GWM

I have heard that there are some programmes out there that automatically submit sites to directories to prevent repetitive submission work. Can anyone advise any good ones or even any to avoid? Thanks

scwebsites

My advice... Avoid all automated directory submission services.

Web directories that allow or don't prevent automated submissions are not worth anything and will be full of spammy sites.

Contrary to some peoples beliefs, many directories are worth listing with and always will be. But the ones worth listing with are quality niche directories that never promote themselves as an "SEO" or "PR" directory and add value such as unique content, custom search features, reviews or a social/interactive aspect.

Old school links directories that allow anyone to add a link on any subject, free, paid or for a reciprocal link, like the millions of PHPLD installations all over the web, are pretty much useless but a for a few possible exceptions.

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Bravetart

Agree with the above. Avoid anything automated. Link directories are a good foundation for other link building work but it shouldn't be all that you do. It's a low level tactic and can help with increasing the amount of targeted anchor text but they're usually low authority.

The clients I work with, we're not able to use them, everything has to be as clean as possible but I'd certainly use them for my freelance clients and affiliate projects where budgets are lower and you still need a job done. I personally find it more efficient to use a service to do it for me. Not sure if promotion is allowed but these guys are really cheap and I know the guys that work there personally, so trust them:

http://ww2.manuallinkbuilding.co.uk/...y-submissions/

A lot of the directories are fairly low quality but it's still a lot more than you could do in your own time. If you want high quality directories, there's a good list here:

http://www.seomoz.org/directories

Seems you need to have a full membership to see the full list, though you can get a free trial

GWM

Thanks for the responses. I don't want to risk having a manual penalty from Google for doing anything black hat or that could be considered black hat...but is it possible to contact a related site and ask for a link and actually get a reply? never mind a yes....I tried this when I first started the site and it wasn't easy....especially as I'm an affiliate site. I don't have a spammy site rammed full of keywords...I do believe the content is useful and relavent. Again, thanks for taking the time to respond.

ratboy

Good advice.

Searching for niche directories that have a lower number of links within are better try these in Google: ("niche" being your keyword)

"niche" submit
"niche" add comment
"niche" comments
"niche" add site

and so on...

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Bravetart

I find people are always overly cautious with Google. People watch Matt Cutts's videos and take whatever he says as gospel. The only person he's acting on behalf is Google, so take a large pinch of salt. Do what works.

(Good) Directories are not black hat, they're not even grey hat, they're a perfectly valid link building tactic. The worst that will happen is that those links may have their equity dampened and the links will be of less value. This is only an issue if the links you have part of a network and the entire network gets found out.

Look at the number of links on the particular page your link will be placed, the more links, the less equity is passed to you. Similarly, if the page is showing as "unkranked", then it's likely that it's already been spanked, though it could also be because it's so far down a site's architecture that it's not receiving any equity, or has not been found. You can actually boost such pages by using social bookmarking sites to help it be found and supply some equity which will then be passed on to your site (and also other sites listed mind).

Link building for small sites, particularly in certain niches is an uphill battle. You'll have some success with manual link requests but it can be incredibly frustrating. Don't bother requesting just anything, make sure you target those that are truly relevant to your site. Use email initially and if you don't hear anything, try the phone route, you may have more luck talking to someone directly. Failing that, offer to write an article for them to put on the site, with a link back to your site as payment.

As I said before, tactics like article marketing and link building are low level and don't help the internet in any shape or form but work as part of a broader approach.

As a further list of decent directories, try these:

http://searchengineland.com/top-50-c...inesses-104938

Bear in mind they're only applicable for sites with a physical address though...they also have the effect of helping your Google Local/Places ranking if you have one

scwebsites

It's unlikely that submitting to ANY directory will do you any harm at all, it may just be a waste of time. If submitting to directories could do harm, I'd submit all of my competitors to every dodgy looking directory I could find! lol

No, when Google will much more likely just not count any link from a Spammy link directory, rendering the link useless but not harmful. Or of there is any harm it will be VERY small IMO.

All that said, if you are building links, good quality directories are fine and niche directories can be great, but I find blogging, building content and networking are the best link building strategies.

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matty281k

Nothing wrong with good quality directories provided that your site has a unique description and is within the right category.

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stevew

I agree with matty

GWM

Thanks all for your valued comments. Bravetart, I took your advice and am speaking with the company you mentioned. Is there any penalty for submitting to directories too quickly?

I can understand the penalty from Google for link farms and building links too quickly because that isn't organic however, with Directories, surely you can submit to as many as you like as it gets your site out there as a bona fide tool?