by Matt McGee
One World Telecommunications
posted: September 24, 2004
It wasn't too long ago that one of the services OWT and many
web development companies offered was "search engine submission."
That was back in the day when search engines needed a little tug
on the shoulders in order to learn about a new web page. They're
smarter than that today, and submitting to the crawler-based search
engines (Google, Yahoo, Gigablast, etc.) is all but useless;
they'll find your site as long as you have other sites linking
to yours.
But web directories are a different animal, and when it comes
to submitting a site, directories are where your energy should
be, pardon the pun, directed. If you're not sure what exactly we're
talking about, we've written an article on the differences
between search engines and web directories that should offer
the background you need as you go through the rest of this article.
Before You Submit
No matter which directories you choose to submit
your web site, there are a couple basic things
to consider.
1. Make sure your web site is complete. Don't submit your site
if you have "coming soon" or "under construction" pages. If your
web site isn't complete, your submission is doomed to be deleted.
2. Pay attention to the rules. Every directory has its own set
of submission rules. Be sure to read them and follow them. If the
directory allows you to write a description of your site, but doesn't
approve listings with promotional hype, don't describe your site
as "The world's #1 widget supplier!"
3. Look for information telling you how soon your submission will
be reviewed, especially if you're paying to submit your site. You'll
want to make sure the directory provides an answer within the promised
time frame.
4. If you plan to submit to a lot of directories, you might want
to keep a chart detailing the places you submitted to, the cost,
the date, and any other appropriate information. Where to Submit
There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of directories on the web,
but you'll probably find that only a few will be somewhere you
should submit your web site. Directories can be categorized a couple
different ways: some are general-purpose, while others are industry-specific;
some are free, while others require a payment; some will guarantee
inclusion if you pay (an advertising model, basically) and others
will only promise to review your site quickly if you pay.
Before we continue, this is the appropriate time for a disclaimer:
web directories comes and go on a regular basis, and costs and
other details are also subject to change at any time. The information
below is accurate as of the time this article was written. (Some) General Purpose Directories
Yahoo Directory -- the original
web directory. If you run a commercial web site, it'll cost $299
to submit to Yahoo's Directory (which is a separate entity from
Yahoo's search engine, by the way), and that $299 guarantees your
site will be reviewed within seven days. It doesn't guarantee inclusion.
if you get accepted, it'll cost $299 annually to keep your listing.
Open Directory Project -- the
most well-known free, general purpose directory. The ODP is staffed
by volunteers around the world who review submissions and add sites
they feel bring quality to the directory. The downside of being
able to submit for free to a volunteer-run organization is that
your submission may not be reviewed for weeks or, quite often,
months. Best to submit your site and forget about it.
Skaffe.com -- a relatively
new directory. Offers a "guaranteed" 24-hour review of your site
for a one-time fee of $39.99.
GoGuides.org -- guarantees
to review your site within two business days for a one-time fee
of $39.99.
BlueFind.com -- this is
a new directory where paid editors review
submissions, which cost $49.95 with a two business day review period.
Others: JoeAnt.com, Gimpsy.com (Some) Business Directories
Business.com -- a directory
only for business-related listings. Standard inclusion involves
a $99 annual fee. You're essentially paying for advertising; in
fact, the link for getting started is titled "Advertise With Us."
Jayde.com -- a relatively
new B-2-B directory which accepts free submissions. You can also
create an account and be able to modify your listing if it's accepted.
Shopping Directories
This is a growing area of directory-based search. If you sell
products online, you may want to consider having your products
included in comparison shopping directories such as Shopping.com,
MySimon.com, BizRate.com,
and others.
Industry-specific Directories
Many industries are represented by a niche directory that lists
businesses specific to an industry. There are hundreds of these
vertical directories, and a good place to start looking for one
that covers your industry is SearchEngineGuide.com.
A search
for "golf" here turns up more than a dozen golf-related
directories and search engines.
The Benefits of a Directory Listing
Traffic to your web site is the first and most obvious benefit
from having your site listed in a directory. A listing in the Yahoo
Directory can be expected to bring an increase in your traffic,
but some of those folks might just be "surfing" from
site to site. A listing in some industry-specific directory will
only bring a
fraction of the Yahoo traffic, but it should be very targeted traffic
- the kind you want.
A directory listing can also be that important first "inbound
link" that gets your site listed in Google or any other crawler-based
search engine. And having your site in several directories can
also help your position -- the more links your
site has from quality web sites, which may include some web directories,
the higher your site may appear in the search engine results.
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