One of the many factors the major search engines consider when determining how important a website is (in regards to how high a site will appear in the SERPs) is link popularity.  Essentially, every site that links to your site is considered a vote for your site. But when you start a new site, noone knows about it.  How are you supposed to develop link popularity?  Enter….web directories.

Web directories are basically searchable databases that sort links by category. Simply submit your site to a directory, and if approved (that’s another story), a link to your site will be added. So, how does that help you with the search engines? Search engines also search and index these directories. And, a directory listing is a one way link to your site with your site’s description as content.  The more directories that include your link, the more link popularity that your site has.

So, now you have a website, and you need to develop link popularity through directories.  What directories do you submit to?  Well, you need to find directories that are search-engine-freindly, meaning that their link to you site is direct (like to http://freeseofriendlydirectory.info), and not a redirect (Which looks kinda like: http://www.searchdirectorysite/redirect.php?id=4556324).

Next question: where do you find these search engine friendly directories?  Well, you can start with our own directory at:    http://www.freeseofriendlydirectory.info/ .

There are also directories that list web directories:
some of these include:
http://www.directoryrate.com
http://www.webdirectory-index.net/
http://www.web-directories.ws
http://www.directorycritic.com/

Now these directory sites list all types of directories, so you’ll want to look carefully before requesting to have your site added to them.  Some directories will require a fee, while others are entirely free.  Some cover all sorts of topics, while others will be more specialized.  And some of the directories listed will not be search-engine friendly.

One of the best resources we’ve come across for search-engine friendly directories is at http://info.vilesilencer.com/.  They currently host a list of over 500 search-engine friendly directories (which can even be downloaded as an Excel spreadsheet).  The list is maintained and updated regularly to ensure that only search-engine friendly directories are mentioned.

So, start submitting your site to directories and see your link popularity grow.