As a webmaster, one of the most tedious job in link building is submitting web sites to directories. Submission requires patience and dedication. While there are businesses out there that provide this type of service, unfortunately though, they will not guarantee inclusion of your site to directories they submit to. And one of the reasons why is because of lack of diligence on their part to present your web site in an orderly and proper manner. Hence one of the assurances that your web site will be truly accepted to directories is to submit them yourself.
The following are some of the important things to consider when you submit to directories:
1. Choose Directories with Good Editing Practices
While some directories boast of page rank, it is important to take note whether the editor of the directory takes the time to edit submissions. Check this by going through the list of their latest submissions. Are there any approved sites with too much keywords, capital letters, exclamation points and the like in the description of the links that have been submitted? If it does, then it would not be worth having your site listed in it.
Try checking Yahoo’s and Google’s directory. Observe how they present links and their accompanying descriptions, so you can have an idea of what a directory should be.
The idea is that, if a directory’s editing is poor, chances are, reputation of your site will be harmed if accepted, or, the editor will just delete your submission without even taking the time to review it.
2. Read A Directory’s Guidelines and Follow it
Some directories present it as “Terms and Conditions” others, “General Guidelines” or some present it as “Submission Rules”. It does not matter what the term is, the most important thing to do is to follow the rules of submission. Try taking the time to review their guidelines to avoid inconvenience on your part. It is an effort to submit links to a directory, but there would be more effort for the editor himself, since you are not the only one submitting to the directory, most specially if it is a free one. The probability of your submission being deleted will be very high if you disregard their guidelines. Thus to make sure your site will be accepted, invest a little bit of your time reading their terms and conditions.
3. Choose The Most Appropriate Category For Your Link
This is a little bit tricky since there are interrelated categories in a directory. Nevertheless, it is advisable that you choose the most appropriate category fitting your web site. Try to avoid submitting your site under the parent or topmost category. When a directory still presents more specific subcategories, as much as possible, try choosing the more specific ones.
For example, if your website is an online shop for women’s clothing, have your site listed under Shopping/Clothing/Women’s instead of listing it under Shopping/Clothing. Or if they still have subcategories under Women’s that may be more suitable to your website, like General, Undergarment, Formal, etc. Then have it listed under Shopping/Clothing/Women’s/General.
Also, do not choose unrelated category for your site. This is a common mistake made by directory submission service providers. Most of the time they disregard guidelines and choose inappropriate categories for websites they submit. The result, rejected submissions.
Since directories operate on the concept of having sites collated into categories, it should be taken with great importance that when submtting links, categories should be chosen deliberately.
4. A Brief Anchor Text
Anchor Text or Title of the Website should be very brief. It should state what your site in general is all about. For example, if your site deals with services in home renovation in Texas, the most appropriate anchor would be “Home Renovation in Texas”. Do not over stuff it with keywords otherwise your submission will automatically be rejected. Even very long anchor texts are usually not acceptable.
However, it should be noted that some directories opt that your submission should be accompanied by Anchor texts using the official title of the website. The reason behind why some directories do this is to avoid having different sites listed in the directory all with the same title. A directory might be classified as spam if this would be allowed.
It is then the submitter’s responsibility to consider very carefully the Anchor Text to be used before submission. Nonetheless, if the directory requires the use of the “official name” of the website, it must be followed.
5. A Carefully Constructed Description Is a Must
Grammar and spelling should be considered as important. Sentences should start with a capital letter and ends with a period. In addition, proper nouns ( ie. names of persons or places) should start with a capital letter.
Similarly, descriptions should not be stuffed with too many keywords. It should be as short as possible and descriptive of your site. It should be very obejective. Descriptions in directories are not suppose to promote but more of presenting its readers a “snap shot” of what the site is all about. It is true that we need to include keywords but then again once or twice is enough.
This is an example of a badly written description:
“Packers Movers Gurgaon provides Packing and Moving Services in Gurgaon, Loading Uploading Services in Gurgaon, Car Carriers, Household Office Shifting in Gurgaon, Transportation in Gurgaon, Shifting Services in Gurgaon.”
A better description would be:
“A packing and moving company in Gurgaon. Services include household shifting and car carrier.”
Quality and usefulness of a web site is important and submitting to directories are still useful in the link building process. As such, we should always take into consideration the proper ways of submitting websites to directories.
