Submitting to Website directories is an essential part of a balanced SEO strategy. However, there are a good number of people submitting their Websites only to find their requests denied. In this article I will explain how to avoid the most common mistakes in directory submissions. My goal is to help you become more effective and efficient in your directory submission process.

Let’s take a look at some items that will not only help you get listed but also help you submit even faster.

Is Your Website Complete?

During the review process, Web directory owners focus on reasons for rejecting a submission. All the good your Website has to offer can be negated by under construction pages, dead links, page errors, and poor design quality and/or appearance. These issues should be resolved prior to submitting any Website for a review.

Limit the Ads

Many directory owners frown on Websites that appear to be made strictly for ad revenue. If the advertising on your page over-powers the main content, you may need to reduce the number of ad blocks on your page(s).

Submit Efficiently

Entering your data manually can be a time consuming process. Fortunately there is semi-automated software that will help you do this with one or two clicks. In fact, some of the software is free to use for a single Website. Using such software can substantially improve your submission speeds.

Get a List

Finding directories to submit your Website to can also be very time consuming. Some software solutions provide an internal list of Website directories. Also, there are Website directory lists available on the Internet. Regardless, it is important to be organized and to have a list in hand before submitting your Website to the many available directories. Otherwise, you will find yourself submitting to directories that you already submitted to.

Submit to Newer Directories

Many well established directories can take months to review your Website. Additionally, these established directories tend to have higher listing standards then new directories. If your goal is to build backlinks as quickly as possible, then new directories provide a quick fix. These directory owners are eager to review and list your Website so that the content of their directory will grow. For this reason we have our own free directory list available. This list contains mostly new and recently discovered directories that truly want free submissions.

Your Submission Information

When you complete a submission form, make sure the title or description is not stuffed with keywords. Not only do directory owners frown upon this, but so do the search engines. Use a title that is a variant of your targeted keyword(s). Also, make sure that you write a long description for your Website. If your description is long enough, it is quite possible that the search engines will rank your detail page. And by all means, use a valid E-mail address! I can’t tell you how many submissions are declined because the submitter did not use a valid E-mail address.

Vary Your Title and Description Frequently

There are thousands of Web directories available to submit to. During your submission process you should routinely change your title and description. As noted above, use variants of your targeted keyword(s). In the long run, this will not only look like a more natural linking pattern to the search engines, but will help you rank for a variety of keywords.

Submit to the Proper Category

This is very important and probably the main reason why submissions are rejected. Most directory owners receive many submissions per day. To re-categorize submissions is simply too time consuming. By spending the time to choose the correct category to submit under, you will have greatly increased your chances of getting listed.

Submitting to Web directories is a time consuming and continual process. Using the tips outlined above, in most cases, should improve the number of successful submission reviews you receive.

Bill Woosley is the owner of the VMOptions Web Directory