Even after all this time not many webmasters really realize the power and potential of a quality web directory. The ones that have reap the rewards of having a campaign in place to submit to quality directories. In most cases a effective directory submission campaign is what makes the difference in a website that is visible and one that is not.

If you don't know what a web directory is, it is an online directory that contains links to other sites that have been reviewed by humans and categorized into relevant categories. A quality web directory will review websites for quality in addition to relevance which means sites listed in quality directories are much less likely to contain spam and much more likely to actually have the information your seeking.

There are some that will confuse a search engine with a directory. What a search engine does is display websites based on their keywords and a directory reviews and sorts them into categories that are relevant to the websites theme.

There are a few different kinds of web directories based on the topic they cover. A general directory will cover broad range of themes that will fit for nearly any website on the internet. Sites that submit to general web directories are typically only limited by the directories own policies for acceptance. As just one example there are some directories that allow for gambling sites and some that have a policy against accepting those submissions.

There are other directories that specialize in sites that belong within a smaller specific niche such as insurance websites. The best thing to do when conducting a directory submission campaign is to work your way through the general directories and afterward see if there are any niche directories that pertain to your sites topic to submit to.

One additional way that you can classify a directory is with charged fees. There are directories that do charge varying fees and there are also free directories. The distinction may seem simple enough but it really is not so easy.

The advantages you gain by submitting your website to a web directory are additional traffic to your site via the doorway created and an additional backlink to your own site. Those backlinks aid you in how your website ranks in search engine results and the higher the quality of the site that originates the link, the more value it will be given. While paid directories have funding available to promote their directories to gain traffic and authority from the search engines, free directories do not. A link from a quality paid web directory can be the equivalent of hundreds of free directory links.

A few of the most well known quality directories that happen to charge a review fee are Yahoo Directory, Business.com and the Authority Directory. All these sites are well worth the price of the review to get in. They are great places to start any link building effort for your website and get great results.