The major reason a website is built is to have it seen by the world, by customers, friends or family. The easy part is choosing a domain name, finding a place to host your website and in some cases writing the information you want to be seen by all. However, just because you have a website does not mean your website will even be found except by persons that you give the exact address. This is because it takes a lot of work to get your website in the major search engines. Oh, don't get me wrong, you will have a listing in Yahoo, Google, and a few more but more than likely you will not find your website if you search through the search engines using words other than the address at least not in the first few pages. You will probably find your website back past page 10.
Links to your website play a very important role with many of the search engines thus obtaining inbound links is a major part in the process of getting your website seen by the multiples. You can spend hours of your day trying to find quality website that you would like to display a link to your website, you can also pay others to place a link to your website on theirs, however, both of these ways are very time consuming and you still may not get the "back links" that you deserve. The easiest and best way to receive inbound links or back links to your website is through directory submissions.
Directories a few years back was the favorite for many people when searching for certain types of services, stores, and websites, however, today search engines have taken over this area. This certainly does not mean that directories are a thing of the past. Search engines love directories. Of course, you cannot depend on traffic from the directories but you can depend on search engines picking up your link that was found in the various directories. This will improve your rankings among the search engines since you will have more inbound links to your website.
Okay, you may be wondering why directories are so important and why search engines accept these links so readily. The answer is quite simple. When you submit your website to a directory, a real person views your submission, your website and your content to ensure that the website is a quality site, that you have the proper title, description and content for the category and sub-topic you chose. If all is well, your website will be included in the directory. This gives your website credibility that it is a quality website with relevant information on the topic, because of this search engines will naturally consider all links submitted to directories without thinking twice.
Another good thing about directories is they also supply their links and data to other websites databases and yes to some search engine databases. Search engines look at the type of back links you have, whether they are from quality directories and what other types of back links you have. This will help them determine your relevance and the quality of your website. Therefore, if you only have back links from sites that are not considered quality then your search engine ranking will not be as high as if you had back links from all quality websites and directories.
Many times, if you have several images, flash, or other items the search engines cannot read as well as the written word, they may not be able to categorize your website properly thus a low ranking will be given. However, if you are listed in directories, the search engine will then be able to give you a better listing, thus a better ranking.
Now, you know the importance of directory submissions to get your website seen, however, there is another less known fact that is more important if you wish to rank high in the search engines. This is the value you can receive from varied titles or anchored text which it is commonly called.
Anchored text will enable you to use keywords for optimizing your directory submission. For directories you will normally have to submit your front or home page to the directory. If you use keyword or keyword phrases that are not seen by the person accepting your website you may have your website rejected. It is very important to ensure that you have the keywords on your front page along with your description for you to receive quality inbound links.
Your anchor text or title should vary from one directory to another for more than one reason. One reason is of course, spam. If you have several inbound links with the same exact title this can be considered spam and most of the inbound links will not do you any good as they will be unacceptable by the search engines. Yes, it can be very hard to use the proper keywords in your title or anchor text to ensure quality links. However, using a keyword selector tool can help you know what words to use when creating your content; this will give you more options for your anchor text.
Next, when planning a title for your anchor text do not use wording that sounds like an advertisement. This is often unacceptable and you will not even get your website included in the directory let alone help you with receiving inbound links.
As an example, let's say you have a website devoted to educational toys. You can use various titles according to the toys that you have your website for your submission, such as Educational Toys for all Ages, Toys for the Bright Toddler, or Toys that make your little ones think. All of these could be used for the same website, use your imagination and be sure that the words appear on the page you are submitting. This will give you more inbound links which will give you more listings in the search engines under different topics, such as educational toys, toddler toys, or toys for little ones. With these you will have three inbound links from different directories.
