Free One Way Links Strategy
Free One Way Links do exist and actually not as hard to get as some might think and in this part of the One Way Link Building Series I want to discuss one method most often overlooked by bloggers.
Directories and Blog Directories submission is a great way to have your blog listed and get a free one way links, often from a quality site. There a few gotchas you need to be aware of…
General and Niche Directories Submissions
There is nothing magic in Directory Submission and it is a tedious and time consuming work but if you follow some basic guidelines – it can be rewarding and will bring you much desired link juice.
Instead of repeating what is well described by others I will provide you with a link to an article “The ultimate guide to directory submissions” that does job well and explains what you need to know as well as provides list of a few quality directories. Here is quote from the article:
The top 10 directories
Finally, here’s a list of the top free and paid general directories to get you started.
5 of the best free directories include:
5 of the best paid directories include:
Do yourself a favor and submit to at least the free directories as it will give you a boost!
Blog Directories
As a blogger you have a unique opportunity to do your blog promotion by adding your blog to one of the many available blog directories. In fact it is perhaps even more beneficial to you then doing general directories with exception of the top 5 listed 
1. Get Your Homework Done
Make no mistakes this process will consume quite a bit of your time and you might want to spread it as a task across multiple days, depending on how many hours or minutes you can dedicate to the process. You also might want to get some information ready in advance so the submission process will be simple copy / paste:
- Blog Name – self explanatory, I like to have keywords in it
- Blog URL – you main domain url
- Blog Feed – your blog RSS feed url as many directories will allow you to list it
- Your Keywords – think what you want to rank on
- Blog Description – get this one right. Do use keywords but think of it as Short Ad for your blog. I recommend you have 2 versions ready: short (around 150 words) and long (300-350 words)
- Your Username and Password – often you will be required to create an account, keep it consistent for the personal sanity check!
- Your email – requires valid email address as some will make you verify by clicking link in welcome email before your listing will be active.
I recommend you get that info in Notepad or something similar that doesn’t add extra formatting to the text and be sure to spell check and ensure that you would personally click the url on listing – make your listing an AD for your blog!
2. Locate Directories and Submit Your Blog
This one is perhaps the easiest part of all. There is more blog directories than I care to post on this blog but what I will do instead is link to some of the more essential lists created by others. Be aware, some links in those lists will be dead as sites no longer exist but with so many to choose from – just move on to next one:
- Google Blog Directories - taken from DMOZ
- 20 Essential Blog Directories to Submit Your Blog To
- RSS – Blog Directories from top rank
- Giant List of Blog Directories
I could continue this exercise but it is pointless and if you decide you need more – just do a Google Search for “blog directories list” and you will be presented with plenty more.
Outsource the Process – Pay For It
Did I mention that manual submissions are very time consuming process? And if you have been reading my blog for a while you know that I hate repetitive and mindless tasks and will always opt to pay for it instead of wasting my own time.
There are many ways to go about it:
For Directory submission you can either purchase a software that automates the process for you as much as possible, such as SEO Elite or you can hire some to do it for you. There are plenty option available, just Google “blog directories submissions” and you will see what I mean.
I have personally used this service and was quite satisfied with results – Directory Maximizer. Best part about their service is that it is manually submitted and allows me to specify spread the link submission over time to make it appear more natural for the big G. They also constantly expand the number of directories they make submissions to (currently just under 2k) so I continue to use them and can recommend it to anyone looking to save time.
I do know there are a few free and lower priced services that offer same options but i haven’t used them and you are on your own if you decide to go with them.
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28 Responses to “Free One Way Links Strategy”
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Great information! stumbled!
Thank you, more to come and 2009 will be filled with tips like that!
The backlinks from blog directories should be combined with the backlinks from the articles submitted to article directories (on topics closely related to your blog’s most important keywords).
A properly developed backlink program will deliver far more targeted traffic to your blog due to its impact on the search engines than due to the actual directory links themselves.
I maintain a list of The Top 101 Blog Directories & RSS Submission Sites on my blog at:
Blog Directories
Since I update this list weekly there are now 369 entries listed with NO DEAD LINKS.
Try to submit to 3-5 directories PER DAY. This discipline will pay big dividends over the long run.
If you find sufficient value in this list, please link to it in your “Links” section.
Thanks.
Best of success,
Robert
Robert A. Kearses last blog post..Top 101 Blog Directories And RSS Submission Sites – Weekly Update #35
I’ve pretty much given up really on submitting to free directories unless they come recommended like in this article here.
