Link building isn’t always the most effective way to market your business. This is because Google is constantly changing its algorithm, and what works today may not work tomorrow. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use any type of link building to drive traffic to your website.
One of the most effective ways to do this is directory submission. However, if you’re using any type of submission software, it’s probably a good idea to stop using it and revert to manual submission. The more targeted the directories you use, the better it is for you.
There are two types of directories that you should consider using: general directories and niche directories. General directories can help you improve your page rank, as well get you on some very high ranking websites. This includes directories like DMOZ, which is a great place to market because their results are often syndicated. DMOZ also has high page rank, and right now, it’s also a do follow directory. This means that they do pass on their link juice to you.
You will have to decide here whether or not you will submit to both do follow and no follow directories. The reason is that no follow directories won’t give you any link juice. Because of this, your page rank won’t improve. Having a listing in these directories could still get you traffic though because of the human element. It will be up to you to decide whether or not you want to use these directories.
The other type of directories you want to focus on here are niche directories. These are directories that are related to your market. These are a little harder to find and are less likely to rank as well as general directories. Their value comes from two things though. First, niche directories count a little more in your page rank than general directories do because they are seen as more relevant backlinks. Second, these directories are less likely to get as much traffic as general directories. When searchers are looking for something in the search engines though, they are more likely to use niche resources as they are more related.
Make sure that you mix it up and use both. Alexa can be one of your best resources for finding these types of sites because Alexa will tell you the ranking of a site compared to other sites. Google offers page rank information. There are tools you use in your browser to help you with this. They include SEO Quake among others. To find these tools do a look up in the search engines for your browser and then browse through the tools or add ons section.
