Directories

[Audrey]

Do you submit your site to niche directories? Do you find that it brings you traffic?

[Kelly Watson]

I've submitted my site to link directories and even paid for placement in some, but I find that the traffic it brings is negligible at best.

Adding your site to directories used to be a good form of search engine optimization, but it's losing its effectiveness because of the sheer number of link directories out there filled with spam. To make matters even worse, being associated with the wrong link directory can cause Google and other search engines to penalize your site.

I tell my clients not to bother -- spend your time on other link building strategies instead.

[Dawn~AturService]

I still submit to directories, but like Kelly receive very little traffic from them. From what I understand, back links contribute to PageRank. There is talk about linking standards changing, but we'll see. I'm sure it will happen sooner or later.

I do directory submissions for some of my clients and I have a list of pre-screened directories that are free of **** sites and aren't all spammy looking. Although Google claims they do not penalize for bad content on sites linking to your site, I still don't want my site or my clients' sites associated with that crap.

I have been getting more into submitting to specialty directories/niche directories (especially since I have one (http://www.nichelister.com)!). I just feel if I'm going to get traffic from any of the directories I submit to, those would be the ones. My intent is to kill 2 birds with one stone. :p

Dawn

[Lori]

Niche directories, especially local directories can definitely help your SEO efforts.

Spammy directories can't hurt you, but won't help much.

[Man]

I do submit my site to niche directories, but not for traffic sake. I hope in this way to improve my website link profile and earn higher rankings in Top 3 search engines.