Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Free Directories

As Christmas Eve is this Saturday, my usual update day, I might not get anything new posted to my Free Directories reviews over the weekend.

I do want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year (or insert the holiday of your choice). Here's a funny politically correct, CYA, Merry Winter Holiday post over at threadwatch. To those that have helped me this past year (and before), thank you very much!!

I also want to take a moment to thank all my regular visitors and all the new ones too. It's been a great first year for this site. The fact that you are reading this post shows that Free Directory Listings do work to boost your site's visibility.

No, they won't get you to #1 for every keyword phrase, but they have worked pretty well for me:

• #1 & #2 in Yahoo! out of 82.9 million pages for Free Directory Listings
• #1 in MSN out of 5.5 million pages for Free Directory Listings
• #22 & #28 in Yahoo! out of 63.9 million pages for Free Directories
• #10 in Yahoo! out of 193 million pages for Free Listing
• #1 in Google out of 12.3 million pages for Coordinated Website Development (and coordinated isn't even on the page)
• #72 in Google out of 36.9 million page for Free Directory Listings Google doesn't seem to like the free directories as much as the others ;-( (my site is just now starting to rank in Google (aging delay?? Sandbox??), but I am moving up!! ;-)

(note: all rankings are as of the day I wrote this)

I do have some other pretty good rankings and it all started with links from free directories. Now, to be completely honest, I did get some other decent "off topic" links from some client sites and then Robin's article. "Blogs with a Purpose" gave me a huge boost, but I was doing OK before that article.

It also goes to show that if you create good content that is useful to others, people will notice (after you get some initial visibility - hence the free directories), and then they will link to your content!! ;-)

It is getting harder to use Free Listings to gain rankings, but they are useful in the beginning and some are good in the long run. As an added bonus, some of these directories actually send a small bit of traffic.

Have a wonderful holiday and get back to work on your submissions next week.

As always, I like to hear from you, so please comment below, email me by clicking on my name below or via my contact form.

martin

Looking for Free Directory Listings Format Ideas

I am in the "idea stage" of planning the new and improved Free Directory Listings reviews format. I like the "review" aspect of my listings, but I want to make it database driven so you can display the information in a variety of helpful formats.

So far, I think you should be able to view/sort the free directories in the following ways:

1. Alphabetical
2. Newest/oldest first order
3. Home page PageRank order
4. Typical interior PageRank order
5. Reciprocal link required = Yes/no
6. Deep linking allowed
7. Back links indexed by search engine
8. Length of time to expect for inclusion (this would also show ones that haven't listed me)
9. Duds
10. Search function
11. Some sort of rating system??
12. Classic/legacy/original format (order I reviewed the directories)

Maybe I should optionally incorporate the Paid Directory Listings into the mix. Should I add the "strength" figures that other lists show, like the link pop and page saturation by search engine? What else should I include to make this the best "Directory of Directories"?

Your thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Please add your comments below, email me by clicking on my name or via my contact form.

I have added 4 new reviews to the my directory listings, so get to work submitting!! ;-)

martin

Are PR0 Directory Pages Any Good?

I received a question from a visitor and he asked:

Thanks for the really good directory on directories. Need to ask 1 question. If a category where my link will appear, shows PR0, then its not worth listing in .Is that right? And I should look for category pages showing decent PR ?

The way I look at most Free Directory Listings is as a bet or an investment. I am betting or investing my time in the hopes that the listing page will mature with time and that it may bring me some direct traffic too. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Also, remember that the Toolbar PageRank is a snapshot of the PR value as of the last update (usually a few months old). Google recognizes the PR of the page in calculating the amount passed through the link in real time. You can usually get an idea how strong a page is or may become by looking at the pages above it (or the home page value). As a directory matures and gets more links, your link will become stronger too.

You do need to make sure that the directory's internal linking structure allows PageRank to pass down to the listing page and that the link is static. If you are getting you directories from my reviews, I have already checked to make sure they will pass PR (except for directories on the Duds page).

For the second part of his question, as I have said before in my Free Directory Listing 101 #4, try to have multiple categories to which you can submit your site. Then pick the one with the best PR and the fewest listings. Since most directories stick your listing on the last page (at the time of submission -chronological order), the page that's closest to page above, should get the most PR (this may differ depending on linking schemes).

I really like getting your feedback and questions, so keep them coming.

I have updated some of the directory reviews and listed a couple new ones.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, Dan just released his "Gargantuan Update - Part 2" of his SEO Friendly List (I believe the latest update is currently only available via the Excel file). It is so much work to stay on top of all these changes with directories, I always appreciate his updates.

As always, please comment below or email me by clicking on my name.

martin

Free Directory Listings Major Update

I have just completed a major review and update of my Free Directory Listings section. I have moved several directories to my "Duds" page to reflect directories that utilize internal linking structure that prevents the passing of PageRank and link popularity. I have also removed a couple of directories that have changed names and operations. I have also added a couple of new listings and will try to get a few more in before my usual update next weekend.

Let me know if you have any suggestions to make this resource more informative.

I want to take a minute to recommend a really great resource; Web Marketing Now's SEO Revolution Newsletter. This is a premium newsletter that contains actual tested research, not some forum theories! Jerry West, the author, sends several newsletters a month to keep you apprised of what is going on in the SEO world and what is happening with the search engine's algorithm. This newsletter will pay for it's self as soon as you implement one of his TESTED strategies. I can't tell you too much more, because of non-disclosure requirements, but I can tell you he just released a special report on directories that is extremely good. It taught me a few new things and I thought I was really on top of this market. Check it out, you won't be sorry!

As usual, I want to hear from you, so please comment below or email me by clicking on my name.

martin