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What Are Directories?
A directory is a collection of information pertaining to various
websites. This information is hand picked and chosen by directory
editors and website inclusion is dependent on the quality and
relevance of each particular site. Directories are divided into
categories and, in most cases, subcategories; each contains links
to relevant websites. Once information has been collected and
collated it is then searched by human visitors. The major search
engines use directories to help determine relevance. As well,
a listing in a directory may count as a link to the listed websites.
There are a very large number of directories on the Internet,
and while some are multiple or general category directories there
are also a large number of topic specific directories available.
Submitting to directories has long been considered a powerful
online promotion tool for several reasons.
Directory Submission And Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO for short, is often considered
to be the most important and beneficial form of marketing a website.
By optimizing the pages of a website and other, off page factors,
it is possible to influence the positioning of your website in
the search engine result pages. One of the major off page factors
that contribute to your site's performance in the search engine
results is your inbound link popularity and the quality of those
links.
Search engines deem links from quality directories to be very
beneficial links. The manual process by which a website is chosen
gives an indication that your site is both good quality and relevant
to the given category. The major search engines look very highly
on quality directories and give a link from one of these directories
a lot of weight when determining how well your site will perform.
At the very least, quality directories are indexed regularly
by the major search engines, giving you a powerful way to ensure
that your new website is indexed quickly by search engines like
Google, Yahoo, and MSN.
Directory Submission And Direct Traffic
Of course SEO isn't the only method of online promotion that
pays dividends. Directories are popular with surfers because
of the structured and easy to navigate fashion that they arrange
their results. As well as being able to navigate through the
categories, many directories also include a keyword search function
for added ease. Getting a prominent listing in a popular directory
can directly generate reasonable amounts of targeted traffic
straight to your site.
Choosing The Appropriate Directories For Your Site
One of the most difficult aspects of submitting any website
to online directories is choosing the most effective ones. There
are a large number of directories but while some offer the advantage
of being heavily populated and considered search engine friendly,
others cannot boast the same advantages.
In terms of search engine promotion, the most beneficial of
all directories to submit to is the Open Directory Project, also
called the ODP or DMOZ and located at http://www.dmoz.org.
Several major search engines quickly pick up new listings from
the Open Directory Project even though your site may not receive
much in the way of direct traffic. The Yahoo directory, located
at http://dir.yahoo.com/,
is also very popular and used by search engines other than Yahoo.
If you have a B2B website, you should also submit to http://www.business.com/.
After that you should turn to submitting your website to smaller
general directories. It is best to start by submitting to the
best directories you can. You can find an independent and objective
ranking of directories at: http://www.avivadirectory.com/strongest-directories/
It is a good idea to start at the top of the list and work your
way down.
The next step in making directory is to look for directories
that concentrate on, or around, the topic of your site. A quick
search on any search engine will give page after page of directories
to choose from and, as a general rule, those that appear at the
top of the listings will be the more popular.
Check Your Site Before You Submit
Before you submit to any directory always ensure that your website
is complete and easy to navigate. Don't forget that directories,
unlike search engines, use human eyes to view your website. It
absolutely must be appealing and clean for human visitors and
should be directly related to the topic under which you are submitting.
Check for broken links and ensure that information is factually
correct and easy to read.
Submitting
Once you've checked your website, find the directories you will
submit to. Every directory has a "Submit Resource" link
or something similar. Some directories will require you to first
navigate to the bottom level category that is most relevant to
your content. This means you should be as specific as possible
when choosing the category.
An Accurate Submission Is More Likely To Be A Successful Submission
In the case of this page, we should submit to something along
the lines of "Business - Internet Business - Internet Marketing
- Directory Submission" and not to the "Internet Business" or
even "Internet Marketing" category. The more specific
you are, the more likely it is that your site will be accepted.
You will need to complete the submission form, which will require
simple details regarding you and your site. The final step is
to wait for an editor to assess your site.
Is Directory Submission Beneficial For You?
Directory submission is by no means a new Internet marketing
trick but it is still a widely viable one that can help to get
a site indexed by search engines, drive traffic directly to your
site, and increase your performance on search engine listings.
Try to find the most relevant directories and always ensure that
your site is ready for inclusion. Also make sure that you submit
to the appropriate category.
Aviva recommends that you promote your website by submitting
it to Aviva Directory
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