Step 7: Using Internet Directories To Boost Your Rankings

What's a directory and why should I care?

An Internet directory specializes in linking to other sites and categorizing those links. Directories often allow site owners to directly submit their sites for inclusion, and have editors review submissions for fitness.

For the purposes of search engine optimization, such directories provide an excellent way to obtain high-quality links and increase your rankings.

The biggest directories

Two of the Internet's biggest directories are DMOZ and Yahoo! Directory. If your site is listed in both of them, your chances of ranking high in Google and Yahoo! increase dramatically! Here's a brief overview of both of them:

• DMOZ (aka Open Directory Project or ODP) is a huge (and free!) directory that features a vast variety of topics. You should seriously consider submitting your site to it. Google and other search engine favor sites that are in DMOZ, and rank them higher. Click here to visit the DMOZ submission page.
  
  
• Yahoo! Directory is not free, but its quality is also superb. Yahoo! will give more weight to a site listed in the Yahoo! Directory, so you should probably consider a paid inclusion if Yahoo! rankings are your top priority. Click here to visit the Yahoo! Directory submission page.

Other directories that are worth your while

There are hundreds of thousands of directories on the Net, so which ones are worth your time?

Below is an extensive list of the recommended directories you should submit to. All these directories have been hand-picked for you, so their quality is outstanding. And the best news is that these all are totally free to join!

Here's the monster list of over 1,200 directories: