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The Many Benefits Of Directory Submissions

While traditional "search engine submissions" have long since stopped being of use or benefit to webmasters and Internet marketers, there is another type of submission that has come to the forefront. Directory submissions. Submissions to general directories, niche directories, as well as carefully selected paid submissions to both types, have many benefits.

First, directory submissions can be of benefit for link popularity reasons. Most directories do not require a reciprocal link, so the link counts as a one way link to your site. One way links are many times more valuable than reciprocal links to the search engines.

Second, some directories get a good amount of traffic and therefore this increases the chance that you will receive targeted visitors from your directory link. These visitors are free!

Third, the cost of directory submissions is very low. All it takes is some time. You can also hire a professional to do your submissions for very low cost to save you time.

Fourth, is the benefit for search engine optimization purposes. You can vary your title and description as often as you like to include more of your keywords and phrases. This helps increase the chance of better rankings for those additional phrases and also shows the search engines that your links are more natural due to the varying anchor text.

Fifth, if you submit to a few quality directories while your site is brand new and not yet indexed by the big search engines like Yahoo, MSN and Google, getting a few quality directory links can be a great way to get indexed within days instead of weeks or months waiting for them to crawl your site from your ADD URL page submission.

Sixth, most directory links are permanent once you are listed in them. This means those links will help you even more as time goes on and your links "age". Older links from sites that have been around awhile or that are respected in their industry are simply worth more to search engines and will have more benefit as far as search engine optimization.

Those are the benefits, now here are some tips:

- Keep track of which directories you have submitted to, this will save you from submitting to the same one twice.

- Don't submit to hundreds at once, search engines like to see more natural link building, so a couple times a month take an hour or two to submit to directories.

- Prepare all your website information, including your titles, description, keywords, URL, email etc, use a program like TypeItIn to speed through the form filling.

- Don't forget niche directories! This is important, there are directories out there for just about every niche. From gourmet food, weddings, science, crafts, you name it. These directories may have even more benefit as far as search engine optimization and also may bring in highly targeted traffic to your site. Many times, it's worth it to pay for listing in a niche directory that caters to your audience.

- Watch the Pagerank. While it's not everything and it's not a science, knowing the Google Pagerank of a directory can help you determine the quality of a directory link. It ranges from 0 - 10 and the higher the better. Download Google's free toolbar to view any website's Pagerank when you visit it. You can get an idea of whether it will be worth it to pay for a directory link by viewing the Pagerank.

- Pay attention to the submission guidelines of each directory. Many have different requirements for your title and description.

- Choose the proper category! This may seem obvious, but be sure to choose the right category. Drill down and select a category that is most appropriate to your site and it's content, not just whatever category you want to be in.

- Go ahead and submit to the free, low PR directories, even new directories. Many of these will gain popularity as time goes on and may even begin to charge for what used to be free links. So getting in early may mean cost savings for you.