Should I automate my site directory submission?
February 10, 2008 by Michelle Waters
One of my clients asked if she should purchase a directory submitter, which is software that will submit her site link to hundreds of online directories. Some submitters even claim to submit to thousands of directories.
Claims like this are dubious at best.
So, before you drop any money or time on software that claims to handle your directory submissions for you, you need to ask yourself these questions:
Which directories is this software submitting to? If you can’t find that answer, then you need to run far, far away from it. You can have thousands of backlinks from thousands of directories, but if they are low quality sites — they are worthless.
Do the members of my target market use this directory? If you’re a jewelry seller and you want to submit your site to dozens of popular jewelry directories, you’ll get the SEO benefits AND the traffic sent your way by the directory itself. But if you’re submitting your site to thousands of unknown directories that no one, much less your target market, uses, you’re wasting your time.
Will submitting my site to this directory have any benefit at all? Submitting to an obscure directory is not going to help you. If your target market uses it and you will get traffic from it directly, then it is worth it. One of my clients has listed her site in a directory of natural products and she receives hundreds of visitors per month from it. Definitely worth the submission!
However, if the directory isn’t going to send anyone your way, you’re better off, in my opinion writing articles and submitting them to niche and popular article directories, like Lady Pens. Not only will people go to your site from the article directory, website owners will reprint your article, sending their website traffic to you. Mutually beneficial!
Not sure how article marketing works? Take a peek at Easy Article Marketing.
Note: Am I saying that you shouldn’t submit your site to directories? No! I’m just saying that you should be very careful where you submit. Finding the specific directories that your target market uses to find your products is an excellent idea. Submitting blindly to thousands of directories? Not so much.
I have been thinking about the same.
And so far, I haven’t bought any software. I might try a service from a company called SubmitEdge instead. I have heard a lot of positive feedback from them.
But I am not really sure what to do. At least SubmitEdge shows you all the directories that they will submit your site / articles to.
I personally use Submit Eaze to submit my site to web directories. I have had some success with it, and some of my sites have benefited from a large number of visitors.
Really though, I consider getting links on web directories worthwhile as I can target specific keyword phrases to help increase my search engine rankings for those terms. So, in that respect directory submissions are worth it.
But, for the amount of time it actually takes to submit your sites to the directories (even with semi-automated software) the time it takes really isn’t worth it. It is just one of those things better left to outsourcing.
This is a great discussion, thank you for bringing it up Michelle!
Submitting your website, articles and press releases should be done by a person that you can personally talk to. If you don’t have the time to take for the submissions you should either not submit or outsource it to a virtual assistant.
A virtual assistant can offer personalized attention; he/she reads your content, looks at your website and products, talks to you on the phone, and then takes the necessary steps to insure that your article is submitted to the proper category, personel/department, and venue.
I completely agree with Steph. Article submission is not about submitting to as many directories as possible. It’s about choosing the high-quality and relevant directories for your target market and product.