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Bid for position web directories, also known as ‘bid directories’, are a new concept in building text links for your website. These directories allow website owners to bid for their position in the listings. This is new concept in web directories, and is currently causing a storm in the web directory world. Careful use of bid directories can give a massive increase in targeted visitor traffic to your website.

Traditional web directories list links by predetermined criteria, such as alphabetical order, Google PageRank or listing date. Typically new additions to traditional web directories get added at the end of the current category, giving less benefit than those listed at the top of the category. Most paid traditional web directories offer featured listings, which are listed about regular links.

Bid for position web directories allow people to set their listing bid amount. Listings are displayed with the highest bid at the top, and the other listings follow in descending order. Bid for position directories tend to either display listings in categories, such as Shopping, Business, etc, or in alphabetical categories. Most bid for position web directories display the top 10 or 20 highest bids on the homepage of the directory. This is where the maximum benefit is gained. A link from the homepage will typically carry more PageRank, and be seen by more people, than from a page within the directory.

What is the purpose of getting listed in a bid for position web directory? A link from a web directory has two benefits. The first is that the search engines will consider a link from any website to yours as a vote for your website. The higher the PageRank of the site linking to yours, the greater the value of the vote. Websites with greater vote counts and link quality appear higher in search engine results. The second benefit is that the visitors to the web directory may follow the link and land on your website. This second benefit is greater in bid for position web directories than in traditional web directories as the highest paying links are more visible. Either on the homepage, or at the top of the chosen category. In traditional web directories links can often be buried several pages into a category and have poor visibility. Webmasters wishing to pay high bid quantities can easily increase their listings visibility by pushing their listing to the top of the list.

There are a few guidelines you should follow before buying text links in bid for position web directories.

1. Buy text links that simulate natural linking. Buy links from a range of different web directories, with a range of different PageRank values. Resist the urge to only buy from high PageRank directories. Directories with lower PageRank can be a good future investment.

2. Use a selection of link title and descriptions. Links to your website will carry more value if you use a range of titles and descriptions. Although some web directories only allow you to use the official site title as the link title.

3. Use bid for position web directories with a category structure, rather than A-Z listing types.

4. Select the most appropriate category for your listing. The keyword text of the listings around yours will help increase the value of your link. So choosing the correct category will increase the value of your link.

Most bid for position web directories are made from commercially available scripts. The better web directories will be customized to offer unique layouts and features. The web directories with the best levels of customization generally reflect the effort made by the web directory owner, and can be used as a good indication that the web directory will be well promoted and managed in the future. This suggests that a web directory is worth submitting to.

Bid for position web directories are a great way of building links to your website, and for driving targeted traffic. However, when promoting your website you should continue to use a range of techniques. These should include traditional web directories, keyword optimization and article directories.

I will start this article with a question: What is a web directory?

“A web directory is a directory on the World Wide Web. It specializes in linking to other web sites and categorizing those links. A web directory is not a search engine, and does not display lists of web pages based on keywords, instead it lists web sites by category and subcategory. The categorization is usually based on the whole web site, rather than one page or a set of keywords, and sites are often limited to inclusion in only one or two categories. Web directories often allow site owners to directly submit their site for inclusion, and have editors review submissions for fitness.” – This is the web directory definition, as provided by Wikipedia.

As you can probably see in the definition above, a web directory is a collection of links, organized by categories. So far, nothing too difficult. However, what is the utility, or the importance of a web directory to the regular webmaster?

Well, every webmaster knows that incoming links to a specific site is one of the factors by witch Google selects and positions a web site.

How do we detect a “good directory” ?

A directory which can bring you a “clean link” has to have the following characteristics:

1. No reciprocal link. There are many directories out there who require a reciprocal link from your site. The reason for this is obvious: advertising! Don’t submit your web site to these directories, it won’t help you. Google won’t “like” your web site very much because according to Google’s algorithm, a web site is ranked higher if it has more One-Way links.

2. No redirects! Before submitting to a directory, take some time and browse that directory. If you notice a redirect when clicking on a link, move on to the next directory.

A clean backlink to your web site should look like : http://name.extension , where name=your domain name, extension: domain name extension ( com, net,org, etc)

3. Pagerank Transfer!

Google ranks websites based on the their content and incoming links. The ranking is between 0 and 10. A link from a web site with a higher page rank than yours can pass pagerank to your web site. Here comes the problem: some directories transfer PageRank, others use the “no follow” attribute , which won’t pass page rank to your web site. Avoid them, however don’t ignore them because Page Rank doesn’t also influence your site’s SERPs.

4. Registration.

Some directories require registration before you will be able to submit your web site(s). When you are thinking of submitting your web site to many directories, registering on each directory can be a time consuming task. It’s your choice, of course.

