Free directories directory: Waste of time

My experience of wasting an evening

[wolfadeus]

hi there,

being a newbie i recently submitted a new site to some dozen directories that i got from a list of "free directories" - i thought it's a quick and easy way of getting at least some good/reasonable/any links.

Two weeks later, linkdomain searches reveal a total number of links of ZERO.

Therefore, I won't wast my time with "FREE!" directories in the future, will submit to DMOZ and Yahoo and leave it with that.

Maybe this helps you, too. Best, W.

[Rosalind]

Free directories get a lot of submissions, so most won't list you within two weeks. There are also a number which claim to be free but are actually reciprocal required by stealth: they don't declare it, but they won't list your site unless it links back to them. (They do this so they can remain on the lists of directories that are SEO friendly and free.)

A lot of general directories have been set up recently using off-the-shelf scripts, and many of these have an extremely short shelf life and are soon abandoned by their owners, or switch to paid directories.

If you want to get your site into directories other than the main two, you really need to get hold of a current list of quality ones, preferably with notes on how they operate. Not all directory lists are equal. Since new directories are going stale faster than many other sites, you need to find a well-maintained list. Search for SEO friendly directory lists and you should find some useful sites.

Even if you have a decent website, expect a high rate of rejection and/or directories which ignore your submission. Submitting to the wrong sites certainly is a waste of time, but it's like spending money on advertising: half of it is wasted, but you never know which half.

[wmuser]

I would not expect to get liste danywhere in two weeks,more relistic time frame would be 2 months

[wolfadeus]

I see, you guys were right - there are some that picked me up recently. Still rather unimpressed by the value of them. Thanks for your advice, though! W.

[Ivan_Bajlo]

Please don't remained me about out of hat directories, I get spam each day on how I should place link to them - and they alredy have link to me - because they are very important business directory, never mind the fact that Google didn't even index them yet and PR is zero. ;-)))

[The_Banker]

Yep, free directories get loads of traffic, especially if they are specialised or on 1 subject.

But paid links are worth more as if you pay the webmaster won't delete you as he/she has been paid and you own that space for whatever time period.

It's a permanent link from a real paying client.

[maccas]

Lucky you aren't in my niche as my directory sends more targetted visitors to some of the listings than all the search engines combined... it's not always about pagerank/backlinks.

[The_Banker]

You should NEVER link for Pagerank. Always buy for placement and clickthrough.

[skibum]

Yea, if Google has some big Event like the Florida update and you were buying for PageRank, then you'll be sunk. On the other hand, you'll look like a King to your boss if you buy good links that deliver relevant traffic regardless of how much PageRank influences the search results, no matter what Google does with their results.

[The_Banker]

It's obvious many buy pagerank in the hope others see high rank, and hope that by linking or paying for links will boost their Pagerank. Therefore the PR chasers probably don't care what site their links are on, as long as it raises their PR.

But that would not necessarily bring them targeted visitors which is a problem if they rely on that so they can ultimately sell to advertisers. But just because a site has high PR don't make it good.

People want pagerank for 2 reasons:

1. It boosts PR

2. High PR may or may not deliver more traffic

hmmmmmm bit of a risk isn't it, I mean a lot of ifs involved with pagerank buying.

[wmuser]

1)Its getting a while to get listed in free directories and 2)Dont expect that all twelve will list you

[chabbs]

As a fellow member mentioned in a previous post, many directory owners will get tired and will stop working on the directory. The age of a directory helps in deciding if you want to spend the time listing your site in it.

[adamovic]

I agree that free directories are worthless (except of DMOZ and Yahoo). They do not generate any traffic (at least to me) and search engines do not score those link. At least link:www.mysite.com on Google and Yahoo's SiteExplorer shows so.

So, do not waste your time with directory submission (except of DMOZ and Yahoo).