SEO Project #1 – SEO – Paid Directory Submissions Work – Update #19
Previous Post For This Project
Aaron Wall recommended I get some paid directory links as a way to get this site moving in the right direction. If you read my series on the Yahoo Directory, then you know why I was reluctant to shell out cash for more directory links. So I decided to compromise, instead of spending $299 just for one directory, what if I found 5 - 10 good directories I could submit to for $299.
With this in mind, I started off with JoeAnt.com. It's a great directory and you can submit your site for free if you become an editor. I filled out an editor application and was approved immediately. Once I submitted my site the editor kicked it back once or twice requesting a few changes. But after a couple of tries, it was accepted and now appears in the directory. Not bad for less than 15 minutes of my time.
Clush.com is another directory that I submitted to. For only $19.95 I was able to submit my site and an additional 5 urls. My submission was approved within a few hours and I've been very happy with the placement.
Within one week of making these two submissions, they were both picked up by Google and my site moved from position 18 to position 7. Not bad for 30 minutes and $20 out of pocket.
DirFly.com is another directory I submitted to. They offer submission options that range from $19.95 to $44.95. I chose to submit my site as featured along with an additional 5 urls. This cost me $44.95. I'm very happy with my placement, but as of today, my listing hasn't been picked up by Google.
I aslo submitted to GoGuides.org. The listing was $69.95 and included an additional 5 urls. My listing was approved quickly. I'm not happy with my directory placement. I was included on a page that has tons of internal links. I've requested a category change and will let you know how that goes. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
I submitted to Skaffe.com for $44.99. The approval was quick, but once again I didn't get the category I wanted. I was included in a sub-category about four levels down and the page I am on has never been cached by Google. I've requested a change and hopefully can get better placement.
A great tool I found for finding niche directories is Solo SEO's Link Search Tool. It's a great tool for finding sources for other quality links.
I'm a believer now.
Tags: back links, directory links, directory submissions, yahoo directory
heres one you missed http://www.apricot2008.net/
it;s a pr4 and you can submit to it for only $10.00 and bid your way to the top untill you become a link leader and have your site featured on the home page i went with a simple $10.00 submission and and am listed in the latest link’s section i been spending abut $40.00 a week using bidvertiser to drivetraffic at only 0.05 a click and doing about two affiliate sales a week but after submiting to this site for a one time fee i already made three affiliate sales and have 6 leads if thats not awesome directory power i dont know what is i have plans to become a link leader soon and cant wait to see what happens there
Hi,
But as per google he didn’t give much weight to paid links as free links.
I’m not sure how Google justifies this. My testing shows they clearly give weight to quality directory sites. I didn’t get anything from submitting to 500 free directories, but these paid directories certainly helped.
Could it be Google trusts these directories and the human review they provide?
How can you pinpoint down to the exact T, that these directory submissions are indeed what caused your rankings to go up?
With Zeal recently closing (I think Looksmart are dumb to have closed it) some people have recently been questioning the value of directories.
$hoemoney recently had a mini interview of a few SEOs asking if they are still relevant. The general consensus was that if the directory sends traffic then it is a good link to buy. I think that is a good rule of thumb, but I am also a bit more aggressive. I still buy a few links that I figure won’t drive much traffic, largely because I think they still work well in Yahoo! and MSN.
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Bobwilliams
consumer generated media
Seems like JoeAnt.com would be the first to submit to if you wanted to start getting results!
@Bobwilliams – I’m a little surprised that any directory would send real traffic? Who the heck uses a directory to find sites?
@Tom – Joeant.com is definitely one of the stand out directories and with the free price tag it is hard to beat.
@SEO Tips – I don’t think there is any way to pinpoint exactly how much any one thing benefits you SEO wise. There are just too many variables. Even if you change nothing else on your site, you can never be sure what the other sites around you may have changed that may be causing you to rank better or worse.
Is getting listed in directories allowed by google
Of course it is allowed. The real question is does it count.
The jury is really split on this one. Aaron Wall over at SEO Book recommends quality directory links.
Dan Thies another SEO professional I follow doesn’t. At least according to a statement he made back in 2004. Of course, SEO changes so frequently that Dan may have a different stance on this issue now. But if you check out the article below, you’ll see Dan made some interesting observations.
http://www.webpronews.com/insiderreports/2004/01/22/is-a-yahoo-listing-worth
I took your words and submitted my web page to JoeAnt.com. and Clush.com . I do not have other advertising on this website and I am testing your advice. If I will see improvement and traffic I will come back to update my information.
Thank you for posting your experience. It is very hard to find real good website that improve traffic and rank. I am already a rank 2 but I want quality traffic in Google. Hopes that i didn’t spent $60 for nothing.
I take any help I can get. I want your help and I am open to advice. Please write a post about my website. I wrote a short one about yours and linked to your website from my blog long before you answered this one. I didn’t even knew how nice you are.
Ok contact me anytime and I am waiting for some advice. What i did wrong and what can I do better. Also the website that gets the most traffic and sales is the sister website: http://www.sprudio.net I will like to find the mistakes I made in that one too:-))
I am glad I found your blog.
Hi Elena,
I just wrote what will be the first of a series of posts about your site. Thanks for the opportunity.
Hi Brent
I am coming with an update.
Not even a month ago I used joeant and clush for improving my website rank and visibility.
I paid less for joeant but am doing great. My site is shows in Google site link popularity. Clush is still not there. I used joeant for my other website http://www.sprudio.com and today I purchased for http://www.sprudio.net.
This was a great achievement. Thank you so much.
I don’t think anyone is using these free directories to find sites.
I’m sure there aren’t many people using these directories. Direct traffic isn’t why I listed in the directory. I did it for a relevant link.
here is a blog article that purports to quote from matt cutts’ blog on the topic. this is from 2007, so a bit old. but i wanted a context this thread of discussions. the short answer is that paid directories are OK, like Yahoo and other ones that satisfy certain “guidelines”. but paid text links without editorial review are not. i believe this is the *principle*, but its *application* will not be perfect because there is no perfect technology to detect automatically and perfectly whether a paid directory is spammy or human edited short of artificial intelligence and espionage.
http://www.linkrain.com/articles/matt-cutts-says-paid-web-directory-links-are-ok/