Link Building 101: The Power of Directories

Most of these directories don't generate much traffic, and even if they did, the purpose of submitting to a directory is not for traffic, it's usually solely for SEO and to improve your rankings in the SERP's. Therefore, focus your efforts on securing links from the high PR directories, but don't forget about some of the high quality niche directory lists. These niche lists cover the major topics (health, SEO, sports, shopping, adult, blogging, travel, etc.) as well as geographic regions (Australia, UK, Canada, US) so you should find at least a couple that apply to your niche. These offers are constantly popping up on the services section, but you need to keep in mind that the quality of these free directory submitters is pretty skeptical in most cases. Just because they are submitting doesn't guarantee approvals. So you need to either find someone who can guarantee a high acceptance rate, or only pay per approval. Either way, these categories provide plenty of opportunities to outsource bulk submission work and to find a lot of free, high quality directories to submit too. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find quality directories to submit too as many directories continue to get penalized by Google as I outlined in my last post, the History of Paid Directories. As a result, the goal of this three-part series is to focus on the power of directories for SEO, and more importantly, to teach any SEO enthusiast how to find quality directories (both paid and free) going forward. It's best to sort these lists by PR and start submitting from the top and work your way down. Most of these directories don't generate much traffic, and even if they did, the purpose of submitting to a directory is not for traffic, it's usually solely for SEO and to improve your rankings in the SERP's.