If you are looking for ways to promote your website, than web directories should definitely be considered a big part of your promotional plan. Web directories provide web visitors with a one- stop destination on the web to find the information they are looking for. Further, in using web directories, you can increase the visibility of your website and derive myriad benefits offered by web directories.

Let’s take a look at the benefits that webmasters derive from web directories:

Some webmasters might wonder why they should bother to submit to web directories when 80% of all website traffic comes from search engines. The answer is simple when you consider the following: what about the other 20%? When you are attempting to maximize the traffic that comes to your website, every little bit of promotion helps and web directories can help you gain a big chuck of that 20% of web traffic you have been missing out on.

Did you know that a key factor in the ranking algorithm of search engines is link popularity? By using web directories you will be creating more links that point directly to your site and the higher your ranking becomes in various search engines across the Internet. Further, everyone knows that a higher search engine ranking is equivalent to easier accessibility and easier accessibility equals more traffic for your website.

The first way to increase your link popularity is to include keywords in your hyperlinks. When you submit to web directories, the links you submit should not only lead to your site, but also should possess themed keywords within the links. The themed keywords will not only make your site easier to find, it will also increase the rating of your links in various search engines—again getting more, free web traffic for you.

Links that are created within web directories are votes for a site and they use your keywords within your hyperlinks to associate your link with certain key phrases. As such, the keywords you select are extremely important because they determine how often your links will be pulled up whenever a key phrase is associated with your created links. Therefore, It is a good idea to research the most popular keywords associated with your website theme before submitting your website to various web directories: the most popular keywords can make all of the difference in the world.

If you are submitting to various web directories, there are a few things that you need to consider. First, for a directory to be valuable, the pages you submit your listings to must, at minimum, be listed in various search engines. For instance, if you submit your links to a web directory that doesn’t appear in any search engines, chances are web visitors will not only have difficulty finding your website, but they will also have extreme difficulty finding the web directory you have listed your site in. In such cases, the listing in the web directory is a fruitless endeavor. Conversely, if you list your web site in several popular web directories and you utilize keywords in your hyperlink and short website description, you greatly increase the visibility and accessibility of your website.

The second consideration you must keep in mind when submitting to web directories is that when you are submitting your hyperlinks, you will derive the most benefit from submitting to directory pages that have a comparable theme to your website. For instance, if you have a website that is based on credit cards you will find that you get more web traffic from a web directory page that focuses on credit cards. Thus, when searching for web directories, look for web directories with topics that parallel the central focus of your website.

Here’s a quick tip for you that can help you derive the most benefit from listing your hyperlink in web directories: watch out for Google Adwords as these are a good indicator of how Google at least categorizes the page. In other words, if you mirror your hyperlinks and descriptions to appear much like those seen in Google ads, you will more than likely increase your search engine ranking as well as your listing in various web directories.

In order to be successfully listed in any web directory, you will need to conform to the terms and conditions of the directory. Typically, web directories list a series of specific listing regulations that you must adhere to and it would pay for you to adhere to them. In addition, to improve the chances of your listing being accepted you should try to avoid promotional language and you should choose a category that is as close to your website theme as possible.

Webmasters have much to look forward to in terms of web directory posting. In fact, the next generations of web directories are now appearing that allows business card type pages. Not only do webmasters get the opportunity to post a short description of there website, but now they are afforded the opportunity to display their logo and contact information as well. Such offerings prove to be particularly appealing because eye catching logos and easy contact information will make a Webmaster’s website that much more appealing.

In the end, web directories are a valuable part of your web promotional program and should not be overlooked in terms of their value. Along with the use of search engines, and article databases, a Webmaster will be pleasantly surprised at the free advertising available on the Internet. Finally, the increase in web traffic that webmasters will reap is truly astonishing indeed.

You might be wondering what the point is to even list your website with web directories when all you are concerned about is being number one with the big search engines.

Well, the answer to your question is that many people search web directories when they are looking for a specific type of site. And, being the number one result with the big search engines is an arduous task that never ends. So, many webmasters choose to submit to web directories in order to increase their traffic.

Directories are great because people do not have to know exactly what they are looking for. Instead, they can have a general idea and simply search the directory to try and find a site that meets their interest.

People should make sure they are searching within the directory and not on the entire World Wide Web to receive the best results. Another thing to keep in mind as well is that the title of the website and its Meta tags are all the directory will be searching, so those who submit to a web directory should play close attention to the title and Meta tags to ensure the highest amount of traffic.

Websites in directories are listed under subheadings as well, which makes searching easy. Those looking for websites on health can simply click the health category and see the sites listed.

The same goes for a wide variety of other categories as well. Once you get through all the subcategories and find the type of sites you are looking for there is one thing to keep in mind.

