How To Properly Submit Your Website To Directories

How To Properly Submit Your Website To Directories

by: Jeff Schuman

Having a top placement on a search engine and enjoying the traffic that comes with a top ranking is dependent on many things. Certainly at the top of that list is having as many links and quality links pointing to your site. Your competition has hundreds and possibly even thousands of links pointing back to them. This is what it is going to take for you to compete with them as well.

Did you know that over 90% of search engine traffic comes from Google, Yahoo, and MSN. These three search engines provide results for many other search engines, and if you are listed on these three search engines, your site will be listed on many other search engines too.

AltaVista for example gets their search results from Yahoo. AOL and Netscape use Google and also get some results from Open Directories like DMOZ.

When you see an ad offering to submit your site to thousands of search engines save your money. It simply is not worth the time it takes to sign up for their service and you are better off to spend your money on another form of promoting.

What is worth the time and money is to submit your site to as many different directories as possible. Directories are viewed by human beings before being approved for submission and their inclusion helps increase your link popularity as you have more and more links pointing back to your site.

Since your submission is viewed by human beings it is important that you make sure your site is ready to be submitted. To get your site in shape to be submitted consider the following:

1. Make sure your site is completed. Fix all broken links. Have all pages completed. Make sure it loads properly and quickly. If you want get another opionion on whether it is ready to be submitted. Here is a good company that validates websites: http://www.htmlvalidator.com/

2. Find the correct category to be listed under. Although this can be frustrating it is important to take the time to find the correct category and subcategory for your site to be listed under. Choosing the wrong category could result in your site being denied.

3. Submit the correct URL. This needs to be your main domain and not subdomains. In my case that would be http://www.sitesplus.com and nothing else. Do not add the index.html at the end when submitting.

4. Write an acceptable description of your site. You need to keep it to 2 sentences and nothing more. If you have any doubts about how to write a good description go to your category and look at the descriptions of sites already listed.

5. Use the official title of your site. This needs to be the REAL Title of your site and not just the part that shows in your browser. In my case that is Small Business Resources.

Generally it is accepted that 2 key directories to submit to are Yahoo and The Open Directory Project (ODP)

http://dir.yahoo.com/

http://dmoz.org/add.html

With Yahoo you will have to determine if you want a standard submission which is free or an express submission which costs $299.00. Submitting to the ODP is free.

Here is another site I came across that offers rankings on the best directories to submit to

http://www.strongestlinks.com/directories.php

For a more in depth look at submitting to directories read this article here:

http://www.strongestlinks.com/articles/dirSubmitGuide.php

In conclusion submitting your site to directories is an important part of the overall philosophy of getting quality links pointing back to your site. The more the merrier. If you want to see what it will take to get a Top 10 ranking for keywords relating to your site just look at the number of links your competitors have pointing to their sites.

You can easily do that by going here:

http://www.faganfinder.com/urlinfo

Enter your the URL for your competitor and the click on the Links Button. You can see how many links they have pointing back to them according to Yahoo, Google, and GigiBlast. You will see you need a lot of links pointing to your site to compete with them. Adding your site to as many directories as possible is one way to do that.

Copyright 2004 Jeff Schuman

About The Author

Jeff Schuman is the creator of SitesPlus.Com. They are a small business resource website that offers everything you need to start and run a small business. Small business ideas, articles, loans, grants, marketing tips and more.

Visit them here: http://www.sitesplus.com

This article was posted on November 29, 2004

by Jeff Schuman

How and Why to Build a Linking Strategy for your W

How and Why to Build a Linking Strategy for your Web Site

by: Michael Rock

Why would you want a linking strategy for your site? The most important reason is to drive traffic to your site, which in turn would increase visitors that would either purchase from you, make your web site more popular, or reach a larger audience to inform for your cause. The second reason to develop a linking strategy for your site is to help increase your rankings in the search engine. With Google this is very important for achieving high web rankings, and I expect the other search engines to follow suit relatively soon.

There are many ways to develop a linking strategy where the links to your site will multiply without any effort from you. This is the most effective way to generate links to point to your site. In this article we will discuss how to do this, debunk myths, and how to do this without unintentionally harming your siteกs status.

Debunking myths:

Linking software

I personally don’t approve of linking software that does the work for you. Why? Because the software does not do a good enough job where it can tell if the site it has the same theme or relative content that matches your site. Many errors slip through the process when this is done, that can cause damage to the reputation and rankings in the search engine. Also each site that you would like to link to you should have a decent PR ranking from Google to help your siteกs rankings. (PR ranking is a method that Google uses to put a value on the web site) If you have too many web sites pointing to you with a poor PR ranking it could actually make your site drop in the rankings. And in addition sites with excellent PR rankings would help your rankings a great deal.

