SEO Expert, Anthony Yap

What are Web Directories?

Prior to search engines, the web was a confusing mess of websites that made it difficult for users to find information they wanted. Thus, web directories were born. Web directories served the purposes of organizing information on the web through a strict human-edited review process. Sites are listed in relevant pages of the directory so users can find sites they are seeking by navigating to a specific directory subpage for that theme. The largest and most well-known directory is the Open Directory Project (DMOZ).

Are Directory Submissions Worth Doing Anymore?

Most definitely yes, even if you have to pay review fees. While some SEOs believe the value of a submission lies in the traffic potential, I believe that the directory listing offers an opportunity to increase link popularity from a quality, relevant page of another site. Directories were initially designed to solve issues with spam in the search results. Once the problem of search was solved (at least mostly), many believed that it was going the way of the wind. Directories still served a purpose even though it’s small. A search engine would never be able to establish site quality based on algorithmic factors. A directory editor, on the other hand, would be able to review the site on factors such as ease of use, look and feel, content quality, etc.

Which Directories Should You Submit A Site To?

The top directories on the web to go for first are DMOZ.org, Yahoo Directory, Microsoft Small Business Directory, and Best of the Web Directory.

For an inside look at the operations of top-tier directories, check out the interviews with Greg Hartnett of Best Of The Web and Shawn Walters of Uncover the Net.

What Factors Can You Use to Establish Directory Quality?

To determine what other directories would be worth the time and money, consider these factors:

• Age – The older the better. Generally, we look for sites having been around for more than 5 years. BOTW was registered back in 1996. It’s even older than DMOZ.
• Authoritativeness – How does it rank for it’s industry keywords? How well is it known in it’s industry?
• TrustRank & Inbound Link Profile – The more authority a site has, the more “trust” it gains in the search engine. With the proliferation of spammy sites, age and authority play a bigger role in establishing whether a site is trustworthy. Trust levels can also be measured by the type of links it has. The more .GOV, .MIL, and .EDU links to a site, the stronger the link profile.
• PageRank (PR) – The higher the better as it measures, in part, the authoritativeness of a site. While PR is no longer as important as it used to be, it offers a quick and easy way to evaluate a site.
• Recently Cached – The more often the search engine spiders visit the site, the better chance a link on the directory page will be seen and counted.
• Alexa Traffic Ranking – Since you can’t get actual traffic figures from the site owner, we can do the next best thing. By visiting Alexa.com and selecting the Traffic Rankings tab, anyone can get a quick estimate of site traffic as compared to its peers. Check the section where they list other sites that people visit in addition to the site entered. You’ll gain some insight as to how it ranks. A word of caution though. These numbers can be easily manipulated and thus any figures derived from this measurement should be taken with a grain of salt. In general, it offers a decent method of evaluating a directory’s quality.
• Editorial Review – Sites accepted into the directory should meet quality standards and not just because the site owner was willing to shell out cash. There must be clear editorial guidelines that are followed not just posted for display. Sites in the directory should be checked regularly for broken links and for “bait and switch” techniques.

What Other Directories Are Still Worth Your While?

• Business.com
• Uncover the Net
• Joe Ant
• Go Guides
• Gimpsy

For the month of May: Best of the Web (BOTW) Directory celebrates 2 years of web directory promotions by running a contest. Each site that is submitted to the BOTW Directory gets 10% off submission fees and for a chance to win an Apple Mac Book Pro.

To submit, click on BOTW.org and enter the promotional code WINMAC! when submitting.

Jagger is the name of the latest major Google Algorithm update. This update was done in three phases: Jagger 1, 2, and 3. These major updates are referred to as the ‘Google Dance’ and used to be done on a monthly basis before they switched to a continual update of the SERPs with major updates every three months.

Since this latest Google update, it has caused many sites to drop in rankings or disappear completely from the SERPs. Many of these sites disappearing used linking strategies like link exchanges.

Reciprocal linking appears to be on the decline as a linking strategy and effective link building has to come from a variety of links built using three-way linking, article submissions, press releases, and purchasing quality one-way links. This truly is the better way to maintain high rankings long-term. While reciprocal linking strategies work for Yahoo and MSN at the moment, it’s likely that time will change this as well.

