As will become clear in future posts, there are two problems that we have to deal with when trying to come up with a good system for submitting sites to web directories.  The first is determining which directories to submit to.  The second problem is determining how to submit to them.  For now, we are going to concentrate on the first problem. 

There are a number of lists out there about quality web directories which I want to analyze more closely.  I have collected a large number of these lists, including this list of lists of web directories (see towards the end of the post) which I just happened upon today.  The question now is what to do with this list.  Should I trust those lists with the best reputation, make a large, master list and be done with it?  Is there some criteria by which I can judge the directories on those lists.  Also, what about prioritizing the directories on this list.  What criteria should I use to judge a directory? 

These questions, and others like them, we will have to answer as we go along.  For now, I’m eager to get my feet wet and take a look at these lists and see more of what they are about.  

 

Info Vilesilencer.com — home of the seo friendly free directory list

The first list that I want to take a look at is at Info.Vilesilencer.com.  I have known about this list for awhile now, but I have never actually taken a good, solid look at it.  Given that I have heard good things about it I thought that it was the best place to start.  As their byline states, Info Vilesilencer has put together a large list of what they claim are seo friendly directories.  As of today they state that they have 453 general, free web directories.  They also have a list of 52 new niche directories (with plan for more niche directories as time goes on) as well as a decent size list of recommended pay for inclusion directories.  You can download the entire list (or should I say lists) for free to an excel file at their website.

In addition, Info Vilesilencer has a blog which has useful information about directories as well as keeps people up-to-date about the Info Vilesilencer list of directories.  Info Vilesilencer is constantly updating their website directory list with old sites being removed and new ones being added every month.  They also have a 1000 member strong forum which is totally dedicated (as far as I can tell) to web directories.  In short, info vilesilencer seems serious about directories and thus they deserve a good, solid look. 

With that said, here are my initial observations about their list of web directories:

1. As of now this is the most serious attempt that I know of to maintain a large, practical list of seo friendly directories.  The seriousness with which they take web directories in and of itself instills confidence in their list, particularly since they seem to know a thing or two about seo.  It is reassuring that they are constantly applying their knowledge of seo to maintain a solid, useful list of website directories.
2. The web directories in the Info Vilesilencer list contain the following qualities:  A) They are free.  B) They offer non-reciprocal links.  C) The directories are crawlable and indexable by the search engines (thus “useful in boosting a sites ranking in the search engines”).  D)  They provide a direct, static link to one’s web site (”so that the search engines when they crawl will count that as a link to you, and thus increase your rankings in the SERPs”).  E) Directories which experience problems which are not fixed (including, it seems broken links) are removed from the list.
3. I recognize at least one of the people who has helped to build up this list, Phil C, from Search Engine Watch and think highly of his knowledge about SEO (I have also visited his site, blog, and forum and find each of them to be valuable resources).
4. They offer solid advice as to how to submit one’s website to web directories.
5. They submit their site (info.vilesilencer.com) to each of these directories and note which one’s added Info Vilesilencer to their directory and which one’s didn’t.  This is useful because these sites are “proven to accept site submissions”, whereas it is not clear if or when your site will be included in the other directories (Info Vilesilencer recommends that you add these other directories only after you have submitted your site to the “tried and true” directories in the list).
6. The list includes up-to-date PR rating of the top-level of the directory domain and also indicates whether or not registration is required in order to submit one’s site to the directory.

All in all, Info Vilesilencer looks like an excellent list.  Their combination of knowledge and expertise on the one hand and consistency and dedication on the other have produced what may very well be the definitive list of web directories.  Assuming, therefore, that an economical and efficient method of submitting one’s website to all of these directories exists then the only question which remains is the value of web directories in general.  But, assuming that web directories do have some value, then this list certainly needs to be consulted and considered. 

On that note, it is worth pointing out that as far as Info Vilesilencer is concerned, directories provide in and of themselves very little, if any, direct traffic.  Therefore, the whole value of web directories rests on the value of their back links.  And, of course, one of the main points of this series of blog posts is to try and determine whether or not web directories have any backlink value.  In the meantime, though, we have found at least one high quality list of web directories to take into consideration.

One final note:  if you feel that 453+ directories is too much for you to handle, you may want to consider Info Vilesilencer’s web site directory submission service.