As part a Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy, directory submissions are classed as offsite optimisation and are often grouped within or beside link buying or link building services to generate inbound links to a website.
Some of these directories accept payment for listings, while others are free but many of the good quality directories are human edited. A few examples of good directories are Dmoz, Free Index, Business.com, and the Yahoo directory to name a few. To attain a listing you need to go through a process of filling out applications, requiring distinct categorisation of the website in question and company description that is reviewed by human editors and either approved or rejected (in some cases). This process ensures a website listing on these type of directories has authority and credibility in the eyes of search engines as opposed to those that can be achieved via an automated listing or submission system.
Looking at this from the view of a “search engine spider” a website which is consistently listed in the same or similar category within various directories indicates that the website ‘does what it says on the tin’ and should aid in the process of cataloguing the website correctly within the search engines database. This assists your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts because search engines use directories as a check on websites as well as building good quality back links. Companies which are attempting to promote themselves fraudulently or incorrectly for certain keywords yet are appearing in a totally unrelated category on a directory should be found out through this process. It is likely that your SEO agency will work the directory submissions in accordance with the traffic goals for your website to target users searching for industry or your product related keywords reinforced by the category you appear under within the directories.
Example – A lighting company
When the search engine spider finds a website within the "lighting" category on different directories and the website backs up the categorisation with related content and Meta data, it makes it easier for a search engine to return your web as a result on the search engine results page (SERP’s) for particular keywords without requiring the need for ‘over’ optimisation.
Geoffrey Harris is one such example which has its listings on Dmoz Geoffrey Harris and Yahoo Geoffrey Harris. Despite the page rank of the website being nothing great it appears on a range of keywords related on lighting such as floor lights and wall lights.
One downside to only focusing on directories as opposed to a well thought out comprehensive link building strategy is that there are only a limited number of authority directories available and although these range into the hundreds, for large sites in competitive industries these do often not lend enough SEO power compared with a professional, progressive link building campaign.
An SEO campaign should take into account both directory submissions as well as linking building from websites and other online resources to maximise the potential return from search engine optimisation (SEO).
