Few webmasters realize the real potential of the web directories. However, the ones who do always manage to reap the rewards of a good web directory submission campaign. This is, on many occasions, what makes the difference between existing on the World Wide Web and not being visible at all.



So what exactly are web directories? Well, it is what the name states. It is a directory which contains links to other websites on the Internet. It manages and categorizes the site submissions it receives based on each sites theme.

Many people confuse the link directory with the search engine. While the former simply manages categories and places the web sites in the category that they belong to, the latter displays the sites based on the keywords that represent them.

There are various types of web directories. Depending on the subjects they cover, they can be either general directories or specialized directories. The general directories cover any theme, and they have broad thematic coverage. In other words, any site can make a submission to these directories, as long as it doesnt interfere with the policies (for instance, there are directories which dont accept adult or gambling sites, but there are some which accept them).

Then, there are specialized directories, and these cover a specific niche, which can be anything from a regional approach to a specific subject like Medicine, Marketing, etc. The best thing to do if you own a site and want to promote it is to submit to the general directories and then find out if there are any niche directories that you could submit to.

Another classification is by the fees they charge. There are free directories and paid directories, and they are self-explanatory regarding what they mean. Also, another category which is between these two is reciprocal link directories, which means that you will have to link back to them from your own site. This seems like free submission but it isnt quite like that.

The main two advantages of web directory submissions are the extra traffic you get and the backlinks to your own site (which is good for your search engine rankings and which ultimately also turns into traffic). However, if you do it strictly for the backlinks, make sure that the directories you submit to don't associate the (nofollow) attribute with the link (which basically means that the search engine will not follow the respective link).

The most notorious web directories are the Yahoo Directory and DMOZ (the Open Directory Project). The Yahoo Directory has two options, a free one and a paid one, and DMOZ is free (however, you will probably have to wait a few months until you get included, because the links are manually reviewed and included in the directory by a group of volunteers). But in the end, its well worth it because if you make a consistent web directory submission campaign, you will certainly see great results.