Directory Submission is a great beginning to off-site signals. It’s important to note that directory submission serve to link to your website. The more quality links pointing to your website, the more likely you’ll rank well. Google sees links pointing to your website as a method of determining how many people like your website.
Introduction
To increase visibility online is the core of every online business marketing strategy. Driving traffic to your website and getting noticed by search engines takes a lot of time and effort.
To rank well, your website should have on-site and off-site signals.
‘Links’ play a major role in determining your ranking position on the various search engines. Obtaining inbound links or backlinks in quantity and quality can influence your search engine rank immensely. One simple way to obtain backlinks is to submit your link to directories. Online directories exist for the sole purpose of providing links to web users to various sites categorized under relevant topics. “Directory submission” is a website optimization strategy that no website owner should ignore.
Directories catalog links for easy access to users. Much earlier, directories were the primary source for web users to find websites on various topics. Today search engines have taken over but directories have not lost their importance yet. You cannot obviously expect too much traffic from a directory submission. But you can expect an improvement in your search engine placement.
Here Is How Directory Submission Works
When submitting to a directory, the major hindrance as well as the major benefit lies in the human editor. Your submission will be viewed by an actual person who determines how relevant and unique your website is. After passing his scrutiny and editing, your website will be accepted in the directory. This automatically establishes the credibility of your website; hence search engines will consider links submitted to directories.
Some directories even feed their databases to other directories and search engines. Search engines base a certain factor on directories in judging a website’s popularity and relevance. Depending on the quality of the directory and the number of backlinks your website has, search engines will be able to determine your relevance and qualify your website accordingly.
Quality Links vs Directory Submission
Directory Submission s aren’t the best quality links. However, they provide a good fundamental starting ground for on-going SEO efforts.
What is a quality link?
A quality link is from a website that is reputable in your industry talking about your website. For example: You sell nike shoes. You write a case study on how nike shoes allows you to run longer without shin splints than other running shoes via scientific studies. Nike links to your case study about nike shoes. You have garnered a quality link in the shoe industry. That link is more valuable than a directory submission.
Checking Existing Directory Submissions
You can check your listings by going to https://moz.com/local/search. If you see that your website / business has been submitted to one of the above mentioned directories, skip over that one.
What directories do I submit to?
In my previous post, I brought you a list of free verified high PR instant approval directory submission list. If you didn’t read my post yet, It’s time to read it now.
Read: Free Verified High PR Instant Approval Directory Submission List
Directory submission s are an important beginning phase. The following list are for website owners to submit their business / website to:
I’ve been using Cloudways since January 2016 for this blog. I happily recommend Cloudways to my readers because I am a proud customer.
I’ve noted that a couple are paid listings. You don’t want to pay for links unless they’re a valuable means of advertising. For example, the Chamber of Commerce & Better Business Bureau could be considered valuable means of advertising.
- Google Business / Google Plus
- Bing Local
- Yahoo Local
- Yelp
- Foursquare
- Infogroup
- Acxiom
- Localeze
- Superpages
- Best of the Web
- YP (Yellow Pages)
- Hot Frog
- CitySearch
- eLocal.com
- ezLocal
- LocalDatabase
- ShowMeLocal
- MojoPages
- Yellowise (partner with Yext)
- ChamberofCommerce
- USCity
- Yellowpagecity
- Kudzu
- Merchant Circle
- BBB
- Angie’s List
- White Pages
- Manta
- infoUSA
- Map Quest
- City Squares
- Local Pages
- Tupelo
- Go Local 247
Conclusion
In conclusion, directory submission s provide a great beginning to your website efforts by providing links to your website. It’s also important that you have accurate information across the web about your website.
