Monday, June 29, 2009

All about web directories

When I was starting my blogging journey, one of the first things that I learned not only to drive traffic to my blog but also to get vital back-links was to submit my blogs to web directories. At first, I thought it was just the same as submitting your blog to search engines since I didn’t even know the difference of a search engine and a web directory then, but later on I learned that a web directory displays a list of web sites by category and subcategory while a search engine lists web pages based on keywords. These web directories allow site owners to submit their sites if it suits in the category. Editors may also need to review if the site fits into the category for inclusion.

Luckily, two of my blogs have been included in some free web directories. A few of web directories where I submitted by blogs are Yahoo! Directory and the Open Directory Project (ODP). It is important to submit your site to ODP because of its extensive categorization and great number of listings. Another good thing is its free availability for use by other directories and search engines.

Aside from submitting your site to a free web directory, some site owners can also pay for the inclusion of their websites on web directories. This is the paid model. However, because it is paid, they generally have fewer listings.

From what I read from fellow bloggers, submission of blogs or websites to a web directory is a common SEO (search engine optimization) technique employed by webmasters to get vital back-links to their web site thereby improving a web site’s pagerank.

However, what I still think that I of utmost important is to create good content on my website. You can submit your site to various search engines and web directories but if your content is not worth reading, then nobody will care to visit your web sites or blogs.


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