Directory Links For SEO

Placing your link in major directories is still by far one of the best ways to not only increase ranking in the search engines but also obtain targeted traffic to your site.

When deciding on which directories to place links, authority directories should be your target whether it be local directories, major business directories or themed business specific directories.

Directory Qualities

Here is a quick list of items that should be considered when looking to place a link on directories.

• Authority within market place
• Age
• Theme – by industry or country inbound links – number and quality
• Yahoo listed
• Dmoz listed
• Links allowed – number
• Internal page allowed
• Price
• Directory pages cached by major search engines

The general rule to follow when placing links in directories I go by is 1) targeted traffic and 2) SEO

The three specific types of directories you need to look at are…

Major General Business Directories

These directories have been online for quite some time and tend to be seen by the search engines as holding a reasonable amount of authority therefore purchasing links in them is quite worthwhile.

The two very top directories currently are

• Dmoz
• Yahoo Directory

For more major directories please see the resources list at the bottom of the tutorial.

Themed Business Specific Directories

Want targeted traffic and rankings? Go where your target market is.

This of course is a no brainer! People looking for information on any type of topic will in many cases search for a directory on that topic.

The reason search engines value such links highly is because it is a “natural” marketing technique. The presumption is one that you are placing links not for SEO purposes but for traffic purposes which is absolutely true.

Such themed directories are usually well known resource sites within your business field of which are highly trafficked, have a good reputation and in most cases have a medium to high PageRank.

Below is reading on the “trust rank” system which many SEO experts think the search engines may incorporate into their algorithms. This gives clear insight into why links on themed authority sites and directories is vitally important to your SEO efforts.

• Trustrank
• Trustrank Diagram

Here are some easy ways to go about finding themed directories in your business field.

• Go to Google.com
• Do a search using the keywords “directory + your sites main keyword/phrase” or “allinurl:directory + your sites main keyword/phrase”

Another way of finding such directories.

• PageRank Search
• Change the drop down settings to “order by: > PageRank” and “results by page: > 100”
• Again do a search using “directory + your sites main keyword/phrase” or “allinurl:directory + your sites main keyword/phrase” se”

Using the seochat.com search tool will allow you to find the highest PageRank directories first

Country Specific Directories

Weighing up all the directory qualities as listed above, you should find and list your site to as many country specific search engines as you deem appropriate.

This is especially important if your business is based on location.

Topic Resources

• Authority Finder Tools
• Directory Lists - Major Business
• Diretory Lists - Themed
• Google.com
• PageRank Search
• Trustrank
• Trustrank Diagram