Submitting to directories-dealing with the task
by Kostandinos Papahatzis
Submitting to directories: dealing with the task By Kostandinos Papahatzis, #003A; Copyright 2006 I am sure that anyone of us who is serious about getting some traffic on a website has come across the tedious task of submitting to directories and other web sites, to gather backlinks and raise on the search results. There is no question that search algorithms rely heavily on the number of backlinks, exactly because:-it is such a tedious task to go through-the element of failure in submissions-some get listed some don't- is strong-results are not immediate: there is a discouraging time gap of up to seven months-It is not possible to automate entirely the submission process.For the last point, there have been some very encouraging steps towards semi-automating the process. Axandra provides IBP 8, a service for search engine and directory submission where it is possible to submit to directories by just filling one form, then go through the list and make corrections on auto-filling. There are also some scripts around that can give you good submissions to a couple of hundred directories, but…is this enough? The answer is 'probably not'.So how will someone deal with it? Remember that some web sites and directories accepting submissions can give your site a good boost on the search results, as an effect of your submission. Basically, it is compulsory to go through this process. You either have to do it yourself, or someone else has to do it for you.Personally, I decided that directory submission is a procedure that plays a key role to the fate of my Web sites; I needed one-way backlinks and a couple of hundred were not enough, I needed more. So I decided initially to spend some time on the Internet and research the issue of 'directories and sites accepting submissions', along with my full-time job. After a few months of collecting information from forums and sites, I concluded that it is possible to find many good sites that can happily give you a one-way link, or a reciprocal link for free. I started to collect the information on these sites and after a month's work I compiled a list of nearly 2,200 directories and web sites that accept submissions from webmasters or web site owners. The list is in excel format and contains some additional information for each web site / directory: for instance, is submission free or not, what is the PR of the site, what is their focus, whether they accept paid submissions only, etc. I came out with a list of web sites and directories broken down by Google PR: 3 PR9s, 19 PR8s, 80 PR7s, 243 PR6s, 568 PR5s, 531 PR4s, 250 PR3s, 121 PR2s, 45 PR1s, and 257 PR0s. A read-only version is available at http://www.onyourway.info.The first time I had to go through the list to submit my sites, I discovered that I need at least one month of work for maybe submitting two or three sites together: you know, a couple of hours every day would do the work. But unfortunately I got tired: I have a full-time job also and it is very demanding too, so after the first submission cycle I decided that I should outsource the task for a couple of hundred dollars (remember, the tedious task element search engines rely upon? Here it is!). But the lessons to learn are:-If you take it seriously, the list can give you more than 1,200 free backlinks easily, in a period of three to fourmonths, depending on the quality of your submission information-It is not only the backlinks; so many referrals can give you the extra 500-1000 visitors per month, so you buildtraffic irrespectively of search engine rankings-The PR of my web sites is very good: averaging PR 5 for me is very acceptable (the list site has not reached aPR yet, the site is new, less than a month old)-The number of backlinks grows exponentially: in one of the first sites I submitted, I discovered that the number of backlinks has risen by nearly 800, so 2000 backlinks in all; how this happened I do not know, but it is safe to say that other site pick up the information and list it.The good news is that as far as directory submission for one-way and reciprocal links is concerned, it can be done, it is possible, and there are only gains from the process. The final decision relies on the webmaster or the owner. I am happy to say that this is a very powerful method for gaining traffic and increase your visits, as long as resources are committed to the submission task.
About the Author
About The AuthorKostandinos Papahatzis works as full-time product Manager. Visit his Website http://www.onyourway.info
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