And that is the way websites are ranked within the directory. They may be ranked in alphabetical order or even in the order they were submitted. Some web directories even rank sites by their page rank. Just keeping this in mind is important to ensure you get the best results.

If you are considering submitting your website or websites to web directories then you should keep in mind as well that there are some web directories where actual humans handle submissions and other directories where computers do it all. You want to make sure you submit to web directories that are edited by humans.

This means an actual person will check out every site and make sure it is valid and not spam. Only legitimate sites will get listed with the web directory.

If you submit your website to web directories where people do not edit all the submissions then the directory wont likely have a very good reputation, not many people will visit it, and your site wont get a lot of traffic. So pay very close attention to the web directories you submit to.

Web directories are very important because they allow webmasters to increase their websites page rank with the big search engines thanks to the back links. Back links are like a popularity contest and the more you have the more popular your site.

So, web directories can really help your site get ranked higher by Google, MSN, and the other big search engines.

So, web directories will not only increase your traffic, allow people searching for your particular product or service to find you, but it will also increase your ranking with the search engines and benefit your site overall.

If you are a web site owner and do its SEO and promotion by yourself, you know that search engines bring huge traffic, and you do your best to climb the top of the search results. You know that quality text content and proper meta tags are very important, and you know how important are links which lead to your web site from other sites. There are several ways of getting links for your web site and submission to web directories is one of them.

1. Why submission to web directories is a powerful tool for your web site promotion?

Web directory is a web site that accepts web sites listings categorized into categories and sub-categories. When you submit your site to a web directory, a link to your web site is added. As you know, link popularity is an important factor for high rankings. When your link is placed on a page with good PR this is a plus to your web site link popularity, because your web site gets ‘piece’ of the page’s PR. The more links your web site has the higher your rankings in search engines but the links must be natural – i.e. relevant and one-way.

Yes, few years ago for high rankings in search engines it was enough just to exchange links with other web sites. Nowadays Google recognizes such schemes and considers these links not natural, and discounts their value in web site popularity and PR calculation. Reciprocal link exchange can still be used as way to get visitors to your web site if you exchange links with good high traffic web sites, but for building ranking one-way natural links are needed.

The links must be SEO-friendly: static, direct, and without ‘nofollow’ attribute; they must be on a page that has some PR, surrounded by text content related to your web site theme and not more than 30 other web sites links. More links on a page will devaluate “piece” of PR your web site gets from the page.

Web directory that offers such links is called SEO friendly web directory and is really worth even paying some small amount for submission because your link will be found and indexed by search engines in just a couple of days and it will be a “plus” to your web site link popularity.

2. What listing to select?

Usually web directory listing consists of linked title, URL, and description, and also can display web site home page thumbnail, Page Rank, detailed description, reviews by visitors, and other. Listings can be free, free with reciprocal, regular paid, and paid premium.

Free listing is a regular listing, its plus that you pay nothing for inclusion, but this type of listings doesn’t guarantee permanent place for your link because newly submitted links will move it to the further pages with lower PR.

Option of free with reciprocal link listing you can select in a paid directory if you don’t want to pay but want to add your web site. Some web directories consider this type of listings as a kind of premium, and give benefits of placement to your link until you keep their reciprocal link alive.

Regular paid listing you may pay for inclusion to a really good web directory, which is SEO friendly and will really give positive results to your web site promotion.

Premium paid listing is always placed above regular listings and can be added to top categories pages with good PR. Such type of listing guarantees permanent top place until payment expiration, which can be monthly, quarterly, or yearly. Often premium listing allows deep links submission, i.e. link to internal pages or sub-directories of your web site, that is good for your web site promotion.

3. How to find good web directories?

Of course you can use search engines but better is to use categorized list of reviewed and rated web directories at special web sites like http://www.criticdirectory.com, http://www.directorycritic.com, http://www.addurl.nu/, http://info.vilesilencer.com/ where the directories are reviewed by hundreds of webmasters so you don’t waste your time on submission to useless directories.

As you will see from the lists, there are general and niche web directories. Always start submission from niche web directories related to your web site theme, because links from relevant resources will be more useful for your web site, and then go to general web directories.

4. How to submit your web site correctly?

There are some tips and secrets and you really need to know them to get high ROI for your money and time spend on submission. Follow these 5 tips to make web directories work for your web site:

4.1. Make sure that it is a SEO friendly web directory

Links must be direct, static, and SEO-friendly, i.e. search engine robots will easily find and index your link. View the web page source code by right clicking on the page and selecting ‘View Source’ from the drop-down menu. Look at the page meta tags, namely ‘ROBOTS’ and make sure it doesn’t contain ‘NOFOLLOW’ or ‘NOINDEX’ attributes.