This goes for link networks like Powerlinks as well. Link networks where you can join a program and immediately gain hundreds or thousands of link partners automatically are very easily detected by the search engines. If you’re relying on these for your rankings, be ready for the drop in rankings if you have not been dealt a blow yet. That time will come sooner than you think.

Directory submissions are still a part of any Search Engine Optimization campaign (albeit a small part). Good link building involves being able to get good links that will count, especially in directory submissions which many SEOs do as part of an overall Search Engine Marketing arsenal. In the case of directory submissions, you’ll want to vary the link text and surrounding text every couple of links to ensure that you get credit for those links. If all one-way links pointing to you contain the same link text and description, you could be setting yourself up for duplicate content filtering, rendering those links useless in Google. One of the ways that can be accomplished is through not just varying of your link text, but also varying of your surrounding text in a link. While difficult to implement on Google’s end, it’s very possible that the way they can detect artificial linking is through analysis of the surrounding text of a link. Clearly, if the link text is all the same and the description is as well, it signals to Google that this is an artificial link strategy and can lead them to discount the link value. One-way links and three-way links are preferred over reciprocal links because they appear more natural.

Chasing the latest search engine algorithms is a rather futile effort. Rather than tricking the search engines or reverse engineering the algorithms to find its weaknesses, develop a site worthy of being ranked through great content that’s unique and well-optimized. Getting ranked on Google gets increasingly difficult with each passing day. The other search engines are also following suit by getting better at filtering spammy results. If you still want to manipulate rankings, use advanced linking strategies like randomizing text in articles and inbound links that won’t alert the search engines to your activities.

As a SEO, I would never optimize any site if it did not already contain a lot of useful content for visitors. Focusing on building a quality site with lots of relevant non-duplicated content (available on-site and off-site), gives you a big boost in rankings. You really can’t go wrong with content because if you provide excellent value to your visitors and actively promote it, there’s no reason why your site should not be easily found in the SERPs.

DMOZ.org aka the Open Directory Project is the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web. This directory is built and maintained by a global community of volunteer editors. Submission to the directory is free-of-charge.

Many site owners have tried submitting their site for inclusion into this free directory but failed to gain acceptance for various reasons (improper category, poor content, no existing category editor to review submissions, etc).

Human nature is such that we always want what we cannot have. The more something is denied from us, the more we’ll want to have it. This is certainly true in directory submissions. Because of the elusiveness of getting accepted into this directory, many try other ways to get in.

Some even resort to buying their way into DMOZ. SEOBlackHat put up their eBay listing for a DMOZ editor account but it was later cancelled and their account suspended by eBay. The bids reached more than $660 before the account suspension!

We got our free DMOZ listing simply by applying. Of course, before we even attempted a submission, we worked on building up useful content for search users first and selected the most relevant category.

While a link from DMOZ is helpful, it’s no longer the most important to getting ranked. Google has discounted the weight from links in DMOZ. Our belief is that you should try to submit but don’t pin all your SEO hopes on it. It’s not the be all and end all to search engine rankings. Work on getting more links from relevant sites. Build up content on-site as well as off-site through articles and press releases. Write compelling articles that will encourage webmasters to reprint them on their sites giving you more free links. You can even resort to buying links.

If you still want to get your site in but have been unable to gain acceptance through submission, however, the legitimate back-door is to become a DMOZ editor. Jim Boykin put together a great article outlining his past experience in getting accepted as a DMOZ editor. He details the finer distinctions in the overall steps you’d need to take:

1. Understand what DMOZ is looking for in an editor

2. Don’t fall for the “it’s alright to have business affiliations” line. Never reveal your intention of wanting to get your site listed in the ODP. Remember that they are looking for people to add value to the directory and not corrupt the category.

3. Select the local category, preferably a category small enough to start as a new editor. DMOZ editors require experience and track records before moving up to larger categories.

4. How to fill out the parts of your application form

5. Select 3 suitable sites to submit into the chosen category. Avoid the temptation of submitting your own the first time.