What Makes a Quality Web Directory?

One of the best ways to get links is to submit your site to web directories. But, how can you tell which directories are worth your time & which are not?

General directories

When deciding which general directories to submit my site, I look at several factors (in no particular order):

are links direct?

Links should be direct (using a plain vanilla <a href=""> type of HTML link). Clicking the link will lead directly to your website.

Also check to see if the directory incorporates the rel="nofollow tag within the link coding. This is an instruction to Google not to follow the link to your site.

Some directories redirect links using javascript, making it impossible for search engines such as Google to follow the link.

If you find that the links are redirected or use the nofollow tag, it's probably not worthwhile to submit your site as these links will count for nothing with regard to Google.

However, if the directory has very high traffic, you might get enough people clicking on the link that the increase in traffic to your site will make the link worthwhile. (For myself, I rarely will submit to directories which use such tricks. But it's your call.)

will it let the search engines in?

Commonly websites make the images folder & folders needed to run the sites off-limits. But if the part of the site that contains your link is off-limits, the link won't help you much.

To check the robots. txt file, type in the website's address followed by a slash & robots.txt:
http://www.example.com/robots.txt

The Arts folder (probably the Arts category!) is off-limits if you see this:
Disallow: /Arts

If you see Disallow: followed by nothing, that means nothing is disallowed to the search engines. That's good news.

However, if you see Disallow: / (followed by a slash) that means the entire website is off-limits. In that case, move on!

pagerank

(However, if a site looks really good in all other respects, don't let low PageRank deter you from submitting your site. The site may be new. After the next PR export, the site's PageRank may go up .)

site design & maintenance

I'd like my website to be associated with websites whose owners put as much thought & care into them as I do mine. If the owners don't care about the site, why should you? Such sites are likely to be unsuccessful and probably will pass little value to your site, whether it be in the form of human visitors or attention from the search engines.

new listings

If there is a "newest links" listing, take a look & see if you can determine when the links were added. The directory owners should be updating it & adding new links frequently.

It won't benefit you to submit to a site which is unlikely to consider or add your link, or which may even have been abandoned.

clogged with ads?

If there are ads, are they for things that are related to the page (category) they are on?

is there an appropriate category?

Some directories offer a "suggest category" option which can be used if an appropriate category doesn't exist. But, if the directory doesn't offer that option, you'd do best to move on, as there is little or no benefit in submitting to a category that's unrelated to your topic.

how many links on the page?

Also beware of categories stuffed with too many links. This is often caused by having too few sub-categories.

For instance, the top-level category Arts may have hundreds of links - and dozens of pages - encompassing all areas of the arts. Such directories are poorly-planned & less effective.

A better situation would be if the links in the Arts category were broken down into subcategories (Visual Artists, Music, Literature...) and sub-sub-categories (Painters, Sculptors, Textile Artists, etc.). This is what you want to see. Otherwise your link may drown in a sea of other links.

check for relevancy & quality

A good directory will reject these poor quality submissions. But a directory that doesn't care will add sites regardless of whether they're submitted to a category that makes sense, or whether the submission is well-written or not.

So, take a good look at the listings in each category (especially the category you want to be in!), and ask a few questions.

If I want to be listed in the "booksellers" category, does it actually list booksellers, or are there unrelated listings (for example, viagra, real estate, poker, banking) there too? Links from relevant pages are best - but even the "bookseller" category isn't relevant if there aren't booksellers there.

If irrelevant listings appear in the category you'd like, move on to the next directory.

Similarly, take a good look at how the listings are written. Do they seem spammy? (You'll know those when you see them.) Are the descriptions or titles just lists of keywords? Are they well-written sentences, or do they have lots of spelling & grammatical errors? Are they for sites that mainly consist of advertisements or affiliate links, with little or no original content? Are they objective descriptions of what the site offers, or do they use lots of superlatives & make lots of promises? If you find any of these situations, this is a directory to stay away from.

is a reciprocal link required?

The best policy is to only link out to sites which you highly recommend & believe in, those you believe will be of special value to your visitors. (This is much more likely to be the case for niche directories - those devoted to a specialized topic closely related to your site.)

does it all check out?

Specialized directories

However, since specialized directories relating to your topic will also be frequented by others interested in that topic, you may be comfortable with overlooking some flaws in exchange for some really good exposure to your target audience.

For example, you might decide to overlook a redirected link, figuring that even if the search engines disregard it, it may be found by one of the directory's visitors who's looking for a site just like yours. Whether you set the same standards for specialized directories as you do for the general directories.

Update: Matt Cutts on Directory Quality

"Q: Hey, as long as we're talking about directories, can you talk about the role of directories, some of whom charge for a reviewer to evaluate them? A: I'll try to give a few rules of thumb to think about when looking at a directory. When considering submitting to a directory, I'd ask questions like:

• Does the directory reject urls? If every url passes a review, the directory gets closer to just a list of links or a free-for-all link site.
• What is the quality of urls in the directory? Suppose a site rejects 25% of submissions, but the urls that are accepted/listed are still quite low-quality or spammy. That doesn't speak well to the quality of the directory.
• If there is a fee, what's the purpose of the fee? For a high-quality directory, the fee is primarily for the time/effort for someone to do a genuine evaluation of a url or site.

Those are a few factors I'd consider. If you put on your user hat and ask 'Does this seem like a high-quality directory to me?' you can usually get a pretty good sense as well, or ask a few friends for their take on a particular directory."

Where can you find some quality, free directories?

More information about directories

Questions? Want help?

I will write the descriptions & keyword lists you need (or you can supply your own) and will submit them to the directories. I'll provide you with a full report of where I submitted them and when.

I also use a Quanta Webdesign email address so you never need to be bothered with spam from the directory companies. You'll find more details on my directory submission services page. Just drop me a line with any questions, or to get started.

Good luck with your site. Please let me know if you'd like to use my services, or if you have any questions! I'm always glad to offer advice & would be pleased to hear from you.

best regards,
Denise

p.s. Here's some feedback I recently received from someone who used these tips and the directories list to promote her own site: