[ad#large_rect]
Last time, I showed you how you can check if your incoming links count towards to your overall site search engine ranking. Today I want to show you one of the traditional methods of link building that almost SEO gurus use as well as their benefits and disadvantages. So the first method that we covered: manual web directories submissions.
The Benefits of Web Directories Submission
- Less time consuming compare all other traditional methods (blog comments, forums signature etc)
- Much more simple when compare to other methods of link building
- You can get some quality incoming amount of links free
- Most of web directories are SEO friendly
- Submitted sites are manual review by their editors for quality control
Disadvantages of Web Directories Submission
- Not all free directories allow one way link, they only accept submission when you link back with their sites
- Site review time is no guarantee. That is you don’t know when your site is going to include in to their databases.
- Not all free directories allow anchored text in the submitted sites title (see link building tutorial 1 for details)
- Most web directories only allow a link to your site home page rather inner pages of your site
As you can see, I list more disadvantages of directories rather than benefits. It is especially true if you have a tight budget since some sites require a site inclusion fees before they serious review your site and finally include it there. Therefore, to me web directories submission seem easy but I will prefer article submissions or blog content creations which include links with your site, since most of them are free and you can links with your site inner pages rather than just the home page of your site. (Well will cover more in our advanced SEO link building techniques later)
However, for the sake of completeness, now I will cover how you can find an appropriate directory to submit your site to.
SEO Link Building: Web directories How-To
- You can always start searching in Google for the terms, “free web directories”, “submit URL for free”, “add url for free”, and “free directories submissions”
- check their submission guidelines, if what kind of links they allow. For example, is reciprocal links required for site inclusion? Do they have the free options? Any constraints on the site Title, description? That is do they allow keywords in your links rather than your official site title?
- Used the method in the last past, “SEO: Does your link count?” and make sure their links count
- Come back to the site one week later and see if your site appeared
- Repeat the process until your goals is reached
Next time I will show you other techniques that you can get links from. So stay tuned!
