Link Building.net

Posted by sam on April 23rd, 2010 View Comments
Posted in Miscellaneous, Web Directories |

Directing traffic to websites is one of the main objectives of Internet directories. Some do it well, while others don’t fare too well. In its most basic sense, a web directory is but a list of websites based on their categories and sub-categories. Users usually search the Internet for information and web directories basically provide these kinds of services. Directories sort out thousands of web pages and direct customers to the websites that are relevant to their searches. Like any other IT business, directories are maintained by people that spend time looking meticulously through the thousands of link submissions they get everyday. Websites are added to these directories if they pass the quality standards required by the Web directories and its staff. For companies, having their websites posted in various web directories is part of a very long and oftentimes tedious process of link building and establishing link popularity. However, with all the hard work comes the reward of added traffic and promotion for the customers’ sites. This traffic is valuable if a company aims to reach a certain level of popularity and page ranking in the World Wide Web. Each link from a directory is viewed as a one-way link by the search engines, and search engines place much higher value on one-way links than on reciprocal links. Well established web directories like Yahoo and JoeAnt are also prioritized more by search engines, so having links posted in these directories is crucial to increasing the website’s traffic and search engine ranking.

There are two ways that companies can use in submitting their links to various web directories. The difference between the two methods lie basically in the fact that the other is free and the other charges a fee. But the advantages of both vary and go beyond the fact of charging fees.

• Free Directories The biggest perk of free directories is that they are basically free. However, if the company is serious about its efforts of utilizing web directories, then they will not get much from using free directories.

Free directories are not really helpful in instantly increasing traffic to the websites. Here are a few examples:

1. The lag time that a company incurs between submitting their websites for listing up to the actual listing is one of the major drawbacks of free directories. Since it is free, literally anybody can go on submitting their websites for listing, thus making the job of sorting these websites a doubly tedious process.
2. Oftentimes, links are lost in the ocean of links, or worse, grouped together with low quality links, devaluing the link further. A link building company should probe deeper into their options if they do not want these things happening to their links.
3. Another thing is that even though these directories are free, they would still have to get funds somewhere to finance their operations. This is where advertisements come in. Selling Ad space is the primary place where directories get their money. Add them to the equation and the company’s website is further drowned in the midst of lower quality links and more enticing advertisements.

• Paid Directories. Using a paid directory does not instantly eliminate all of the disadvantages that a free directory has, but it gives the company more assurance that their websites are viewed and grouped together with other quality links even for a fee.

Make the most out of the money spent by knowing what your paid submission includes. Here are a few tips:

1. Making sure that the directories are professionally maintained is one of the first tasks in using paid directories.
2. Paid directories provide link building service only to those websites that will pass their meticulous review process and quality standards.
3. These directories also feature fewer amounts of advertisements, which also lessen the competition within the directory.
4. Paid directories also offer various opportunities for deep linking with other websites listed in its domain. Yahoo! Directory and Business.com are just some examples of popular paid directories in the Web.

Discerning what investment best suits one’s company will be the main task of the company. Reviewing the options and making sure that one employs the most logical strategy is crucial in ensuring the success of the link building process. Other options aside from web directories include consulting with an Internet marketing professional or an SEO expert. At the end of the day, it will all depend on what directory or strategy will best suit the needs (and budget) of the company.

Tags: link popularity, Paid Link Building, Web Directories

This entry was posted on Friday, April 23rd, 2010 at 9:00 am and is filed under Miscellaneous, Web Directories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.