How to register in web directories?

Web directories are internet portals designed from databases. Directories index websites that they find and classify them hierarchically into categories and subcategories. The classification task is performed by human editors. In the first years of the existence of the internet, directories were one of the methods most used by Internet users to search for information. Then with the exponential growth of websites, the directories were scarce to group all the websites that existed.

Types of Web Directories

According to the conditions of subscription the directories can be of free subscription or subscription of payment. According to the type of information that they index, the directories can be general (they cover all the subjects) or they can be specialized or niche directories (directories of real estate portals, directories of blogs, directories of virtual stores, etc.)

Web directories within the search engine positioning strategy

Registering our website in several directories is an important part of the task of increasing web popularity in any search engine positioning strategy. Web popularity is given by the amount of quality external links that a site receives. If we register our portal in several directories, we will obtain in the short term a large number of links that will substantially improve search engine positioning. The higher the number of directories, the more external links that point to our website.

Searching Directories

The first and logical step to start a link building campaign in directories is to search and make a list of quality directories for search engine positioning. To find web directories you can follow these 2 paths:

– Search directly in search engines. Writing the phrase “web directories”, “add site”, “add website”, “add web”, “suggest website”, etc.

– Search directory listings in forums or search engine positioning blogs. Generally the webmasters of this type of portals publish listings of quality directories.

Choose the relevant category in the directory

Most web directories have several categories and subcategories where we can register our web page. For this reason we must choose the category that is most related to the theme of our web portal. For example, if we have an electronic commerce for the sale of computer products, it is best to register the portal in the category of Online Stores or in the Computer category. If we register our web portal in an inappropriate category, the webmaster of the web directory can omit the registration.

Once we have selected the appropriate category where to register, the next step is to execute the inclusion in the web directory. Somewhere on the directory page there will be a link with the text “add link” or “add web” or “add site”. As soon as we click on this option we will open a web page with a form for the inclusion of the data of the web that we wish to subscribe.

Writing the correct title in the registrations in directories

The first and most important field to take into account in an inclusion in directories is the “link title” field. This field will become the anchor text of the link that points to our web page as a web link. The anchor text or link text is the most important attribute that search engines take into account in search engine positioning. If we get many links from different directories with the same text in the link, we will position ourselves in the first places of that specific text.

The title of the link in the directory must be a phrase that contains that search phrase or keyword in which we want to position ourselves. For example, if we want to be in the first place for the phrase “sale of mattresses online” we must register in several directories with that title in the link.

Writing the description and the keywords

After completing the title of the link in the directory form, we are asked to write a brief description of our website followed by a list of keywords that also describe the theme of our site. In these points we must write thinking of the visitor of the directory and write a commercially attractive description that gets the visitor to the directory click on the link that links to our website. We must be careful not to exceed the maximum allowed characters suggested by the webmaster of the directory to write the description and keywords or keywords.

Finally, many directories request to manually fill in a verification code box at the end of the registration form. These verification codes are protection systems that seek to ensure that the entries in directories are made manually by people and not automatically by a program or software.

Other Requirements / Advice that are requested when registering in the directories

– Do not register the websites “under construction” in directories.
– Most directories only admit a link per website. It does not incur spam when trying to register the same website several times with links pointing to several internal pages.
– Try to register in directories little by little. If you have a list of 100 directories, register them little by little each month. Search engines distrust websites that get many links abruptly in such a short time.
– The directories do not allow for the registration of websites that are redirects from another website.
– We must be patient for the webmasters of the directories to check our website and accept the inclusion request. Some directories send us an email notifying us of the confirmation of the inclusion of our site in their database.

If you want to learn on how to improve your local search presence: 5 tips to Improve Your Local Search Presence