Just like the phone directory, a website directory has a listing of many websites that offer various products and services. Do you want to buy a pet? Just type in ?buy a pet? on the search bar of any web directory and it should give your hundreds, if not thousands, or results.

Website submission is done both automatically and manually to both search engines and directories. Automated website and search engine submission can save you lot of time since you only need to enter your site's information once and the software will do the website submission to thousands of directories and search engines. Unfortunately, some of the major search engines like Google ban sites which are using automated search engine submission and these sites are considered as spammers. This is bad because these bans are usually permanent and you will lose as much as 60% of traffic you could've gotten from Google.

But this isn't the only disadvantage you can get from automated search engine submission. You also lose control of the description of your site since the software will choose the best category for your site without asking your permission. So for example you specify ?travel and leisure? for your category and this isn't available in a directory, the software can choose ?others? which makes the submission ineffective as your site can be difficult to find. You also lose the ability to optimize the submission so that it meets the requirements of each site.

One the other hand, manual submission is considered hard labor due to the number of directories you have to submit to but it is more preferred since there is lower chance of getting banned by websites. Through manual search engine submission, one can submit the website in the most appropriate category, therefore traffic is targeted. You will also be able to review the requirements of certain sites and you can customize your submission thereby there is greater chances of approval. Also, some website submission forms may look different and if a human is submitting a site to be listed in the directories, changes are easily spotted and it is much easier to respond ? something robots are not able to do.

If you are submitting to directories and search engines like Yahoo, Open Directory (DMOZ), Looksmart or Snap, manual submission is the only way to go. Sure, it will take more of your time but it is worth it since you can get premium traffic from these sites once you are approved. Aside from this, a lot of sites are rejected by these sites primarily because their content are not good enough or their topic is not relevant. This means that once you get listed in these sites, your reputation will go way up because you are providing relevant information.