Linking farms and automated link exchanges

Linking farms and automated link exchanges are not recommended for the same reasons as the linking software. Poor quality links and potentially harmful to your site. In addition these two methods carry another danger. If the site that links to has been put onto a black list for spam, and your site points to that site your web site will automatically get black listed and your rankings will go down as well. That is why I prefer one way links to your site instead of reciprocal links. It may sound hard to do, but it isn’t and I will show you a way to do it below.

The more sites pointing to your site the better. Right?

Wrong! In the past search engines would rank you higher in the search engines by judging the value of your site to the number of links pointing to it. But because people have abused and try to cheat this system, the rules have changed. Now they actually penalize you for too many sites pointing to yours if they are deemed suspicious. For instance many other sites pointing to you with the same IP address (caused by you putting up mirror sites to build links), links that point to that do not have the same content as you (กonce I saw a web design site having a reciprocal link with a lingerie siteก), and links that have low PR rankings pointing to your site (in this case the more the merrier does not work).

กIกve seen a site with only 10 links pointing to it (links from government sites) do better with searches than a site that had over 10,000 links pointing to it.ก

Another thing to consider: Google has just bought rights to register domain names. So, here is a theory of mine that may show up later. Google may update their algorithm to check links to see if the domain name those links are registered under contain the same registration information. This way it could penalize sites that register a bunch of domain names to point to their site and try to cheat the system.

‘the only time you would like a lot of links pointing to your site is if they are from respectable sites, have a high PR ranking, and have relative content.ก

Who links to your site now?

An easy way to find this out is to type in link:www.yoursite.com into a search engine and you will receive a list of web sites currently pointing to you.

Are they quality links?

You can use Google toolbar located at their site to read the PR ranking, an addon extension for Firefox, or visit a web site that will tell you the PR rankings of sites that you type in. If you type in page ranking tool in the search engines youกll find plenty of resources for this.

Who links to your competitors that are high in the search engines?

Examine and study the links to and from your competitors web site to learn more. And request links from the same people for your site.

How do I build links pointing to my site?

These are a list of ways to build links to your site that are one way links instead of reciprocal links. I highly recommend these ways to build a solid link foundation:

1) Content and more content. Content will increase your rankings in the search engine and people are more likely to link to you if you have valuable content. One time I had a large college link to one of the articles at my site for a research paper. The college had a high PR ranking and the link is in their archives. (This is a way to have your links multiply without the effort)

2) Add a link to us page to your web site. Where you can give the visitors to your site to apply a text link or banner. I recommend a text link to your site that contains keywords for your site. For example, web development contractor would point to my site via hyperlink. (This is a way to have your links multiply without the effort)

3) Start a blog on your site that people can go to and bookmark for the latest information in a category that relates to your site. (This is a way to have your links multiply without the effort)

4) Offer a free helpful กhow toก ebook to give away that has links inside of it that point to your site. (This is a way to have your links multiply without the effort)

5) Submit to online directories. Online directories usually have high PR rankings and get picked up by other directories and web sites to include on their sites.

6) Write a testimonial for a site you like that has the same relative content as yours. Chances are that if you praise their site and sign it with a link (to your site) of who praised them they will post it on their site giving you a free one way link.

7) Create a free article directory asking people to submit articles to your site, and in exchange for posting their articles on your site have them post a link on their web site stating where their article can be found. (your site) Iกve seen people put a list of where there article can be found to impress the visitors on how popular they are. (This is a way to have your links multiply without the effort)

8) Lastly, and most importantly write articles yourself! When I wrote my first article I submitted it to 25 places. (places with higher traffic views) and the next day over 180 sites were pointing to my web site, because I had a nice keyword enriched link pointing to my site in the article. The next day the total was over 300. How do you find out if they are pointing to your site? Type in your article title in quotes into the search engines and then youกll find out how many sites are posting your article on their site. (This is a way to have your links multiply without the effort)

One thing to do for sure is monitor your results. Who is driving the most traffic to me? Which ways of linking are producing multiplying links without any effort on my part? Which links are actually harmful to me? Do these links compliment my site? Do these things and I guarantee you that the links to your site will increase ten fold.

Be looking for more articles soon!

Copyright © Michael Rock

Web development contractor (Web Design and Hosting)

Internet Presence

www.TheInternetPresence.com

About The Author

Michael Rock

The owner of this registered company has over twenty years experience with DOS, windows business applications, numerous programming languages, artistic development, and web design. Other areas of interest include web marketing, web promoting, and business marketing and development. After the persuasion of those praising his work, he decided to go into business himself and highly suggests everyone else to do the same.

Internet Presence was founded in 2003 from a desire to become independent. Less than 1 year later Internet Presence has had accounts in three different states ranging from a locally owned auto collision repair shop to a glass packaging industry that sells its product worldwide.