I certainly wouldn’t recommend blindly submitting to hundreds if not thousands of free directories by using auto submission software.
There are some really, really poor quality directories in existence and you really wouldn’t chose to put your link on them.
At the end of the day you need different anchor text and links that point to different pages and not just the frontpage. Most directories do not allow such linking.
AndyWs last blog post..Here’s Some Link Building Tips to Help You in 2009!
Thanks for the great resources Alex,
Do you know how much juice Google gives to directory submissions? I am really trying to understand which links are worth targeting and which links are just busy work. Any insight you have on the value of different links would be appreciated.
Andys last blog post..Online Christian Business Opportunity Makes Money At Home
in most cases, every other info will be autosaved except blog description
aniroy1986s last blog post..Say No to Traffic Exchange if You Use Adsense
Is it possible to lose traffic if you get link from a blacklisted site?
charles palmas last blog post..Friendster.com – Asia’s People Search
It’s so hard to submit to DMOZ
Decas last blog post..HostDime.com
I am very please that you would give us this type of information.Keep up the great work.
I am very impressed with the quality of the information.I am grateful for your sharing.
This is really cool stuff.Very valuable and informative information. Thanks.
Odd that I’ve never heard of any of the free ones and only 2 of the paid ones, but I like the homework checklist. Kept nice and tidy in an easily accessible text file, could save lots of time.
Dennis Edells last blog post..Who Will Be My First Top Commenter? Subscribe Now!
creating Social Media netowrk profiles is another excellent way for getting one way linking for the search engines.
Great resource and I’ll be using the Directory Maximizer. Thanks.
James
James Mangosteen Deans last blog post..Mangosteen Juice Effect Upon Lou Gehrig’s Disease, Testimonial # 1
Wow I didnt realize directories still carry water? When I do backlink checks, none of it shows up at all! I literally mean ZERO backlinks show up.
Tnx for this resource anyway
Alex,your one way linking series is one of the most usable things I have read online so far….and ..I just realized that I own your Advanced Wordpress …just put the two of you together.
I’ve gotten a lot of links for directories I’ve submitted to, don’t know how much juice they have tho. Any link from a quality site is good.
Jerrys last blog post..Computer Problems?
This post is a lifesaver.. That program SEO elite seems like the way to go! I’m going to buy it, my blogs could use a page rank boost and I don’t have a million days to submit to all the directories…
Nice post!
Thanks.
Locke
http://www.yourblogismoney.com
Lockes last blog post..How to Make Money Online With Twitter and Your Blog
Lots of great idea’s for link building here. I would also recommend commenting on blogs with the commentluv feature to get an extra backlink your latest blog post.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
This is exactly what I have been looking for. I asked all my followers on twitter for their recommendations on blog directories but didnt recieve anything as useful as this.
@kyle directories are still useful for SEO and still carry water as you say. They make your site more crawlable and the anchor text in link tells google what your site is about.
therefore make sure your title is relevant and has good keywords in it. Of course dont spam.
Thanks for the great info. Will be tweeted!
Sebastiens last blog post..Twitterbuttons – Download Free Twitter Buttons
Really good information on link building and thank you for the list of directories.
Shanavass last blog post..How to Make Money from ClickBank
Nice directories list.
For non spoken english sites/blogs, wath directories do you recommend?
Thanks
Arturs last blog post..Dinheiro Ja
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
One feature of (some) directories is that they do delete your link after a year as mentioned.
One way to keep them updated is to always keep a log of submissions in an excel spreadsheet or something similar. When I first started directory submissions, I wasn’t aware of this and unfortunately kept no records.
Robert brings up a good point on submission schedules, 3-5 per day. This is another entry you can use a log sheet for. You can also track and note which directories are generating the most traffic to your sites in a log sheet.
Really good article, was upto the point, the homework part was the one i liked the most. there are many steps to try for. well!! any ways thanks for this article
hoho.. that was definitely one of the best article and explanation about link building “how-to” .
I use indeed, many link building strategies, among them forums, social bookmarking , article submissions, and directories , even press release sometimes. I use for all those some big lists, listed here :
http://www.basic-directory.com.....tools.html
Thanks everyone for the great insight and post here.Its great when everyone can share ideas and expirence with others and when it makes a differnce as well.i will be making a contribution here as well.thanks