Link Building (part3)
Posted by Pixelhead
Please Read Link Building part I and Link Building Part II prior to reading Link Building Part III.
| Warning:The information contained in this post is not a template for Search Engine Marketing and practices suggested should be exercised with care and due dilligence. |
Link Building III
Directories for Inbound Links
side note
This is the second time writing this post, which I have been working on for the better part of a week. I had about 7 paragraphs done, when it mysteriously went away. The wysiwyg(What you see is what you get) editor was doing some funky things when I was using bullets. Things that I did not want indented were indented too far, and then upon trying to correct the situation, poof it was all gone. Perhaps one day I will learn my lesson and not work from this screen.
Link building is the process of getting inbound links to your site. In this post, I will focus on link building by submitting your site to directories.
Directories
Go to your chosen directory list, I frequently use DirectoryCritic. Click on a Directory. On the home page of the directory, the top level of the categories is visible, usually this is not were you want to submit, but this is were your category search will begin. Your category search can occur in several ways. You can simply navigate to a suitable category depending upon your site. If I were submitting Pixelheadonline.com to another directory, I would navigate to either a Computer, Internet, or Business top level category, then look for a “Directory” titled sub-category. If there is not a Directory sub-category, I will next look for a marketing subcategory. Most directories have either a top level or sub-category for directories. When submitting to multiple directories, I also tend to vary the categories I submit–variety is a good thing.
Choosing a Sub-category
When navigating through the directory, I also keep in mind how far down in the navigation I will go. 5 levels down may be really relevant to my site, but the odds of having this page cached or visited by a search engine spider are slim, unless you are willing to get this page a link on another site, that will force the spiders to visit it. If I am paying for a directory link, I am much more picky about were I am submitting. For paid links, I check to see that the page or category that my site will be listed is cached by the Spiders. If I have the choice of two cached category pages, and one has PR, and is just as relevant, I will go for the higher PR. I rarely pay for a directory link that is not cached. The only exception I would make for this would be for a highly relevant niche directory category page in a really competitive market such as real estate. For this instance, if it is not cached, I would resort to getting a link for this page that I am certain will be visited by the search engine spiders.
Submitting to a Directory
It is advisable to read the submission guidelines to all directories that you are submitting your site to, especially if it is a paid directory or one of the better free directories like DMOZ.
Follow all grammar and spelling rules.
Only use Keyword rich titles(no more than one keyword phrase) if the site allows this. Some sites require the actual title of the site.
Submit Deep Links only when allowed. Deep links may require different category submissions. For example, if I am submitting Pixelheadonline.com/blog/, I would not put this into a directory category, but a blog category.
Descriptions should not include sales hype, code, or excessive keyword repetition. Do include a description of what a visitor to your site will find.
Next Link Building post
Niche Directories and other Link building resources.
Please let me know if you have any other advice about submitting to directories or other areas of Link building advice you would like to be covered.
Written by Pixelhead on March 13th, 2007 with
1 comment.
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#1. February 18th, 2009, at 2:29 PM.
Good post. With all of the free directories out there. It is very easy to get free backlinks.