I want to take some time to talk about directory submissions as a means of link-building and Internet marketing. This is one of those topics where I’m slightly torn depending on how you choose to look at things, so what we’ll tackle for now is mass directory submissions to every free directory you can find. Is it a good marketing method? Is it a waste of time? Let’s talk about it:

How it Works:

The concept behind directory submissions for Internet marketing and SEO efforts is pretty simple: more backlinks can equal a higher pagerank and rankings in the SERPs, many directories offer free backlinks (including deep links at some), so you submit your site to as many free directories as possible in order to increase your number of incoming links. Some people do this themselves manually, hire others to do this manually, or use automatic submission software.

Fad or Fab?

FAD – Here’s Why – First of all, let’s start off with what my real issue is in this case. It’s NOT the directories themselves really, but rather the quality (or lack thereof) of those types of links in comparison with the time or effort it takes to get the submissions. In the end, the ROI just isn’t worth it in most cases. The fact of the matter is that many general directories are so general that the links have little to no relevance, so they’re not providing much value. But people hear that backlinks are the golden ticket to Google bliss, and they start caring more about quantity than quality.

I can assure you that quality is more important. I always feel for someone when I see them posting on a forum or something proud of the fact that their backlinks finally got them to PR3 in less than a year. If my sites don’t go to PR4 on their first update, I tend to get pretty upset, because that’s simply my norm. I don’t do it with mass link submissions. I do it with a network of inter-related content sites that all help each other rank well, on top of networking with important people in my niches to get quality links and exposure. That’s been the real key.

Now, “PR means nothing,” you may want to say. Not true. Like it or not, while it doesn’t necessarily effect your traffic or your rankings in the SERPs, it can still play a pretty big role in how you’re able to monetize a site. For example, I have a business blog that went to PR6 not long ago. The revenue through link sales more than quadrupled for the blog. And this is why people keep bending over backwards for backlinks to raise their pagerank. I’ve just never been able to jump in with that crowd, and thankfully it’s worked out well for me so far.

Let’s get back to directories. While I’m not for wasting time, money, or energy submitting a site to a mass collection of free Web directories, I’m all for directories as a whole. I think we’re seeing a trend that I personally love…. more deep link directories rather than general collections of sites, and more niche-specific directories which actually lend relevance to the links they contain. If you can find niche directories (free or paid), or directories that you know are promoted well enough to actually drive their own legitimate and targeted traffic to your site in addition to their backlink value (again, free or paid), then by all means, use them. Just remember to use directories effectively like you would with any other marketing method.