Using a Directory Submission site for generating high-quality backlinks is the most used Off-Page SEO technique. It helps boost the ranking of the website in Google and on many other search engines.
It is a methodology comprised of the submission of website links or URLs, including all website information in a web directory under a particular category. You can choose from free directory submission sites or pay as per your choice and preference.
Obtaining a backlink on these directory submission sites is one of the most advantageous SEO methods as it aids gain traffic on the website, which further helps your website progress. In fact, SEO experts also recommend directory submission methods for enhancing the SEO search.
Table of Contents
What are Directory Submission Sites?
It is effortless to understand about these sites if you know what a telephone directory does. In directory submission sites, instead of telephone numbers, there are numerous website links and information. This data is classified in various directories as per the niche or section they belong to.
The major benefit of these websites is that they boost the search engine’s ranking, which eventually increases the traffic. The primary role of web directories is to enable website owners to submit their website’s information on the web directory.
Thus, it is a place where the websites are listed.
Advertisement
Types of Directory Submissions
Majorly, there are three types of directory submissions; let us have a brief look at them:
- Basic Directory Submission- In this single URL, a single description and various titles are submitted to distinct categories.
- Manual Directory Submission- In this program, several descriptions are worked for multiple titles and one URL.
- Multiple Directory Submission- For this, numerous internal URLs of the identical website with various titles and descriptions are submitted.
Advantages of Web Directory Submission in SEO
Directory submission is one of the most helpful SEO approaches that are used. It has various benefits, which is why bloggers and SEO experts do it. Here are some of its major benefits:
1. Boost Link popularity: For generating high-quality backlinks, directory submission has become an essential SEO practice. Search engines rely on backlinks, and these sites can contribute to acquiring quality backlinks for your website. It is a proven method for SEO ranking and link diversity.
2. Better search engine ranking: If you list your website in top directories, your website will get the required exposure. As per the experts, it is the best way to boost the search engine ranking and create links.
3. Page indexing and blog post: With directory submission, search engines would give you page indexing for sure. Once the submission is made, the search engine will commence locating your website via backlinks created from another website.
4. Traffic generation: Needless to say, if you use the appropriate keywords, it can influence your Directory submission listed in the search engine. It automatically transmits the target group to your site despite having a good search engine rank.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Also Read: Top 30 Legit Paid Survey Sites to Make Money in India
Types of Directory Submission Sites
There are several kinds of Directory submission sites, and with the help of them, you would be able to obtain quality backlinks for your website. There are eight types of submission types; let us know about them in detail:
1. Free Directory Submission Sites: These sites are free for directory submission, but there is no certainty if the administrator would approve your link submission or not. The detriment of free sites is that they take a lot of time to give results.
Advertisement
2. Paid Directory Submission: If you opt for the paid listing, this can help you quickly generate backlinks. You would have to pay a fee to the site administrator for submitting your business information here. These websites charge an annual or a lifetime package for providing facilities of Directory Submission.
Advertisement
3. Automated Directory Submission:There are various tools and software available online that can be used to submit these directories.
4. Manual Directory Submission: This is a slightly time-consuming and tough method as here you would have to do the complete task on your own.
5. Nofollow Directory Submission: This method is not very successful because people never got the desired results. If you have submitted the link in this Directory Submission, you would have to take a calculative move.
6. Dofollow Directory Submission: If you want to increase the blog ranking, then this method enables you to get SERP. A lot of bloggers are using this method for getting organic traffic to their blogs.
Advertisement
7. Niche Directory Submission: This unique method takes in RSS feeds, script and software, blogs, Web designers, Web hosting companies, SEO companies, and other online businesses in its functional domain. Every niche directory submission trades with a specific subject you would get in the category under a general directory list.
8. Reciprocal Directory Submission: When you activate the directory connection, you would also want to submit a link. The directory administrator will approve this link, and then you will acquire backlinks.
These were the types of directory submission sites; you can choose one as per your business needs and usage. Now, the next important thing to know is the steps to make directory submission.
How to Submit a Website to a Directory Submission Site?
1. The first thing you need to do is pick the best directory submission website from the list.
Advertisement
2. Elect the website where you wish to submit your website or blog.
3. After that, take the category that goes perfectly with your blog niche.
4. Once you choose the category, click on the submit link button, and your blog will be submitted to the directory.
5. Still, there are a few steps left. Once you click on the submit link button, you will see various options on the screen to narrow down your selection.
Advertisement
6. The last step would be to click on the add article button. After this, you need to add the details like title, description, and URL.
