Submitting To Major Free Directories

Most webmasters and other SEO people believe that getting your site listed in the major human-edited directories helps it to rank high in the search engines. I have listed some comments on some important general, human-edited directories where many sites can be listed for free.

First, some general notes:

1. Read the submission rules carefully before submitting, and follow them exactly. This will often greatly speed up your site's acceptance, and in some cases will make a difference between having your site accepted or rejected.

2. Most of the human-edited general directories only accept the default entrance page of most domains, not individual pages of subdomains. They will, however, accept subdomains which are equivalent to independent sites, such as frequently happens with sites hosted by free hosting services. Zeal accepts individual pages and domains which otherwise satisfy their requirements almost without limitation.

3. Many directories require you to become one of the directory editors, in some category, in order to submit your site for free. Most of them don't object to people joining just for that purpose. (I don't know about ODP.) However, they will be pleased if you stay and continue editing. It's an interesting hobby, and a good way to keep up with what other webmasters in your field are doing.

4. If there are also subject-specific directories in your field which accept free submissions, submit to them. My experience has been that they help one's search engine ranking, and also send directly to your site more of their own users than you would expect.

Some general directories:

ODP, also known as DMOZ: The most important general directory which accepts free submissions. They are also the only major one which accepts free submissions without asking that you become an editor first. Submissions can take a long time to be accepted, because they are desperately short of editors. They have a forum where you can communicate with higher-ranking editors more or less directly if you don't like the way your submission is being handled (or ignored), but the senior editors tend to be unpleasant, in my opinion and that of many others. On the other hand, despite what you might expect, the regular editors who handle most submissions are usually competent and honest. If your site belongs in a small directory low on the directory tree, there's nothing stopping you from applying to be an editor of it, and then submitting your own site (if it qualifies) as well as others.

JoeAnt: You have to become an editor to submit your site for free. It's easier, but not necessary, if you immediately apply to become an editor of the major category in which your site belongs.

Skaffe: I think that you have to become an editor to submit your site for free, but they may still have a limited free public submission program. They editors here seem friendlier than most. They have some interesting perks for editors, including right to post banners and free Web hosting, with some limitations.

Zeal: You have to become an editor to submit your site for free, and you have to pass a formal test to become a Zeal editor. Zeal itself accepts only non-commercial sites, but they are owned by LookSmart, which does accept commercial sites according to some kind of payment scheme. If you have a site or page, supported with a lot of free information supported by a little advertising, you might want to try to submit it. The editor who checks it out may consider it sufficiently non-commercial to be listed.

Some people say that Zeal is dying; I don't know, but it does seem to have less influence on search engine ranking than it used to. On the other hand, you may get a significant number of visitors from the LookSmart network itself, which is very diversified.