As the number of websites grow everyday, it is becoming increasingly difficult for a new site to attain good rankings on search engines. Since major search engines factor link popularity heavily into their ranking algorithms, building relevant links to your site is perhaps the single most important component of search engine optimization.
For a new site with no, or few inbound links, buying text links on more established related sites could provide a boost to your link popularity. But this strategy could prove prohibitively expensive, especially in a highly competitive market where you'd have to buy lots of links to catch up with the competition.
Web directory listings represent a viable alternative to link buying. Apart from driving traffic to your site through direct referrals, web directories provide one-way inbound links to your site, boosting your link popularity and ultimately improving your search rankings.
There are thousands of web directories on the net, with dozens sprouting up every day. Some are general directories; others cater to specific niches. Some are free; others charge inclusion fees. Some are free only if you provide a reciprocal link in return. Many feature both free and paid listings.
The main advantage of a paid listing is the luxury of having your site listed quickly above everybody else's. Free submissions may take several weeks or months for review. If you work on a limited budget, you may want to submit to a handful of paid directories and a few hundred free ones.
Some directories charge inclusion fees that are too high for the listing to be cost effective. When considering a paid listing, look at not only the Google PageRank of the homepage of the directory, but also that of the subpage where your link will actually reside. While it may seem like a good deal to have your site listed on a PR5 directory for $15, the deal becomes far less attractive when you find out that the internal page where your link is placed is only PR2.
If you've ever submítted to web directories before, I don't have to
convince you that the process is extremely tedious and time-consuming,
especially when you submit to a large number of them. Unlike search
engines that send out robots to index web pages, web directories rely on
more detailed submission forms to gather information about your site.
Since each submitted site must be reviewed by a real person, most
directories require that submissions are also performed by a real
person, as opposed to an automatic script. Many directories use a visual
code verification process to prevent automated submissions. Apart from
complying with the directory's guidelines, manual submission is the only
way to ensure that your site is submitted to the proper category.
Because of the time involved in manually submitting your site and the
sheer number of directories on the web, it's important that you know
which directories to submit to. Obviously, you'd want to submit to only
the high-PR directories and avoid the low-PR ones, right? Not really.
Just because a directory has a low PR does not mean that it's not worth
submitting to. The directory may be brand new and not around long enough
to be ranked by Google. In contrast to the more established directories
that continually experience a back-log of submissions, newer
directories tend to review and list sites more quickly. As the directory
becomes more popular, so will your link. So, don't judge a directory
solely by its PageRank; rather, base your decision on the overall
quality of the directory.
Another important thing to look at is whether or not the
directory you submit to is search engine friendly. Search
engines like static web pages whose content stay the same
regardless of who visits the page, or when they visit, not
dynamic pages that are created on-the-fly. Browse to a couple of
categories and look at the URL in the navigation bar. If the URL
looks like, http://www.anysite.com/forums/thread.php?threadid=12345&sort=date,
it's probably not search engine friendly. An example of a static, search
engine friendly
URL is: http://www.anysite.com
.
Another question to ask is: How easy is it to submit to the
directory? How many hoops do you have to jump through to get to
the submission form? When you finally get to the form, how many
fields does the form have? A directory should ask for pertinent
information like your name, email, URL, link title, link
description, and keywords, but it should not look like a job
application. With the exception of a handful of major directories
like DMOZ and Yahoo, you should not have to spend more than 3 to
4 minutes to submit your site.
Another consideration is whether or not the directory has a category
specific enough for your site. For optimal SEO benefits from your
listing, your link should be grouped under a specific category
containing sites whose content are related to yours. Such a grouping
makes your listíng more relevant in the eyes of the search engines, as
well as providing an easier way for visitors to the directory to find
your site.
Simply having your site listed on a directory is not enough. Your choice
of the link title can determine how much impact your listing will have
on your search engine rankings. Ideally, your link title (or "anchor
text") should contain the keywords that you want others to search for to
get to your site. Since most web directories require a unique link
title, however, it may not be possible to select a common phrase like
"Free Web Directory" as your link title. This title is likely already
taken by another web directory. Simply prefixing the phrase with your
domain name, e.g. "GoDirectory.org Free Web Directory", would make the
title unique.
Oftentimes, a directory has several related categories that are suitable
for your site. How do you decide which one to submit to? Ideally, you'd
want to submit to the category that has the highest PageRank. However,
this may not turn out to be the wisest choice as your link may be buried
among a zillion other listings. Going with a lower-PR category with
fewer competing links may prove to be more beneficial. When choosing
from multiple related categories, choose one with a good balance of
relevancy, Pagerank, and number of competing listings.
In sum, submitting to web directories is a highly effective link
building strategy that should be an integral part of any search engine
optimization campaign. Manually submitting to a large number of
directories is both laborious and time-consuming. Just keep the above
points in mind to make the most of your time.
About The Author
My name is Manish Shah. I am an avid blogger & social media
representative. I am a retailer by Profession & my blog is Ask
Manish Shah . I update my blogs regularly. Do visit me for
EffectiveLinkBuilding.
Last update : 28-05-2010 07:14
|
|
|
(2 votes)
онлай
By: BigBobDync (Registered) on 20-05-2012 05:52