Registering your website with directories

Register your site with the major directories and second-tier general directories. Try to register with about a half-dozen to a dozen of the better general directories if you are targeting Google. If you are targeting the other engines first and can wait on Google, you may want to register with about twenty to fifty general directories.

Register with at least a couple local or niche-specific directories. Niche-specific directories are findable via search engines and some are listed at http://www.isedb.com, but you should check to ensure they provide static links before spending money registering your sites, although directories that rank well may deliver quality traffic even if they do not provide direct links. Search for things like “ + ” to find other niche directories. Oftentimes I do not mind spending hundreds of dollars getting links from different sites (or directories) across many different IP ranges.

Many of the second-tier directories charge a one-time fee for listing, and some of them allow you to add your sites free if you become an editor. In my directory of directories, I have 50-100 general directories listed in the general directory categories. Most top ranking sites in mildly competitive fields do not have text links from fifty different sites pointing to them, so if you can afford it, doing this offers a huge advantage to you for your Yahoo! and MSN rankings, but you need to choose directories carefully when considering how TrustRank (explained in the Google section of this e-book) may effect Google.

If you are in more competitive fields and rent some powerful links, these listings in various directories can help stabilize your rankings when search engine algorithms shift. Some directories I highly recommend are Yahoo!, DMOZ, Business.com, JoeAnt, Best of the Web, and Gimpsy.