Directory Submission Guidelines :
Improving the chances of getting your site approved to directories
Directory submissions are the affordable and effective website promotion method and like other website promotion method, there are certain rules and guidelines that must be adhered to if you want your website's promotion to be effective. In order to receive a high acceptance rate in directories,
Each and every directory has their own set of rule and guidelines that they follow when approving sites. Read carefully below general set of guidelines that most directory editors would follow when deciding on whether to approve a site into their directory.
Ensuring that you follow these guidelines when submitting your site will give you a better chance of getting approved.
- Url / Domain
- Title
- Description
- Keywords
- Category
- Name
- Email
- Address
- Site content & Others
- Url / Domain:
The general guidelines for URL as belows:
• Submit the domain or url in the correct format. Most directories accept a url in the format of http://www.example.com while some directories accept it without the http://
• Do not submit domains that redirect to another site.
• Genarally, Many directories allow only the Home Page URLs and don't accept URLs of inner pages. example: http://www.example.com/this-page.html But,there are few directories called deep link directories are allow inner or individual page.so you can submit your inner page to only deep link directories.
• Some directories are require adding a forward slash ‘/’ at the end of the url. Remember this one where is need.
• Very few directories accept domains hosted on free hosting services or domains that are not registered – avoid submitting these kind of domains.
- Title of your Site:
The Title Reflect the main aim of your website and Title is the headline for your listing.
During the directory submission process you will be asked to enter your website's title; Most of time title acts as the anchor text that will be used to link to your website. so choose it's perfectly regarding to SEO benefits.
Each directory has its own criteria about title.
There are many directories are allow titles with keywords to describe the site.
But few directories do not allow the usage of keywords in the title and only allow for the company or website name. In such cases, you should only use the official name of your site without any keywords.
The general guidelines for writing acceptable titles would be:
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The title should be relevant to the purpose of the site.
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Check that the lengths of Title and Description are within the allowed limits, number of words or characters. (Generally it’s between 20 to 50 characters is fine).
• The title should be meaningful and not just contain a list of keywords.
• Avoid repetition of keywords.
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Avoid any type of promotional language.
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Avoid capitalize the first letter of every word and also do not use all caps in your title or description.
• Avoid exaggerated adjective words like 'largest’, ‘best’, ’leader’, ’cheapest’, ’greatest’ or any other
- Description:
The Title and Description together must accurately describe what your site is about and Description is appears under the headline.
There are a few points you should keep in mind when writing your descriptions:
• All the points mentioned above for the title
• Description should ideally just describe what the site offers:you may include features and benefits.
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Do not mention any pricing details or any other promotional details that are subject to change with time.
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Do not make the description sound too promotional.
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Most directories wouldn’t want you to mention a phone number and address details in the description – so it’s best to avoid putting in those details.
- Keywords:
Some directories require to specify the keywords to be associated with your listing.
Guidelines about Keywords:
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Do not use non-related keywords that has no relevant to your website.So please choose your keywords carefully. •
Don’t repeat any keyword more than once and also make sure you have the keywords entered in the format required.
• Some directories may require you to enter each keyword separated by a comma, e.g. keyword1, keyword2 – while
• Some may require the keywords to be separated by a space. So just make sure you follow their guidelines.
- Category:
Choosing the proper category for directory submissions. choosing the right category for each directory submission is an important step in the directory submission process. A listing under a relevant category improves the link value of your site to search engines.
There are a few directories are very particular about you choosing the right category. Many people make the mistake of selecting the category too fast without checking if there would be a more relevant category. Take the time to go through the directory’s choice of categories and choose the most appropriate category.
Most seo friendly directories state within their submission guidelines that you should choose the "deepest" category available that is related to your website otherwise your submission will be declined, if you submit to a "deep" category, you will not only improve your chances for acceptance into a directory, you'll have a greater chance that your website's directory listing will be listed amongst related websites, giving you a "contextual" backlink instead of a backlink from a page with non-related content. Choosing right category is the best option in terms of website optimization benefits;
For some directories, where you’re not able to find a suitable category, you may even suggest a relevant category (if the directory allows you to do so) and if the directory editor finds it suitable, your site would be added under the newly created category you suggested.
- Name:
Most directories want to know who is submitting a site to them and ask for your name
- Email:
An email address would enable the directories to communicate to you about acceptance or rejection of your website.So Please provide a valid, working email address.
To minimize spam trouble, you could set up a separate email account to receive mail from the directories.
A few directories are particular about not accepting sites where the email address included belongs to a free account like gmail ,yahooo, hotmail . This is applicable in very few cases. An estimated 10%-25% of directories will decline your website's submission if a free email address is used during directory submission.
It is preferable to include the email address of your site domain, e.g. if you’re submitting http://www.example.com, try and use contact@example.com and say no to “free e-mail a/c” during directory submission process.
- Address:
Some Directories might also ask for your address.
- Site content & Others:
Directory Submission Tips
Some other helpful tips to get your website submission approved by directories.
Here are a few other general guidelines as belows:
• Make sure that your website content is real content written in English.
• The website should be complete.Never submit a site that is under construction or is about to launch.
• Make sure your site is fully operational before you have it submitted.
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Some directories don’t accept sites having just one page. It is preferable for your site to have a few pages.
• Do not submit sites that have no content.
• Look at the existing listings in different categories and find the category where sites similar to yours are listed
• Keep the ads & affiliate links to a minimum. You will not likely get accepted to a directory if you have a site overrun with ads or affiliate links.
• A few directories do not accept sites with ‘mirror content’, i.e. sites having the same content but different domains.
Unique content is best.
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Adult, warez, hate-illegal and copyright-violating content Or that link to adult, warez, hate-illegal and copyright-violating content are examples that many directories generally reject this type of websites .
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Some directories will review your website within a few days of submission, other directories may take as long as 1 or 2 months so be prepared to wait.
If you follow these guidelines when you are submitting your website to directories or even hiring a directory submission service to promote your website, you will enjoy a higher acceptance rate and a better return on your investment.
Hopefully you have found these tips to be helpful with preparing your website for submission. If you have any questions feel free to asking us.
At Link2LinkBooster, we make sure that we follow these guidelines as closely as possible. To save the time and effort involved in submitting to all seo friendly directories, you may want to consider using our
directory submission service.
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