Website Marketing Directory — Search Engine Optimisation — Melbourne, Sydney, Australia

The following are some frequently asked questions regarding using directories to build links.

What is DMOZ?
The biggest and most significant of the free online directories is the Open Directory Project known as DMOZ. This information aggregator supplies directory data to a range of sub directories around the world by country / region etc. In this way one submission to DMOZ could end up appearing in a hundred directories around the world.

How do I find free directories?
There are literally hundreds of free directories out there that you could potentially submit your website to. Some are really good whereas others are of questionable value. The key is to cover the main feeder directories (such as DMOZ) and then cherry pick ones that can potentially deliver high page ranking "votes" as well as those that are most relevant to your business either via industry focus or geographic location. Enedia have compiled a spreadsheet listing of approximately 200 free directories of potential interest to Australian web marketers. Enedia members can request a free copy.

It seems like too much work
The key to reducing the workload is organisation. What is needed is for your develop a standard approach that is designed to maximise the impact of any listing to your site and preferably allow you to simply cut and paste prewritten information into the various form fields.

A possible approach could be as follows...

• Assemble list of free directories and put into spreadsheet format so that you can record each entry and keep all relevant info (logins, passwords etc) in one spot
• Decide what you want to say in each directory listing. How much you can say (and how you can say it) will vary slightly from directory to directory with some limiting free listings to a title and URL whereas others allow much more scope for elaboration.

  Essentially this will require you to cover the following...

  Title:
  Incorporates a description of what your business does as well as a Geographic locator

  Site URL:
  Would generally use the home page URL unless it was a highly specific directory relating to a specific product or service in which case you could substitute a deeper URL

  Short Description (5 - 10 words):
  Some directories only allow very short accompanying descriptions and many have rules against overtly "salesy" language. If you are already running Google Adwords campaigns I would suggest using the best performing ad descriptions from there. Try and get a call to action in the description &/or title. You need to create a sense of urgency in the mind of a potential customer who has to choose whether to click on your link or that of your competitor next to you. The search engine results page is the point of sale. If you don't close this deal it doesn't matter how good your site is.

  Longer description (25 - 30 words):
  Some directories allow you to add longer descriptions. This could be an expansion on the Google ad descriptions or something custom. At the most basic level it could just be some nice engaging copy grabbed straight from the site.

  Contact email address:
  This is the email address of the person who will be the authorised contact for the ad. In most cases this will be the login ID to manage the directory listing into the future. It is also the email address where a confirmation email may be sent containing instructions on how to activate the ad ... this is generally just clicking on a link from the email. Ideally this needs to be an address that will be checked regularly however it doesn't need to be an actual person (ie. an info@ or sales@ address would be fine). Using a consistent generic email address would also be a good idea as it avoids any problems associated with a staff member leaving the company, going on holidays or changing email addresses etc. (You can always arrange for it to be forwarded on to a responsible person anyway. Having a generic also reduces the potential for annoying Spam ending up in a personal account

  Authorised persons name:
  The name of the person who authorised the directory listing. Required for administration of the ad in directory.

  Keywords:
  Some directories allow for the listing of keywords. Generally use your best performing PPC keywords

  Category:
  This will vary from directory to directory. Some will just have a generic category like "Business" whereas others will get quite granular eg. "Australia - business - telecommunications - service providers" etc It may not always be possible to get the perfect category listing but having a short list of preferred category descriptions will help you shortlist when confronted with multiple choices.

  Preferred login/password:
  This may not always be possible to choose but having a default one to use when available simplifies ongoing management.

  Reciprocal links:
  Some directories will request reciprocal links in return for a listing. Some will not list unless you reciprocate, some will give you a more prominent listing (or fast track the implementation time) whereas others just ask politely. Therefore you need to have systems in place to deal with this. Some you may want to discount out of hand as they are inappropriate to link to or they want you to jump through too many hoops. However generally speaking I think that they can be managed effectively on site as follows (split into 2 categories depending upon relevancy and degree to which you might want to publicise them to human visitors)...

  • Directories with high relevance or kudos value.
    (eg. Industry directories, prominent media directories, Govt/uni or other "authoritative sources" etc..). These can be dealt with under existing site pages (eg. Related links page, Press page, Partners etc). If there are too many to fit on these pages you can always produce additional links pages which sit outside the main menu structure and are linked via a text link from a specific page(s) (ideally at least the site map)
  • Directories with SEO value but no direct specific relevance to your brand, products or services.
    Treat similarly to the extra link scenario described above. List on a page accessible only via a link from the site map. In this way it is accessible by a search engine or motivated visitor but not on overt public display

  You can then use these URL's when requested for details of reciprocal links.

• All of this info can then be bundled into a standard Link Kit containing appropiate instructions along with other relevant materials (eg. Logos, HTML/Pantone colours of brandign etc) that can be distributed widely to assist companies link to your site and provide best value.
• Start updating/submitting to directories in batches. You may need to spend some time actioning confirmations, updates to links pages on your site and ultimately finishing the process. Basically there is no need to target every single directory just to get a good mix and the effective critical mass is probably about 20 (although if you can get more all the better) as directories tend to feed off each other - so that once you get in a reasonable number you might end up getting picked up by others. As with all things on the web it is about getting the starting momentum and encouraging the viral effect. Also once you go too far down the reciprocal link path the volumes can become a pain unless you automate it.
• Doing all of this also gives you an idea of the issues and practicalities of managing link strategies that you can bundle into guides for use with affiliates, partners, suppliers, forums etc.
• Create / Update the links pages
• Resubmit the site to search engines. This may not necessarily cause the site to be indexed any quicker but it can't hurt (as long as you are not doing it repeatedly).