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Directory Submission Procedure

For the most important directories such as Yahoo!, DMOZ (ODP), Looksmart etc. you should make sure you really do read carefully their submission guidelines. Some of the above directories are pay for review only for commercial sites (Yahoo!). Some are completely free for inclusion such as DMOZ (ODP). In order for this site to be manageable and above all maintainable, as conditions change on a very regular basis, I will not be going into great detail on each directory.

Having said the above, here are some general tips and rules to help you get into your directory of choice first time and without your description being edited unfavorably.

• Research your appropriate category thoroughly! The best way to do this is to search for your own keywords in a directory and see which categories come up. Be precise with your search. If your insurance company specializes in liability insurance, then search for "liability insurance". Try to be in the most appropriate category as possible.
  
  
• If your appropriate category includes your targeted keyword then you may get a ranking boost especially if the keyword appears in your title, description and URL (web search results from Yahoo!).
  
  
• Try to keep your keyword prominence high. This means wherever possible make it the first word in your description and title.
  
  
• Refrain from hype and exageration in your descriptions. Editors will edit your site description if theycontain hype including but not limited to ... "The best...", "The cheapest...", "The number one..." etc. Keep it balanced such as "Offers xyz products ", "Provides xyz services for xyz", "Large selection of xyz" .
  Do not give an editor a reason to change your description as there is no knowing what the outcome will be if an editor rewrites it.
  
  
• Use third person sentences such as "offers liability insurance and includes a general claims checklist." I have not said "We offer" you will note. Also notice in this description I have not started with a capital. Do any search on Yahoo! and you will find on most occasions the descriptions start without a capital letter. The opposite however applies to DMOZ and most other directories in that you should use full sentences that start with a capital. Keep the reviewers time of review to a minimum and you are halfway home!
  
  
• Keep your descriptions short. The longer they are the more likely they will need to be edited.
  
  
• Do not just list your keywords. Yahoo! for example checks how many click throughs an indexed site has and how long they stay before coming back. It is even part of their "Web-Sites" results ranking algorithm. You are not going to get many clicks with "insurance liability life insurance private health insurance car insurance" as you title. That is a sure fire way to get edited, or if the editor is having a rough day, you may not get indexed at all. In short, keep it short and mention unique features / added value such as the example I gave two points above
  
  
• Some directories list results alphabetically (ODP). In most cases it's too late to change the name of your company or website name. If however you are reading this and it isn't too late, think about changing your website name. For example if you are considering calling yourself "Zebra Insurance Brokers" You may want to reconsider :-)
  
  
• Before submitting your submission form be sure to check and double check that your category, title, description and URL are correct in spelling, grammar and syntax. Getting things changed may not be so easy.
  
  
• ODP editors are essential keen volunteers. Pay attention to your editors prose (sentence structure) in the category of your choice. If your category editor starts often with "offers ..." then use it in your own description. If he/she likes long descriptions then make it perhaps a bit longer than you would for a Yahoo! description.
  
  
• Your directory submission site description does NOT have to be identical to your description meta tag. In fact it is very rare to see a meta description matching exactly a directory description.
  
  

The value of an entry in a major web directory should not be underestimated. We recommend for most of our business clients that they pay for a Yahoo! entry. Before they do however, part of our service is to provide them with the appropriate category, title and description of course. We can even submit it manually ourselves on their behalf if they wish.

Don't forget the link popularity factor of many search engines. Not only will you get good targeted web traffic from the directory, you will also indirectly benefit from increased traffic through a higher ranking on search engines due to your increased link popularity (PageRank).

And now for the major players themselves...