Submit to Directories

Getting listed in human-edited directories is one of those incremental SEO tasks that can make a difference in the aggregate. It’s relatively easy to find directories with categories that match your organization, and they represent a chance to build a link to your site using your own well-researched, well-targeted words. Think of a directory listing as just another inbound link with a slightly different link-request process (usually there’s a submittal form to fill out, and specific editorial guidelines to follow, instead of a free-form e-mail correspondence). If you happen to have a nonprofit or noncommercial website, you have greatly increased potential for free links on directories.

Your directory requests will be accepted or rejected based on the judgment of human editors, and part of what they judge is whether your suggested title and description match your site’s content. So if you have substantial optimization that needs to take place before this is the case, use today’s task just to gather submittal information. You can perform the actual submittal when your site is ready.

Where to Submit

There are some big, well-established directories such as the Yahoo! Directory (http://dir.yahoo.com) and the Open Directory (www.dmoz.org), which survived extinction when the Age of Directories in the ’90s made way for the Age of Algorithmic Search that came after. Submitting your site to Yahoo! and the Open Directory, while no longer crucial to a site’s visibility, is a fine thing to do.

They have specific categories that might describe your organization perfectly, such as Health: Alternative: Practitioners: Wellness Centers: North America: United States: Michigan. If the category fits, you may as well submit. But the majority of today’s directories, the ones you’ll be spending most of your time on, are little guys with niche traffic. Niche directories are small, but they can be powerhouses for targeted traffic. You know your company, and you know your niche.

Now it’s time for you to find directories that speak to it. Here are ways you can go about it: What are your competitors using? Check links to your competitors, but this time take some time to read through the listings. Are there any directories listed? Click them and see if this may be a good directory for you, too.

What offline opportunities do you already know about? Many publications, such as Sweets (sweets.construction.com) and Thomson Local (thomweb.co.uk) have online directory components. Check to see if your company is included in any such publication. What comes up for your target keywords? Are there any directory pages among the top search results for your target keywords?

Last but not least, be sure to search the search engines for relevant niche directories. For example, if your organization is a day spa located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the search terms “day spa directory” and “Albuquerque directory” will both turn up many possible niche directories. But watch out for these pitfalls as you consider niche directories:

• Many of the directories that will come up in your searches will be repurposed versions of the Open Directory. Don’t waste your time on a duplicate submittal.

• Don’t believe the hype: If a niche directory wants a payment for your listing, you need to carefully check the link quality factors before you pull out your pocketbook. Websites are so easy to create that there are thousands of directory sites on the Web that aren’t worth the virtual paper they’re printed on. Unless you can get a several-month free trial, you should be cautious about paying for niche directory listings.

• While we’ve got you in a cynical mind-set, be sure to look closely at free directories as well. Don’t fall for the idea that your website needs to be listed in every free-for-all general directory. If the directory categories are ridiculously generic, like “engineering” and “comic books,” or if you don’t actually need to select a category for your listing, the directory may not be trying to appeal to a human audience.

Your Best Listing

If you do decide to create your own directory listing, here are some tips on saving time and maximizing results: Cluster with your competition. Search the directory for your top business competitors. If they’re all in the same category, you want to be there, too. Get specific. Browse the directory, starting from the biggest, top-level categories and working your way down to the one most specific to your organization. For example, if you provide tennis lessons, you don’t want to be in a generic category like “Sports.” You want to be in a more appropriate category like Shopping > Sports > Tennis > Training or a local category like Regional > North America > Canada > Ontario > Localities > T > Toronto > Recreation and Sports > Tennis.

Use category tiebreakers. If you are faced with two categories that seem to fit your site equally well, choose the better-quality category page based on the link-quality factors for inbound links in general.

Put some thought into your submittal. Most likely, you will want to submit your home page, but it’s possible that a different landing page will also work. In rare cases, if your site has landing pages with unique content, directories may include multiple listings for your site. Use the HTML page title and meta description tag you prepared in Week 1 as a launching point to write your title and description. Be sure to consider what your competition is saying (or not saying) about themselves when you fine-tune your suggested listing.

Quality Links Defined

As you surf for potential linking sites today, you may be tempted to build the longest list you possibly can, with dozens or hundreds of sites. But every one of these link requests is going to take a five-minute chunk of time out of your life why, that’s only 12 per episode of Battlestar Galactica! so you need to be choosy.

An Expert’s Opinion: The Difference Between Success and Failure

If your only exposure to link building is spammy, reciprocal link request e-mails from pushy webmasters, you may be surprised to know that there is a very different way to build links. “It’s a very human process,” says renowned link-building consultant Eric Ward. Eric is such an authority on the subject of successful linking campaigns that he has earned the nickname “Link Moses” a bit of a misnomer given his fresh-faced good looks.

Eric feels that taking the time to carefully assess potential linking sites is critically important.“You can automate only so much of the process, and then it comes down to you and your browser window, making qualitative decisions about the target sites. Most people dread that part. I dig it.

That’s the difference between success and failure.

Over half of Eric’s business involves teaching his clients how to do it themselves. According to Eric, “The most successful sites will take ownership of the link-building process and not depend solely on vendors.” So if it’s better to do it yourself, how can you make sure you’re spending your precious time on the highest-quality potential linking sites?

Eric offers advice on identifying quality sites:“The signs of value will vary depending on the subject matter, but one constant is the site’s content will be high caliber and not coated with 10 or 20 pay-per-click ads.The site will not require a return link as a condition of giving you a link.”

And how does he identify sites that aren’t worth the effort? “If the majority of what I see on the page is advertisements instead of content, I’m immediately suspicious. If the site says ‘Submit your link free!’ it’s likely to be of little value. If a page has never been crawled by any search engine (this can be verified), the page isn’t likely to be of value.”

Don’t be intimidated if you’re just getting started with link building. Eric advises,“Do a search on the phrase ‘link building expert’ and read all the articles you find.Those of us who do this for a living have shared many of the tips and tools we use.”

Tell it, Moses! Eric shares his tips and tools on his website, ericward.com.

Between Eric Ward’s factors to consider in the sidebar “An Expert’s Opinion: The

Difference Between Success and Failure” and the link quality factors You know that you’ve got a lot of tools for analysis. But there’s one more angle to consider: whether the site makes it possible for you to do your link-gathering job. Be sure to take these administrative issues into account:

• Is contact information available on the site? Without it, you can’t request the link.

• Does the site appear to be regularly updated? Do a quick scan for the “last edited” date or other signs of life. If nobody is manning the store, there won’t be anybody to add your link.

Now that you know what you’re looking for in an inbound linking site, here are some ideas for where to look.