This is how you can submit a website to the directory submission site. Now, here is the Directory Submission Sites List from where you can choose the site.
192 Directory Submission Sites List (2021)
Here is the list of Free High-Quality Directory Submission Sites List and paid sites to choose from:
Things to consider while making directory submission
Advertisement
There are a lot of things that you should check upon before submitting your site to directories. Here are some of the recommendations and tips:
- The first thing that you should examine is that the directory is indexed or not? As if they are not, then there is no point getting listed in it. Plus, check if the directory is cached by big search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. For optimizing your website, it is essential to submit your site at the website that has a high DA
- The titles and descriptions target numerous terms such as your brand name, main keywords, related keywords, synonyms of main keywords, long-tail keywords, etc.
- Another thing to check upon is the analytical questions that the website offers before listing. Ensure that these questions are unique as this is the method you can particularly categorize your business and related information in a very less time. For checking how effective, the website would be, always see its outbound links available on the category link pages.
- Try and opt for a manual directory submission service provider and avert using automated submission tools that make 1000 submissions in a minute.
- For checking the site listing’s authenticity, do mark the web directory’s domain authority as a vital point for submission. This step would assist you in performing a quick searchable directory.
- Do not solely depend on directory submissions only; you can use other techniques, such as guest blogging, social bookmarking, etc.
- Read the guidelines of the directory submission site thoroughly. Every site has different rules. They have a large category from where you need to select a suitable one for listing your website. If in case you select the wrong category, then your site might be rejected or removed.
Do’s and Don’ts of Directory Submission Sites
When you submit your site to directories, then you need to know their do’s and don’ts as well:
Do’s
- Submit your website to well-known directories as it increases the traffic. Also, the backlinks’ quality should be good as they, too, increase the website’s optimization process.
- Choose selective words for your anchor text and avoid spammy usage. Do not be repetitive with the anchor text against every link. Choose distinct keywords and change the description in each link.
- Check that the directory you select should provide a unique category structure that would assist in better organization of the information when you submit your website into categories. This helps locate required information quickly.
- Do remember to check the domain authority of the directory
- The title and description that you opt for should be on point and appropriate. Remember to put the main keyword in the title that is used in the anchor text.
- Do a quick search in the directory to see if the website is not already listed. It would save you a lot of time.
- Always keep quality in mind while building links. Rather than opting for various non –quality links, one single quality link is better. As the links from high PR directories help drive more traffic to your site
- Refrain paying for the links and choose one-way links via directory submission
- Keep track of your submissions and regularly check your approval status. Numerous free directory submission sites might approve your site instantly, while some might charge you to submit your website on a few top sites.
- For tracking the performance, it is essential to document your work. Documenting would help you know whether the SEO strategies are working in your favor or not.
Don’ts
Advertisement
- Remember that the directory that uses the ‘rel=no follow’ technique for your link is of no use as it does not help in the optimization campaign. Search engines do not follow that link to your site. At times, redirects are also not considered for backlinks by a search engine.
- Keep your site away from link farms, bad neighborhoods, and free-for-all (FFA) link sites as they can harm your site.
- If you see that the directory is not approving the site without reviewing it manually, do not submit it in that directory. They use some automated scripts for doing it.
- Do not submit mirror sites as they comprise identical content but have different URLs.
- There are many directories that do not accept sites if you have submitted in the same month. They might show an error that “Domain already exists.” But, if you have not listed it yet, then choose a more relevant category and then submit it.
- Do not submit the same URL more than once as it is not considered a good practice.
- Do not opt for the site that redirects to another address
- Wait for the site to get completed before submitting it as; if you see an under construction notice or the site is incomplete, then do not submit sites to such a directory.
Recommended: 300+ High DA Forum Posting Sites List
Advertisement
Directory submission is one of the best ways to create high-quality backlinks for any new website. It has various benefits, but its major benefit is that it raises the domain authority, increases SERP rankings, boosts traffic, and diversifies your site’s link profile.
Choose the best paid or free directory submission site and avail the benefits.
FAQs
What is the best directory submission for SEO? ›
Some basic guidelines that most of the directories follow to approve a site into their database are; Title, Description, Keywords, Url, Category, Email and Site Content. Some of the popular directory submission sites are; www.dmoz.org, www.directorylisting.com and www.seofriendly.com.
What are free USA directory sites? ›- Google My Business:
- 2. Yahoo Local:
- Yelp:
- Bing:
- MerchantCircle:
- Local:
- Insider Pages.
- FourSquare:
Directory Submission is a process of submitting your website URL to various web directories (websites) with the aim of building backlinks thus increasing business growth. This is the off-page SEO technique, used to generate outsider links for your website.
