Live Directories Submitions

Web directories are large searchable directories maintained by actual human beings. Tthese directories are topicaly searchable and they differ from traditional relevancy search engines in that their content is maintained live humans beings rather than by programs and process checking your website. Hence they are refered to as "live" Web directories where personnel review your site and decide whether to include your website in their index. Websites in the index are located by searching mainly butyou can browse by category as well. Searching sites in the index is done by using using simple keyword matching, but directories do not do the relevancy and ranking like search engines.. There are very large numbers of Web directories on the Internet, each one varying in it's importance. Your strategy should be to submit to all of them, if possible.

Of the many web directories on the Internet, two are the most important. These two major directories are Yahoo! and The Open Directory Project (ODP) or DMOZ.ORG. It is important to try to submit to as many of the web directories as you can, but these two are the critical base directories for several reasons. Google evaluates links to your website with differing criteria and weight. Links from some websites have significantly higher value than others. Links from Yahoo! and ODP are among the most valuable on the Internet. Getting listed in these directories and haveing the oneway links pointing to your website can do more than anything else to improve your page rank. Actually, links in these and other web directories will help search engines find you and index yor website, much faster than a direct submission to each engine.

Live Directory Benefits

The real value in submitting to live directories isn't just so that you get the link that is added to the particular directory, but the additional links that follow. Many of the live directories referenced here allow other websites and directories to copy them. The Open Directory Project is considered to be the most important live directory on the web. The are at least 200 (estimated) major websites on the Internet that copy their entire directory from the ODP. If your submition is accepted by the ODP, it is only a matter of time before that link propagates itself onto the other websites that copy the ODP. Your one link really generates 200 links. Many of the live directories power other directories. Our list has over 100 directories to which you should submit your site. You won't just end up with about 100 websites linking to yours; you will automatically receive hundreds of additional links! A live directory campaign is a simple, yet effective way to promote your site.

Submitting to Live Directories

Submitting to live web directories involves accessing each directory and then looking for the "suggest a site" or "suggest URL" link. This link is usually on the main page or on the category display page for the appropriate sub-category. Carefully read the instructions for each live directory, as the submission process and watch for their warning and helpsl they often tell you exactly want they want. an it is usually more involved than just telling them your website address, as is done with the relevancy search engines. Web directories often ask you to enter titles, descriptions, a list of relevant keywords and keyword phrases, and other pertinent information. Typically they want short objective information with out the hype and sale copy you might have on your website. The important thing is getting listed in the directory, not selling your website in the directory

Paid Listings

Some of the web directories charge a fee for listing a website, although many paid inclusion directories also offer a slower "no listing guarantee" free submission option. Unlike relevancy search engines, web directories will not list you unless you submit to them. You should judge the worth of paid submissions on a case-by-case basis. When you are just beginning, it is advisable to submit only to the free listings first. After your site has started to generate revenue, you might consider re-investing some of that money in paid link directories. For your convenience, directories listed below show paid and free categories.

The following list provides several general ideas that will improve your efforts in submitting to web directories:

• Most web directories use an alphabetical index. This means that in the bottom-level category pages, the listings appear in alphabetical order based on the content of the title. Having an alphabetically friendly title can be worth more traffic. Remember however, that these are live directories and a human editor will approve your listing before being added to the index. They often don't appreciate titles whose only goal is to attain a higher listing. "AAAAA Zodiac Readings and More" is an example of a falsely alphabetized title.
• Carefully read and comply with all the terms and listing guidelines. Many web directories take these guidelines very seriously and are very watchful for the slightest non-compliance. Inappropriate submissions, including less than relevant keywords, marketing hype, forced alphabetization, incomplete websites, etc. may result in your listing being rejected. In some cases, your listing may even be modified by an editor who may make a mistake and alter important data.
• Make sure you use the search term suggestion tool to research and choose the most relevant 2 or 3 keywords for your title and description.
  
  
• Avoid any marketing hype. Most editors like sterile, boring, accurate descriptions. Avoid hyperbole and exclamation points. Editors may modify your title and description, so it pays to fully comply to avoid loss of your editorial control. If you have named your store properly, alphabetically friendly, with good keyword phrases in your title and description, then you should get plenty of traffic from these directories. You can only submit your site once, so be sure to follow the proper procedure for each directory
• If you can't determine how to get listed with a particular directory, especially any of the smaller ones, send a polite email to them inquiring about the website submission procedure.