How to Find Free High PageRank Directories

Getting inbound links from free high pagerank directories often seems like a nearly impossible task. If you are a web marketing professional or webmaster with a lot of sites this technique is perfect for you! Even if you have only a few sites this can still be a big time and money saver. Before describing the technique let’s look at the traditional approaches to the free directory problem.Manual Directory URL SubmissionCompletely free, but time consuming, is the age old method of finding “free” directories, submitting your site(s) manually, and then waiting and hoping for results. Having a tool like Roboform can speed up the entry process, but you still have to find the directories. If you find a free directory list, it often turns out that most of the directories either(a) require reciprocal links(b) place your free link on “nofollow” pages that don’t ever get spidered by the search engines. Even worse, many directories don’t even make it clear that they’ll put your link on a “nofollow” page.Ok, you’ve spent hours doing all this work and now hopefully a few high pagerank sites will accept the submission at some point; many directories just want your email address so they can send you other offers.Software for Automated Directory URL SubmissionI’m sure you’ve all seen the ads for this software, “submit your site to 7,000+ directories automatically!” First of all, most of the directories that accept your submission are “free for all” sites that give you absolutely zero benefit with search engines.Secondly, most the directories in the lists are completely irrelevant for your site, or don’t have an appropriate category for your link. Let’s face it, any credible directory has a CAPCHA field that prevents automated site submission anyway.Manual Submission ServicesIf you’re going to spend some money on directory submission this is the way to go. Still not as good as doing it yourself by hand, at least there is a real person selecting the correct category on each site and completing each form. Some services offer to respond to email confirmation requests which keeps your own email inbox spam free. Services range in price from $20 for say 50 or 100 directories up to $300 for up to 1000 directories. In my opinion you should only bother submitting your site to relevant directories with a PR of 4 or more.When looking for such a service ensure the following:
they offer a screen shot of each submission if you request it (it may cost extra but will be worth it)

they provide the list of directories in advance

they indicate the pagerank breakdown of directories

you can choose a variety of site titles, categories for submission, and keywords

they provide a time table for when the job will be complete

they space out the submission over time if you’re submitting to more than 100 directories

I have used manual submission services on occasion, and while not perfect you do get a fair amount of value for a relatively small investment. By no means, though, should this replace your own manual search and submission to relevant directories.Technique for finding free high PageRank directoriesOk, so you or your client doesn’t have paid directory inclusion in their budget, no doubt because you or they over paid for web-site development. I bet the site wasn’t even built with SEO in mind, right.First, sign up for Google Webmaster Tools which is completely free. You will need to verify your site before you can use the tools we need for the next part; follow Google’s instructions to do that.For your first site follow the tried and true manual search and enter method to submit your site to as many high PR directories as you can find. Do yourself a favor and use RoboForm on another form filling software to eliminate a lot of typing. Next, if you want, try a reputable manual submission service using the rules I outlined above. Ideally you should complete both tasks within about a week; don’t stretch this job out too long.About every two weeks go to Google Webmaster Tools and check the “pages with external links” statistics for your site. When you start to see links point your browser to each new one and record any that are directories. For each new directory record the time elapsed since you submitted the site, the PR, and the number of pages the directory links to on your site. Feel free to document any other details about the directory such as geographical requirements, number of categories available, etc.Over time you will compile your own list of excellent directories you can use for other site submissions. More importantly you will have eliminated all sites that either:
rejected your submission

didn’t place your link within a reasonable time frame (if it has been 6 months forget about it)

put your link on a page that block visibility to search engines

In other words, you will have cut your job down to about 5% of what it once was. As a bonus you also won’t ever have to pay the manual submission service again.I suggest using a spreadsheet to compile your directory list. This tool is perfect because it allows you to store clickable links for future submissions. With a spreadsheet you can also sort your directories by any criteria such as pagerank or time it takes for your link to be spidered by Google. If you don’t have spreadsheet software you can use Google’s free on-line spreadsheet tool.For your next project simply open the spreadsheet and be confident that almost all of your new submissions will soon be increasing your organic search traffic.

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