A common question amongst webmasters, concerns the usefulness of directory submissions.
[By the way - check out Brad Callen's FREE Directory Submitter]
Because most of the free directories also offer paid submissions, and because many directories are not passing any link juice as a result of having a paid backlinking trail, it would make sense that the free submissions, as well as the paid ones, are often useless in terms of SEO benefits. Google are unlikely to discern paid directory submissions to free ones.
So for this reason, free directory submissions are less valuable than they once were, in terms of SEO benefits.
Does this mean directory submissions aren’t worth the effort?
No – not in my opinion – it just means that directory submissions should be done with attention to the traffic value, that is – you’re submitting to a directory for the direct traffic from that directory – not for the link juice that may or may not be passed on.
With this in mind – directory submission is done slightly differently – in that we’re more likely to take more care to submit to better quality, more relevant categories – if we’re doing it with direct traffic in mind rather than linkjuice.
This isn’t to say that directory submissions will have no SEO benefit – in some cases it will have some benefit at least to some degree – but if you do it with traffic in mind, and only submit to directories you believe will refer targeted traffic, then any SEO benefit is a bonus.
So, look for industry specific directories, and if you’re submitting to more generic directories – make sure you submit to the relevant category – and don’t waste too much time submitting to general interest directories that don’t appear to have much traffic.
