In our day-to-day lives, search engines are far more frequently used for finding info and businesses than web directories. Yet, the fact remains that web directory submissions have been a cornerstone of an effective link-building strategy for many years. Even with the possible advent of the semantic web, the top SEO experts can't see the value of link popularity in the Google algorithm being downgraded anytime soon. However, web directory submissions can be a bit of a hit and miss affair if you don't know which sites to target. Listing your site in some directories could even earn you a Google penalty! Today we check out the 5 criteria for making sure that your web directory submissions land in a 'desirable neighborhood'! The directory is selective Ideally, your web directory shouldn't let just any old site in. You don't want virus-laden sites, sites that could be illegal in some countries across the world, and sites without any real content sitting next to your business site. A couple of good examples of selective directories are Yahoo and DMOZ; the reason they are selective is because humans actually go to the site and review it before inclusion. Built for people to use If the list is actually useable for humans, the search engines will view it in a much better light. The 'link juice' that you get from those web directory submissions will be worth much more. Specific in nature We already have a general list of every site on the web ... it's called Google. The more general a web directory is, the less valuable it will be to list your site on it. General directories can still have some SEO value, but you'll get both real human clicks and traffic, as well as a link popularity boost from the specific directories. The directory itself has a good link profile If plenty of other sites around the net feel that a directory is worthwhile enough to link to, you will get much better SEO value from your web directory submission to it. On a trusted domain The ultimate example of this is the Yahoo Directory itself. Your web directory submission to Yahoo is valuable because the www.yahoo.com domain already has enormous trust and authority.
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Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Learn more about Web Directory Submissions.