site gets submitted to the Yahoo! Directory, an editor checks the quality of
the site. Since Yahoo! controls their own directory, it would be logical for them to
place extra weighting on a Yahoo! Directory-listed site. Many top SEOs have told
me that they have seen significant increases in their Yahoo! Search rankings after
submitting a site to the Yahoo! Directory, and a Yahoo! Directory link seems to be
trusted fairly well in Google as well.
If you submit your site for free, make sure you submit to the most relevant
category. If you pay the Yahoo! Directory review fee, it might be worth it to try to
submit to a somewhat authoritative category. They may place your site in a
different category than that to which you have submitted, but it is worth a shot.
To give you an example, in the Yahoo! Search guidelines, they link to a SEO
resources category. Thus, I decided to submit my site to the authoritative SEO
resources category instead of submitting to the SEO services category. Why?
Because they link to the SEO resources category in their search guidelines, there
are fewer sites in that category, and the co-citation is associated with higher quality
sites.

Regional Yahoo! Directories
Yahoo! has depreciated the value of many of their own regional directories. They
still accept free submissions, but do not guarantee a review time.
Second Tier Directories
Although more expensive than many other second tier directories, BOTW is one
of the better general directories. Directories such as Gimpsy, GoGuides,

RubberStamped, Uncover the Net, JoeAnt, and Skaffe all cost less than $50 each
for submission.
JoeAnt is free if you become an editor, and it only takes a couple minutes to sign
up. Gimpsy is free if you are willing to wait many months. Skaffe is free for
editors. GoGuides has a bulk submission discount program.
If you are going to list your sites in many directories, you may be able to save time
by using RoboForm to save some of your submission details, but make sure you
modify it to make your listings unique at each location.

Mix Things Up!

When links and citations occur naturally, there is no easily definable pattern. If
something is easy for a search engine to do and it will improve search quality, they
probably will do it. As a result, make sure you mix up your anchor text and your
site descriptions so that there is no easily identifiable unnatural pattern.
If you start directories yourself and you use common default directory software,
you may want to remove the common footprints the script leaves. If other sites
using this script are abusing it, you do not want to cause your site to be filtered as
well if a search engine decides to penalize sites that are using a commonly abused
script.
Junk General Directories
On the web, links are a currency. The problem is, many webmasters want any link
they can get to improve their link popularity. Some webmasters take advantage of
this situation by creating low-quality, general web directories that will link to
anyone willing to give them some money.
This leads to a couple problems, both of which essentially boil down to an
unnatural linkage profile. If a directory is not useful to humans, then the inbound
links are likely going to lack linkage data from many trusted sites. To build up a
high PageRank, the directory will often build lots of links from many low-quality
sites.
Additionally, many of these directory owners are lazy and have no desire to create
any legitimate value. In not employing editors to add any useful sites, most of the
listed sites in the directories are of low quality.