Search Engine Optimization: For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Chapter 12. Submitting to the Directories

In This Chapter

• Knowing why search directories are important

• Submitting to the top two search directories

• Submitting to second-tier search directories

In Chapter 11, you look at getting your site into the search engines. In this chapter, you look at getting your site into the directories. Submitting to directories is still a great way to get links. I also show you how to find a low-cost service to submit to hundreds of services at once — one service I use submits to 1,200 directories for $200. The major directories are very important to a search strategy, although they can be rather frustrating to work with. Compared to search engines, the overall process of working with directories is very different. In some ways, it's simpler; in other ways, it's not.

Pitting Search Directories Against Search Engines

Before you start working with directories, it's helpful to know a few basics about what directories are — and aren't:

• Directories don't send searchbots out onto the Web looking for sites to add (though they may send bots out to make sure that the sites are still live).

• Directories don't read and store information from Web pages within a site.

• Because directories don't read and store information, they don't base search results on the contents of the Web pages.

• Directories don't index Web pages; they index Web sites. Each site is assigned to a particular category. Within the categories, the directory's index contains just a little information about each ...