Look at the links codes – they must be placed within tag ‘A’, ‘URL’ in ‘HREF’ attribute must be pointed directly to a linked web site, not redirect from the web directory domain link. Links must not contain ‘NOFOLLOW’ attribute.

4.2. Find the best place for your web site link

The best place is page with good Page Rank, easily and shortly reached from index page of the web directory, that contain relevant text and links.

Browse a web directory categories and/or subcategories to find the best placement for your link. It’s very important because link, placed on a page with text content relevant by theme to the web site’s theme has more value in eyes of search engines. If your web site fits more than one categories or subcategories, select the one which is reached by less clicks from the home page, and/or has less other web sites links on the pages, this will give your link larger ‘piece’ of Page Rank.

4.3.Follow the web directory submission guidelines

If the online web directory meets all these requirements you can start composing your link. Always before starting submission you should read the submission rules or guidelines, because if your submission is failed to meet them, your web site will be denied.

Usually typical submission guidelines are quite simple and within the common sense rules – your web site must be legal, developed (no landing page or under construction), must not be related to racism, hate, illegal activities, etc.

If you try to submit such web site regardless of the guidelines, most likely your submission will be denied because most of web directories are human edited.

Another reason for your web site to be denied is that you selected wrong category for your listing – some web directory editor may fix it, but another one will just delete the listing.

Let’s also talk about deep linking – this is when you submit internal page of your web site like www.yoursitename.com/pagename.html instead of top level domain www.yoursitename.com

Deep linking is a SEO tactics for getting links, which look more natural in eyes of search engines, and it helps promoting certain web site pages or sections as well. Not all web directories accept deep links for regular listings – most of them offer this for premium paid submission only. If you want to submit internal page link to a web directory, read before starting what the directory submission guidelines tell about this to avoid deletion of your listing.

4.4.Write proper title and description for your link

Title of your link is very important because usually it will be linked to your web site as anchor text that has great impact on your web site search engine rankings, so do your best writing title for each link you submit, however do not stuff the title with keywords only because this may cause rejection of your submission by the directory editor. Write normal informative phrases describing your web site topics, services, products, ideas.

If the web directory submission rules allow using 2-3 keywords or key phrases in the title and description, do not miss that chance; however try to ‘mix’ the keywords with other normal words.

Do not exceed the allowed limit of characters otherwise your title will be truncated or the whole listing rejected.

Vary the link title and description at least slightly for each submission to make the links look natural in eyes or search engines. When search engines find hundreds or thousands of links to your web site with the same anchor text (title) and description, they just discount the links value and your money and time were wasted to no result in rankings. It’s enough just to change one word in title and phrases order in the description from directory to directory, and use different keywords for every 10th web directory to get natural links for your web site and improve its rankings for all the keywords.

Remember that human users are also interested in your web site listing and if will follow the link if they find its interesting and useful. That’s why to use normal language for the title and description, that takes attention of the users and prompt them to click the link.

4.5. Write down all web directories you have submitted your web site to

The first reason for this is to avoid repeated submission to the same web directory because this may cause the first submission rejection or deletion. Also it’s just helpful and handy to have summary list of where and when you submitted your web site, so in few weeks you can return and check if your web site has been added, because some web directories send notification about web site inclusion but some do not and you have to check it manually.

5.How often to submit?

When you start submission you may have list of up to 500 web directories. Process of reviewing and approval by editors usually takes up to several weeks, so even if you submit your web site to all of the 500 web directories at once, the links will not come up same day and your web site will not be penalized for too rapid links getting. However it’s better to keep submission limit reasonable, remembering that the links must look natural in eyes of search engines. So just submit about 100-200 links weekly and after 2 months you will see complete results.

New web directories appear every day and almost all of them are free at the beginning of their life, so you must be hurry to reserve a good place for your web site link because after several months the most of web directories will become paid, and their popularity and Page Rank will grow due to promotion efforts of the owners.

Where to find new web directories? Visit http://www.smackdebt.com/submit-directory.htm for daily report based on webmaster’s and SEO’s forums announcements.

6.Automated submission vs Manual

Submitting your web site to web directories you will notice that some web sites offer automated or bulk submission to 500+ or even 5000+ web directories. Are the services worth trying them? Yes, if a submitter allows using different titles and descriptions for different directories, because if he submits 500 or 5000 links with the same title and description for your web site there is a risk of penalizing by search engines, or just they will discount these links considering them not natural, so you will waste your money.

Bulk submission is great when dozens of hundreds of web directories are owned or managed by one person or company and they can add your web site to all of the directories, however again, ask them if there is a possibility of using different titles and descriptions for different directories, at least for each 5th or 10th.