Manual or Automatic Directory Submission?
When you want to boost the performance of your website in SERPs, you need to get backlinks. Submitting to directories is one of the easiest ways of building links. Backlinks from directories aren’t normally the strongest types of backlink you can get but directory submission beats most other forms of link-building for its shear ease.
Often the recommended route for making submissions is to do it manually. Make a post on a webmaster forums asking for advice on directory submission and you’ll probably get a ton of responses saying that the manual way is the best. Trouble is, no-one every says what they really mean by doing it manually. Really, what people advise when the recommend submitting manually to directories is:-
Make sure you submit your site details to the most appropriate category in the directory
If you don’t submit your site to the most appropriate category, two things are likely to happen:-
- The directory owner will be more likely to reject the submission as spam.
- Since your website details are out of context the worth of your backlink will diminish.
The problem with using fully automatic directory submitter tools to do submissions is that your relying on the tool choosing the categories for you. You’ll save a load of time and make hundreds of submissions but you’ll never really be confident that the submissions end up in the best categories.
There’s a similar issue with paying someone else to do manual submissions for you. How do you know they’ll pick the best categories? A lot of times you’ll find people offering to do 1000 manual submissions for $10 or so. These prices are so low they make me suspicious - that’s 1 cent per directory! People must value their time very low to be able to run such a service. Are they really just running a fully automatic submission program?
The best method for Directory Submission
If you want to be sure that the directory submissions are done correctly, the best way is to do them yourself. You can still use a software package to help though - a semi-automatic directory submission software package.
Semi-automatic packages load up directories and prefill the submission form with your website details BUT unlike fully automatic packages they let you verify the selected directory category before making the submission. You save time but can still ensure quality submissions.
One of the best semi-automatic directory submitter packages I’ve come across is SliQ Submitter. This neat, easy to use package lets you submit to over a 1000 directories. The package costs $10 for 3 months use. If you want to use the package for longer you just pay another $10. For your $10 you get to submit details for as many websites as you like and you get updated directories download automatically from the SliQ Submitter website.
For more information on directory submission, see Directory Submission SEO Tips.