What is the most popular directory? ›Rank | Website | Rank Change |
---|---|---|
1 | yelp.com | = |
2 | whitepages.com | = |
3 | yellowpages.com | 1 |
4 | beenverified.com | 1 |
The root directory is the top-level directory in a folder structure. All of the other folders grow outwards from the root directory, so it makes sense to think of the root directory as the trunk of a tree from which the branches grow.
How do I create a free online directory? ›- Choose the type of directory you will launch.
- Sign up for any eDirectory plan.
- Define your Top Level and Sub-Level Categories.
- Create your Membership Levels or Pricing Plan options.
- Create or import your first listings.
- Create quality content.
- Optimize and publicize.
In 2021, there were fewer than 4,000 telephone operators, down from a peak of around 420,000 in the 1970s, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. But there are still people who call the operator and request directory help.
Do people still use online directories? ›Even though web directories dropped dramatically in popularity, people still used them. But not for what they were supposed to used them. As much as people say that web directories are still useful, the truth is that people have been using them merely for link building and online marketing for a long time.
Can you make money from an online directory? ›Sell Advertising Space
Probably the most popular but less profitable way of monetizing a directory website is selling advertising space. There are two most common models of displaying ads on your site. You can earn by integrating your site with an ads platform.
The key to achieving success with an online directory is to become the leader in your niche. So, if you know a lot about Real Estate, Events, Food, Fitness, Pets, Sports, Travel, Cars why not create a directory of your City / local area. Afterward you can expand slowly until you cover every business in your country.
What are the directory submission sites for SEO? ›
- 1 – BOTW. Best of the web directory (BOTW) is one of the best and trust-worthy directory submission site. ...
- 2 – Entireweb. Apart from a directory submission site, Entireweb is also a search engine. ...
- 3 – Viesearch. ...
- 4 – Blogarama. ...
- 5 – Somuch. ...
- 6 – AboutUs. ...
- 7 – Spoke. ...
- 8 – Local.
Microsoft Active Directory (AD) is the most widely used directory service for enterprises.
What is Active Directory called now? ›The main Active Directory service is Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), which is part of the Windows Server operating system. The servers that run AD DS are called domain controllers (DCs).
What are the common website directories? ›The most common web directories in IIS are the wwwroot directory, the App_Data directory, and the App_Code directory. The wwwroot directory is the root directory for all web content, and it is where all HTML files, images, and scripts are stored.
What are the 4 types of directory structure? ›What are the various structures of a directory? Single-level directory, Two-level directory, Tree-structured directory, Acyclic-graph directory and General-graph directory.
What are well known directories? ›well-known directory. This is a directory commonly used as a web-based protocol to fetch your “site-wide metadata” about a host before making a request. If you don't see that folder that doesn't mean something is wrong, it just means it hasn't been used or created yet.
What are two types of directories? ›- Single-level directory structure. Single level directory structure has only one directory which is called the root directory. ...
- Two-level directory structure. ...
- Hierarchical Directory Structure. ...
- Tree Directory Structure. ...
- Acyclic-Graph Directory Structure.
- Navigate to the Windows desktop. You can quickly do this with the keyboard shortcut Windows key + D .
- Right-click any blank portion of the desktop.
- In the menu that appears (like that shown in the picture), click New and then Folder.
- Once the new folder appears, type a name for it and then press Enter .
Open the /etc/cifs_homedir. cfg file and add the path that represents where the home directories will exist. The home directories will exist within folders named for the NetBIOS domains to which each user belongs. For example, add the path /vol/vol1/homedir to the /etc/cifs_homedir.
How do I create a local directory file? ›To do so, type cd followed by the path to the directory you want to create a file in and press Enter.. For example, you could type cd /home/username/Documents to navigate to your Documents folder. Alternatively, you can type cd / to navigate to the Root directory, or type cd ~ to navigate to your Home/User directory.
What does 611 mean on cell phone? ›
611—Phone company repair* 711—TDD and Relay for the Deaf. 811—Underground public utility location. 911—Emergency services (police, fire, EMS)
What is 611 used for? ›For customers of some telephone companies in Canada and in the U.S., 6-1-1 is the abbreviated dialing telephone number used to report a problem with telephone service, or with a payphone.
Does 192 still exist? ›192.com is a British company that publishes an online directory as well as information contained within the public domain for the United Kingdom, based in London, England.
What is the alternative to yellow pages? ›yellowpages.com's top 5 competitors in April 2023 are: yelp.com, superpages.com, whitepages.com, mapquest.com, and more.
