Submitting your website to web directories can be a good way of adding to the number of your inbound links and inbound links are important for your search engine ranking as the number of inbound links directly contributes to how high your website will appear in search results.

There are a number of services who offer to do this for you but I would recommend against this since you don't really know where your website might end up being listed and the likes of Google frowns on what they call artificial link creation.

Getting yourself into directories can still be beneficial to you if you take care of who you submit to and insure there is some value added by the directory and that you are not lumped in to a page with hundreds or even thousands of spammy websites. Pay attention to the page rank of the page where your link is likely to end up on and not just the PR of the home page. Google will often discount link pages on a directory if there is no value added to the surfers experience.

Inbound link creation is a time consuming undertaking when done correctly but can ultimately give you the added exposure you are looking for.

Local Search

If your business does not operate solely by internet sales or by mail order, your location could be important in finding your goods and services. The first thing you should do before worying about getting into other directories is submit your information to the major search engines local search engines.

Although finding where to submit your information can be difficult, submitting is relatively painless and once you are listed you will be much more likely to be found by potential customers in your area.

Submit your site to Yahoo local search:
http://listings.local.yahoo.com/

Submit your site to Google local search:
http://www.google.com/local/add

Submit your site to MSN local search:
http://search.live.com/docs/help.aspx?t=SEARCH_FAQ_Local.htm#no_list

Directories to Consider

We have added this list of directories we have used in the past you might along with a brief description of the process we encountered in our own experience. Because a directory's policies can change at any time we offer this only as a resource but encourage you to do your own due diligence when deciding whether to submit or not. If the information here is outdated or incomplete we would greatly appreciate a heads up so that we can keep this resource as useful as possible.

This list just got really short as the most recent update in google has decimated the PageRank of many directories. We will add to it as we find new quality directories but it just goes to show that what worked today in SEO may not work tomorrow.

DMOZ: domz.org is the granddaddy of the human edited directories. It is the most highly sought after directory to be listed in because it is used by Google and all of it's listings enjoy a nice PageRank boost once listed in it. My opinion is that the weight of its listings and a lot of begging, pleading and butt kissing by scores of webmasters has over inflated the egos of the editors as evidenced by responses in their forums. The truth is, is that a majority of the listings consist of outdated or spammy websites who's only real achievement is that they have been around for a long time. That being said, until dmoz becomes defunct as a reflection of the quality of it's listings, it is still important to suggest your site. It is highly recommended that you read the submission guidelines VERY carefully and submit your site correctly and only once. dmoz has been known to ban web site owners who submit their site more than once.

Yahoo! Directory: Fore the mere sum of 300 bucks Yahoo! will bestow the great honor of adding your commercial site to their directory. Depending on the size of the category you request to be included in, or rather the category the editor decides is the best fit for your site, you may just end up behind pages and pages of other sites that have been around longer than yours and not help you out much. On the other hand, if your category is relatively small and you would likely end up on the first page, then it might be of some benefit. Although Yahoo! doesn't confirm this, being added to their directory also seems to help with your placement in their search results.

My advice about Yahoo is that if you have a good sized budget for promoting your site and the category you want is small, you might consider coughing up the $300. If you are on a tight budget then I'd skip it. Oh yeah, the $300 is an reoccurring annual review fee so be ready for the shocker on your credit card statement same time next year too!