There has been a lot of debate about directory submissions and whether they actually help your SEO efforts. This can make it difficult to determine whether it is a good idea to spend the time submitting your website or not. Below is a list of the things we think you should consider when submitting your website to directories:

1. The higher the PageRank the Better

When you are submitting your site to directories the higher the PageRank of the directory the better. However there is one thing you should be aware of here. Your listing will very rarely be on the home page of the directory you are submitting to. Quote often the link to your website will be deep within the directory and will be on a page with little or no PageRank. This means that all directories will have some value to your website.

2. Anchor Text matters most

We would say that links from most directories have a lot less value than links from other more valuable sources. However one thing that will still be registered is the anchor text used to link to your website. For that reason you need to think very quickly about the anchor text you use and ensure that it includes the keywords that are really important to your website. As you can only place links to your home page it should be your main keywords used in the anchor text.

3. Never Pay

As already mentioned the links from directories have less value than links from other sources. For that reason you should never pay for a directory listing unless it is going to bring you value. For instance paying to go into Yell so that people can find your website is different to paying to go in a directory that no one has heard of. There are literally hundreds or thousands of directories that will allow you to post your listing for free and so if you need to pay you should ignore those directories immediately.

4. Manual Review is Best

When you are selecting the directories to go into those that work on a manual review system will add more value. Some directories just add your listing without checking it, as far as the search engines are concerned these add less value than directories that have reviewed your listing before adding it. The downside to this type of directory is that it can take some time for your link to be added to the site but if you are patient you will see the value in the end.

It is clear that submitting to directories is a benefit to your SEO campaign however it should not be the primary focus of your efforts. However if you spend some time submitting to a few everyday then you will quickly find that it is significantly helping your link profile. You may also pick up some customers from people browsing the directories you list on. So definitely do it just don't make it your number one priority.