|
Marketing Through Directory Listings
Do not confuse Directory Listings with Free Classified listings...
They are NOT the same thing!
Directories are listings of websites which have been screened
by a real person before the listing goes live.
Very often, directories are topical - classed as Niche Directories,
a wide variety of web directories are confined to listing
sites within a narrow topic range. They may be broad based
- such as a Culinary Directory that lists everything having
to do with cooking and food, to a specific niche topic such
as Culinary Equipment, or a specific Ethnic Cooking only.
Other directories are general directories, which are categorized.
Efficiency of categories varies widely, and it can be difficult
to find an appropriate category for some listings.
There are two basic categories of directories as far as marketing
value goes:
1. Static Link directories. These directories give you a
static link in your listing, and this will usually give you
Search Engine Pagerank benefits. A static link means a plain
HTML hyperlink that does not change. Some directories that
use static links will use a "no follow" tag, which
cancels out pagerank benefits. In a few cases, they will use
both a dynamic link and a static link - the dynamic link in
the title of the listing, and a static link below it. This
counts as a static link, because the search engines DO see
the static link.
2. Dynamic Link directories. These directories produce a
redirected link. This type of link is used frequently to track
clicks on the links, but the end result for you is that they
ONLY benefit you from those clicks. They have no search engine
pagerank benefits. This is not a reason NOT to list with them,
but it does mean they will have lower value.
Normally when you list a site with a directory, you will
have to either use a form to select the category and enter
the information, or, with many "human reviewed"
directories, you have to go in and search out the category
you want, then use a link on that page to submit your site.
This means that submitting to some directories can be time
consuming.
Finding directories also takes some time. The cool thing
is though, once you find a directory in the niche you are
looking for, it is usually very quick to find others. Many
times, the directories will have listings within their pages
that point you to other directories.
Some directories will require a reciprocal link. Now, be
careful with this one! If you trade links with them, then
you'll get a little lower pagerank benefit from the site.
That is ok when the site has a very high pagerank and you
can still benefit from it. But if the directory gives you
a dynamic link that does not help your pagerank, and they
want you to put a static backlink on your site for them (their
software may not detect any other kind as being valid), then
you may end up on the losing end of the trade, unless your
link on their site brings significant traffic.
Before you trade links with anyone, check their pagerank
- it need not be high! You just need to make sure they have
not been banned. If they have been banned, do NOT place a
link to them on your site! More on this in the Link Exchange
section.
Many times, you will submit a site, and you'll not know when
it will be approved or denied. If it is denied, you may not
be notified. So you very often have to just submit, move on,
and hope. You'll not have the time to check back on them all!
Directory links can be time consuming to get, and over time,
many other websites will pick up your link anyway. But if
you are struggling to get exposure on a tight budget, then
directory links can be an important part of getting good quality
links.
Some free directories that we use:
Blog Directory
Blogarama
Blog Directory
Blog-Directory
Technorati
|