What makes a good online directory? ›A good directory website should be shortcode-friendly so that users can add any specific feature in no time. It makes things easy and comfortable for users.
What does bright local do? ›BrightLocal is a search engine optimization tool that tracks search rankings, builds citations, and monitors online reviews and stresses local search performance.
How much should you charge for a directory listing? ›Charge too little and you could be leaving money on the table. Charge too much and you might not get any buyers. Most local directories will charge anywhere from $25 - $100 per month for a listing, with the average price being $50/month. Keep in mind that the prices you set today may change in the future.
How can I make a lot of money remotely? ›- Virtual assistant. A virtual assistant supports a business's administrative functions remotely. ...
- Freelance graphic designer. ...
- Pet sitter. ...
- Virtual tutor. ...
- Business consultant. ...
- Translator. ...
- Social media manager. ...
- Writer.
The easiest way to create an employee directory is using Excel or Google Sheets because you are already familiar with this software and it's made exactly for creating structured information. You can do it even without SharePoint if you want.
How does an online directory work? ›An online business directory is a list of businesses (usually with a common theme) and a link to their websites. Any type of website or business could potentially be listed in an online directory.
What is an online local directory? ›
Local directories are websites that aggregate business information. Local directories are websites that help bundle business information. They're a great way to get your business listed on multiple websites, which can be helpful in terms of getting more visibility online and getting more traffic to your website.
Is directory submission still effective for SEO? ›Submitting a website to too many low-quality directories can actually hurt its SEO by generating low-quality backlinks. Directory submission can be time-consuming, especially if done manually. Directory submission is not as effective as it used to be as a standalone SEO technique.
Which directory stores all the content for database? ›Active Directory stores complete information about all types of objects, or object classes, in the network. These object classes include computers, servers, sites, subnets, users, groups, quotas, and directory partitions.
What is free directory submission? ›It is a methodology comprised of the submission of website links or URLs, including all website information in a web directory under a particular category. You can choose from free directory submission sites or pay as per your choice and preference.
How to do SEO for a directory? ›- Add keywords to your directory name.
- Add field names that include your targeted keywords.
- Add keywords in the Long Description field.
- Add keywords in your directory categories.
- Use an SEO plugin to help.
- Add your category page meta-description.
Boosting your site's SEO and rankings is a nice byproduct of having your business listed in an online directory. If you are listed in a popular directory that many users trust when looking for businesses, and your listing is relevant to users' needs, directories can benefit your SEO.
How bad is duplicate content for SEO? ›Is Duplicate Content Bad For SEO? Officially, Google does not impose a penalty for duplicate content. However, it does filter identical content, which has the same impact as a penalty: a loss of rankings for your web pages.
Does a slow website affect SEO rankings? ›The simple answer is that page speed does affect SEO. Page speed is a direct ranking factor, a fact known even better since Google's Algorithm Speed Update. However, speed can also affect rankings indirectly, by increasing the bounce rate and reducing dwell time. At Google, users come first.
What are the disadvantages of directory submission? ›Disadvantages of directory submissions are many and varied, but some common ones are, they're time-consuming and tedious. They require additional work to optimize web pages or content according to SEO editorial and SEO copywriting guidelines.
How do I get traffic to my website directory? ›- Creating a niche-based directory. ...
- Segment generalized directory. ...
- Create high converting content. ...
- Make your directory SEO optimized. ...
- Use email marketing. ...
- Promoting your directory. ...
- Rating, reviews, comments, and feedback. ...
- Increasing social media presence.
What are directory listing sites? ›
A directory listing is a type of Web page that lists files and directories that exist on a Web server.
Do people still use directories? ›Historically, directories typically listed entries on people or businesses, and their contact information; such directories are still in use today. A web directory includes entries about websites, including links to those websites, organized into categories and subcategories.
How do I use Google Maps for SEO? ›- Update your Google My Business profile. ...
- Add relevant links and media. ...
- Add your Google Map to your website. ...
- Keep track of your reviews. ...
- Keep local citations up to date. ...
- Work on your site's local SEO. ...
- Include local schema in your site structure. ...
- Add to your local backlink structure.
Google's Link Limit
Rather, Google's guidelines stated that webmasters should use a reasonable number of links per page, with fewer than 100 links being the recommended limit.
So somewhere around 50 – 60 characters is a pretty good number to shoot for. If you go way beyond (say 80+ characters), this is likely to have a negative impact on your ranking.
Can you have a hard link to a directory? ›However, hard links have limitations. You cannot create hard links for directories or create a hard link in a different filesystem from the original file.