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Submitting to General Purpose Directories

The website can be considered the building blocks of the internet. It is because of the various websites there are on the internet that people across the world can use the internet for useful purposes. However, for the webmaster to experience maximum benefits of the website, it is very important that the website be submitted in general purpose directories. This is because on its submission to directories, there is a higher and better chance of more and more people getting to know about the website. This in turn generates more traffic to the website, and generates more income to the webmaster.

However, getting your site listed in the search engine directories may look like a time consuming process which proves to be complicated too. However this submission can be easily done with some effort, patience and research. So the first thing to be done is to clarify the meaning of a directory. The search engines use spiders to crawl the web in search for contents and links of various websites. However, unlike this, the directories are powered by people.

There are many directories that charge a fee to get listed in the directories either by paid inclusion or by pay per click. These directories include Yahoo!, the Open Directory and LookSmart. However it is possible to get your site listed for free, but paying for it to get listed will help increase the process. By speeding up the process, you will get more search engine related traffic generated to your site.

When you intend to submit to directories, it is important that you prepare a description for the site that spans 25 words or less. Use two or three key terms or phrases in the description so that it describes the site well. You can get ideas for phrases to be used in the description by thinking about what words and phrases people may use when searching for your product or service. If your site is about stationery, you could create a description that looks like this:

Purchase files, books, pens, inks, cello tapes, gums and all other stationery products while browsing through our extensive book lists.

It is always better to avoid using marketing speak in the description. Instead, use facts and as many relevant keywords as possible. If you intend to pay for your inclusion in directories, you have to make a submission budget beforehand. The budget has to be anything around $800; however, prices are regularly increasing and you may need more.

Different sites have different submission criteria. With Yahoo, you have two submission options. The Standard submission which is non commercial is free while the express submission costs an annual $300. You just have to click on the ‘suggest a site’ link, and fill its submission form for free standard submissions.

LookSmart was the power house of MSN where MSN accounted for half of LookSmart’s revenue before switching over to Inktomi. However, MSN’s departure should not inhibit you from submitting in LookSmart as it still distributes to other search engines. Here, you can also choose between a free, non-commercial submit and a paid submit for commercial options. For a free submission, a form has to be filled, and a test to be passed wherein you submit the site. The paid listings of LookSmarts are usually priced on cost-per-click basis. So here, you only have to pay if and when users click on the listing, and visit your website. You have to pay $0.15 CPC for the first 5,000 clicks to the sites, by using an online credit card. Clicks after 5,000 are billed as your business category rate and ranges between $0.23 and $0.75 for a click.

These are only two of the directories in the internet. There are other directories you could consider submitting your websites to like the Open Directory, GoGuides, JoeAnt and Web-Beacon.