Some SEO experts and online marketeers think web directories are dead. That may be right for general web directories that have been penalised by Google for selling links, but niche directories can still provide a good quality link to your site because they actually offer a web surfer useful information and provide a relevant link to your site.

Bloggings Most Wanted is a blog directory that lists and categorises a wide range of blogs from Travel Blogs to movie and video blogs, and the ever popular Make Money Online Blogs. Is a link from a directory like this worth the money? Well, that depends on your site and how well it fits in with the other sites in it’s category. That’s the benefit of a niche directory - the other sites listed are more likely to be relevant to yours.

Niche directories like this are a useful resource, for both surfers and bloggers looking to promote their blog.

A lot has been written about web directories and their usefulness for Search Engine Optimisation. Recent efforts by Google to crack down on the link selling market have hit directories hard - especially the big boys. But there are still quaility small directories out there that offer good value.

Directory-King has a very simple, clean layout (maybe even unique - at least I haven’t seen it before!) making it easy to navigate. There are a wide range of categories to choose from and the categories are supplemented by articles and news feeds, which helps to keep the content fresh and unique. Features like this help to make a directory stand out from the crowd for visitors and search engines.

And, as well as the standard directory listings, the site offers a variety of frontpage & sitewide advertising options.

Good features and good value make this directory well worth a look.

Best of The Web Directory is offering a massive 25% off advertising.

The offer includes all new submissions and sponsorship advertising in their general web directory and blog directory.

Just submit before the end of March and use the promotional code: SAVEBIG

Here’s the submit page. It’s one of the oldest and most trusted directories so it is well worth getting a listing there (even Google still likes it - it has a PR of 6).

Just a reminder, you could win $10000 by submitting your site to Best of the Web directory before the end of November.

Find out more here, or use the following promotional code:

WIN10K

You will also get $15 off whatever you purchase.

This is available on any new directory submission or sponsorship advertising

(You have to be a resident of the US to be eligible for the prize draw)

Up until the end of November, you could win $10000 by submitting your site to Best of the Web directory.

Just use the following promotional code for any new directory submission or sponsorship advertising:

WIN10K

You will also get $15 off whatever you purchase.
BTW, you have to be a resident of the US to be eligible for the prize draw.

The Best of the Web Directory offer of 25% throughout August will end in a few days.

Use the promo code: SIZZLE25 when ordering directory submissions, sponsorship ads and blog advertising to get your saving.

Submitting to directories is not the surefire way to high PageRank and rankings that it used to be, but submitting your site to strong paid directories is still a great way to obtain one-way links, increase PageRank and can even generate traffic as well.

But how do you decide which ones to spend money on?

There are a number of factors to consider such as PageRank, Page Strength and number of back links. Several lists have been published that compare these factors, such as the strongest directories list at Aviva Directory and the web directory list at Linksjuice. The Vilesilencer directory list is another great resource for directories.

However, these lists tend to concentrate on the home page of the directory. It is important that you consider the quality of the specific page a site is to be listed on when spending your limited marketing budget.

1. What is the PageRank, Page Strength and number of backlinks for the specific page?
2. Are there many outgoing links on the page? Direct links out from the page will dilute the PageRank and lessen the strength of the link to your site, but this needs to be balanced with ….
3. How relevant are the other listings and links on the page? Relevant outgoing links make the page authoritative and increase the value of the link to your site. (Lots of irrelevant site-wide links are not good.)
4. Does it include relevant keywords in the URL, page meta-title and on page title (H1 tag)?

Finally, consider the additional links offered by some directories. The facility to add links to pages within your site is a valuable extra feature.

An important point to note is that by adding your site to a directory page where competitors are listed will help negate the effect of the link to their sites (although how long the link has been there is also a factor). Buying a featured listing that lists your site above your competitors could make your site look more important to the search engines.

Here are a few of the strongest, high PageRank directories:

• Best of the Web - Expensive, but one of the oldest and well-established directories after dmoz.org and Yahoo directory.
• Aviva Directory - A quality PageRank 6 directory offering yearly featured and regular listings.
• UncoverTheNet - A directory and web portal, which offers a lot more content than a standard directory.
• V7N Directory - The directory of the V7N web development community.