The short answer is yes, with some qualifications.  Not all free directories should be considered for submission, especially those that accept any web site submitted, with no editorial review.  However, if you have the time to submit to the free web directories or can assign the task to someone, it is a worthwhile endeavor. 

The most significant factor to keep in mind, though, is that most free directories are not well maintained or promoted.  Therefore, a link in one well-promoted paid directory can be worth the same as a link in 100 free directories.  Another consideration is approval time.  Free directories receive a massive volume of submissions.  Unless the web directory owner simply approves all submissions without review (which is not a favorable solution for you since your web site would be listed alongside a lot of spam submissions), the time it can take for a web site submission to be approved can be substantial, even as much as a year later.  The reason free web directories have gotten the reputation of not being worth the time is because with most companies, time is money, and since results can be more quickly and efficiently achieved with quality paid directories, that is the direction most firms and SEO companies choose.  With all that being said, there are some really good free web directories that are well maintained and provide valuable listings.  Two popular paths have been formed when dealing with free web directories.

1. Submit to as many as you can as they are released.  The benefits for this method are that approval time is usually much less when a free directory is first announced, it takes less time all at once to submit to only the new directories each day, and free directories often later convert to paid directories.
2. Hire a third-party company to submit to all the free web directories for you.  The advantage for this direction is obviously that the massive time it would take you to submit to all of the free web directories can be saved.  The disadvantages for this route are that new free directories that are launched daily will not be covered and the expense involved (especially if you have numerous projects you’d like to submit to each directory).

Both of the above directions are similar to mining for diamonds - you have to sort through a lot of worthless dirt and rock to find the treasure!  That is, you will end up submitting to a lot of low quality directories that will do you very little to no good, but since you don’t know which ones will develop into high quality directories (aside from the reputation of the owner in some cases), the process involves submitting to many free directories to get listed in a few valuable ones.

The overall best solution seems to be seeking the top quality free web directories, and building a list for them (or using a list that can be found online).  You can then submit your sites only to the free web directories that offer value and timely approval for your listings.  When you discover a new top-quality free web directory, add it to your list and continue with submissions.  Ironically, the best submission option for the quality free web directories is featured listings (which are not free) as they yield faster approvals and better placement (since free web directories are typically quite crowded).

This entry was posted on Friday, August 10th, 2007 at 5:48 pm and is filed under Tips for Directory Submitters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.