Why Directory Submissions Are Important
Posted Under: Search Engine Optimization
Newcomers who just starting off with their websites, often ask why directory submissions are important or even necessary to their online business.
Everyone who owns an Internet business wants to increase their online presence to better implement their business marketing strategies, and improve their bottom line sales.
Unless you pay someone to do it for you; it takes a great deal of time and effort to get your website noticed by the search engines, and to start generating a decent amount of traffic to your site.
This is why directory submissions are important to your business.
Backlinks play a huge role with the search engines in determining your ranking position.
When you manage to acquire a large quantity of quality backlinks, or “inbound links”; it will have a huge positive impact on your ranking position with the search engines.
Of the many ways to attract backlinks; one of the easiest is to submit your website URL to the online link directories.
These directories provide links that are categorized for easy access, and listed under relevant topics, to web users looking for specific information.
If this sounds like a search engine; you’re almost right on.
In the infancy of the Internet, directories used to be the main source for web surfers finding websites on various subjects.
Today the search engines have just about replaced the directories however, they are still useful, especially for SEO purposes.
This is why directory submissions are important, and why no website owner should ever ignore them as an optimization strategy.
When you submit your website URL to a directory, you must deal with the human equation. This can be a benefit as well as a detriment.
A real person will review your submission, and determine how unique and relevant your website is.
If your website is approved by the editor, it will be included in the directory where your credibility will be immediately established with the search engines.
There are some directories that provide feeds to other directories, and other search engines. When you submit your website to one of these directories; you are automatically submitting it to 10, 20, 30, or more different directories.
The search engines place a relevance on the directories, when they determine the popularity of a website.
They are able to determine your relevance, and qualify your website according to the quality of the directory that you submitted your site to, as well as the number of backlinks you already have on your website.
On a new website that may be short on content; the search engine robots may not initially be able to properly categorize your site.
However, if your site is submitted to a directory under a specific category, the search engine “bots” will be able to properly categorize, or “index” your site, under a relevant topic.