Backlinks are perhaps the most important aspect of SEO, and historically the best way to get these was through web directory submissions. Although there are now plenty of other ways to get these essential backlinks web directories can still play a valuable role in your website promotion efforts. However, with literally thousands of available web directories it's important that you focus only on those that will benefit you - directories with poor editorial guidelines have little to no value, either for the effect of the backlink on your search engine rankings or the direct traffic they might send.
Regardless of whether they offer free or paid listings the directories that Google gives authority to are all stringently edited by real people. While strict submission guidelines mean that it's more difficult to get your website listed in these authority directories, if you *are* lucky enough to get accepted your website details will appear alongside the listings of other quality websites.
When applying to authority directories the quality of your submission serves as an indicator to editors about what they can expect when they review your website. While a well written submission can greatly improve your chances of being accepted, an editor is likely to reject a poorly written submission out-of-hand. As a directory owner myself I can attest that only about 10% of submissions make it into my directory, but if you follow the common-sense advice here you will greatly increase your chances of inclusion.
Firstly, you need to make sure that your website is finished and has no broken links. You shouldn't even consider submitting to directories if your website is "under construction" or has navigation or hosting problems - address these issues first or you will be wasting your time and your website may be blacklisted from future submissions.
Next, make sure you only submit to directories that are appropriate to your website. I run a free
travel links directory and every day I receive submissions from websites totally unrelated to travel and tourism. In cases like these not only do I delete the submission, but I also ban the IP address of the submitter so that they cannot submit in the future, regardless of whether future submissions are relevant or not.
Once you're sure your website is appropriate for a directory you need to find the right category to submit to. By choosing carefully you'll make sure that directory users can find your listing easily and your backlink will be surrounded by keyword rich descriptions of other similar websites, improving the relevance of your backlink, which is beneficial for SEO purposes.
The title you provide for your listing should ideally be the name of your website. I know how tempting it can be to use keyword rich, generic search phrases for your title, but it's unlikely that your submission would be pass editorial review.
Likewise, your description should be grammatically correct prose, not a string of comma separated keywords. It's perfectly fine to use keywords, and they are in fact essential from a marketing perspective, but first and foremost your site description should be useful to visitors to the directory. There's a fine art in tweaking your description for the perfect balance between keywords and useful text.
If there is a "keywords" or "tags" field available you can put all your keywords here, but don't repeat keywords multiple times - although the directory software might remove duplicates it's a sure sign of desperation and a warning signal to editors that your website uses "spammy" marketing techniques.
Finally, once you're confident that you've submitted a quality listing you might need to check your email. Many directories won't queue your submission for editorial approval until it has been confirmed by email, and some will automatically delete submissions that remain unconfirmed after a set period. Directory editors make full use of the tools available to them to reduce the number of spammy and poor quality submissions they have to wade through, so unless you confirm via email there's a good chance that your submission will never even be reviewed.
So, now that you know how to write the perfect directory submission why not put it into practice and get yourself some authority backlinks? Lists of quality directories with high PageRank can easily be found with an online search, and if you're promoting a travel or tourism related website you can start by submitting to my
travel links directory.