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 07, 2005

by Michael Rock

5 reasons why participating in forums can benefit

5 reasons why participating in forums can benefit your business?

by: Rebecca Gilbert

Did you know that by simply participating in various forums and posting your various views and ideas, can potentially bring new growth and life to your online business?

Let’s look at some of the positive aspects that forum participation can bring to your business.

1. We are all looking for traffic to our websites and if we can get it for free with little effort, that’s even better. Did you know that when you sign up as a new member at a forum, you can usually create a ขsignatureข line that will be attached to every post that you make in a forum? This signature line can contain your website address, and as other members read your post, this will provide another route for potential customers to find your website.

2. One of the worst things about trying to advertise on the Internet is the lack of trust between website owners and customers. Everyone is afraid of being scammed. A good way of building trust with potential prospects is by giving them a chance to get to know you, and by letting some of your knowledge, honesty and integrity show in the post that you make at a forum.

3. Most webmasters on the Internet exchange links with other like sites, because exchanging links will boost your link popularity. It’s a proven fact that you get higher search engine rankings when your site has a high PR due to your link popularity. But did you know it’s even better if you have a link pointing to your site that isn’t reciprocated? Every post that you make in a forum will create a one way link pointing to your website. If you make 1000 post in a year, you have potentially created 1000 back links pointing to your site. As the search engines crawl the Internet and detect all these links pointing to your site, your website is going to move toward the top of the search engine listings.

4. Running a business on the Internet can be a very lonely occupation. There is very little interaction with other people and this can be devastating to some. By participating in forums, you will meet other people who have online businesses and who have a lot in common with you. It’s sometimes comforting to know that there are others who share your occupational frustrations, and will be there to support you if you need them.

5. It’s a proven fact that two minds are better than one. Everyone goes through learning curves on the Internet. Whether that learning curve involves starting out, building websites, search engine optimization, or the millions of other things that you must be prepared to do on the Internet to establish your business, there is someone in your favorite forum that has been there and done that. These people will be more than happy to give you free consultations.

Best wishes to you,

Rebecca Gilbert

http://www.homebusinessopportunity.biz

About The Author

Rebecca is a successful business owner and webmaster who has provided free consultation to hundreds of people who were getting started on a home business. Rebecca has just launched a new forum where she welcomes new members. http://www.homebusinessopportunity.biz/PNphpBB2.html. All new members will be entered in a contest to receive their choice of 1000 FREE BANNER IMPRESSIONS or a FREE DOMAIN.

This article was posted on August 07, 2004

by Rebecca Gilbert

Discover How To BOOST Your Website

Discover How To BOOST Your Website

by: Liz Beresford

Don’t you just hate the process of exchanging web site links? Finding sites that are relevant, placing a link on our site, contacting the web master to request a link swap, waiting for a response, that may never come… you know the routine.

Of course no one wants to exchange links, not really. Yes, we want lots of links from important sites pointing to our webs, but we aren’t all that keen on having links pointing out again. We have worked hard to get visitors why would we want to send them away again, and not just away, but maybe into the arms of a competitor? Not only that, but links pointing out take some of your web page’s PR with them. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a better way to increase link popularity?

In the last couple of months I have found such a way and it works like a charm. Oh I have done the hard yards trying to find high PR sites that wanted to exchange links with a low PR site. There aren’t many altruists in this game unfortunately! Most of the sites I exchanged with were not doing much better than me. Those that invited me to exchange links with them were either totally unrelated to my topic or were link farms.

I was spending a lot of time trying to figure out a new way to get links in. I bought link exchange software, which made it easier and quicker to find relevant sites, but the results were mediocre. You need a lot of links pointing in to make a difference to your ranking, and its hard to get more than a couple of dozen by link exchange alone.

Like all good ideas its so obvious when you discover it that you can’t think why it took so long. What do web masters running information sites need, apart from lots of links? New content of course! They have to keep their sites lively so that visitors will return. If they have an ezine it has to be filled with fresh content each time it goes out. Offering relevant content for free solves the web master’s problem. That’s right, there is a great market for articles to feed this ever hungry machine.

When you write an article and syndicate it all you ask in return is that whoever uses it includes your links. This means that you get links coming in from a lot of sites, many with high PR and you don’t have to reciprocate. If your article is published in an ezine it may reach thousands of people, after which the ezine is frequently archived, together with your links.

This isn’t the only easy way to get links that I have discovered, there are others and if article writing doesn’t appeal there is bound to be one tactic that does. If you would like to learn more about article writing and other ways to raise your link popularity I can highly recommend a downloadable video tutorial by Louis Allport. He teaches 7 fast ways to get links and ultimately increase traffic to your site. Most of them are free. Take a look: http://www.netabargain.com/. This course is new and is being sold for a low introductory price of $24.95 for the month of December.

About The Author

Liz Beresford is a writer who also manages several web sites, one of which is http://www.netabargain.com/.

This article was posted on December 09, 2004

by Liz Beresford