This article assumes you have already done the following:
1. Built, activated, and optimized your website.
2. Done all your on-page SEO
3. Verified it and listed it with Google, Bing, and Yahoo, including your sitemap.
4. Listed your site with social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
INGREDIENTS: You will need:
A PC with an internet connection, plus:
- A browser. I prefer Firefox, but any browser will do.
- Word, or some other word processor.
- Excel, or some other spreadsheet program.
- Notepad, or some other text editor.
- An e-mail address
- A logo file (jpg, png, etc; NOT a pdf) (optional)
PREPARATION
1. Make a folder for this project; I would put it in My Documents. If you are doing this for yourself, call it something like "SEO Project". If you are doing this for clients, name it with the client's name. You will save all your information here. Put your logo file here, if you have one.
2. Gather all the following information together and put it into a Word document:
2-1. The title to your website.
2-2. The URL for the web site. You will also want the URLs for your main subsidiary pages for "deep links", to a maximum of 5.
2-3. The e-mail address you want responses to go to. NOTE: Some directory sites do not accept free e-mail accounts such as Yahoo Mail, GMail, or Hotmail. You should have an e-mail address on your website for just this purpose.
2-4. The meta description of the site.
2-5. The meta keywords for the site.
2-6. The basic contact information for the business, such as phone number, fax number, and physical address.
2-7. The name of the owner of the site.
2-8. The URLs for your
- Blog
- Facebook page
- Twitter page
- LinkedIn page
- Any other social media listings you have.
3. Take the Meta description and run it through the spell checker!
4. Take the Meta description and run it through the word count tool in Word (Tools, Word Count). Note the number of characters (including spaces) and the number of words.
5. You will need two versions of the keywords, one with commas and one without. Run the keywords through the spell checker and word count tool. Again, note the number of characters and the number of words.
6. Now, write some descriptions of the site. You will want the following character lengths, including spaces:
- 100
- 150
- 200
- 250
- 300
- 500
- 750
- 1000
- Unlimited; maybe the text of your home page?
WHY are you making descriptions of different lengths? Many directories have a limited number of characters for a description; you want to have the LONGEST description they will accept. Some will tell you they only accept a certain number of characters up front, and others will only tell you in an error message. The length does not have to be exact, but must be less than the maximum character count they require. The lengths they accept vary; the ones I have listed are the most common.
7. Again, run each of these through the spell checker.
8. Run each of these through the word count tool and note the lengths in characters and words.
9. In Word, put all your information called for in paragraphs 2 to 8 into ONE document; this makes it easier to find.
10. Save this document as a TXT file (save as text). Why save it as a text file? So you don't have any odd characters popping up in your listings later on.
11. As you go along in your directory postings, you will find you have to rewrite the listings occasionally. When you do that, put a copy in this file for future use. Again, DONT FORGET spell check, character count, and word count.
12. Occasionally, you will be asked to shorten the title of your web site. Again, keep a record of the modified title for future use. Again, DON'T FORGET spell check, character count, and word count.
13. Find sites with lists of directories. Some sites are:
http://www.web-directories.ws
http://www.whenweseo.com/web_directories/free_directories.jsp
http://www.greatdirectories.org/free.html
http://www.directorycritic.com/free-directory-list.html
You can find others with Google, Bing, Yahoo, or Dogpile.
Make sure you bookmark the sites you use.
14. In Excel, make a spreadsheet for this project. Use the name of the folder as the name for the spreadsheet; this makes it easier when you have multiple sheets open.
On one sheet, the columns will be:
- URL
- Date Submitted
- Result
- Remarks
- Response Date
- Response
On another sheet, the columns will be:
- URL
- username
- password
- e-mail account used
You can do it on one sheet, but it makes it harder to read.
For the Result column, you will want to describe what happened when you went to submit your site. Results I use include:
- OK. No problems with submission
- Recip A reciprocal link is required to list at this directory.
- Pay. You must pay to list your site. Put the amount in the Remarks column
- Error. There was an error message. Put the error in the Remarks column
- Already. The site is already listed.
A third sheet will keep track of your search engine ranking results. See paragraph 39.
15. In your e-mail account, make a folder for "Directory Submissions". You will be doing a lot of them, so you want to move these e-mails to a dedicated spot to unclutter your inbox.
16. In your Bookmarks/Favorites, make a folder for directory lists and move your bookmarks for them to this folder.
17. You need to make a decision about reciprocal links. Reciprocal links are a lot of work; they require you to put a URL on your homepage, republish the site, and THEN list your site with the directory. However, they can give you a permanent link. You need to do the research and decide for yourself.
18. You need to make a decision about pay links. It can get very expensive if you do a lot of pay links. Pay links range from $1.00 to $300 or more for EACH link. If you have the budget for it, great. You need to do the research and decide what you want to do.
19. You need to make a decision about listing your physical address and fax number. They will allow you to get listed on the local results page; however, you can get junk mail and junk faxes from these listings, too. You decide.
20. You will need to decide which category your site will be listed in. To do that, when doing your first 25 or so submissions, run a search for your keywords and see which category your site will best fit in. You may have a choice of categories; use the one with the most results. Keep track of the categories.
POSTING
21. Open your directory postings file in Notepad or some other text editor.
22. Using one of the directory lists, click on a directory.
23. Run a search for your URL. If the website is already listed, then note that in the spreadsheet. You do that by copying and pasting the URL into the spreadsheet. Ensure you put the date in, as well as the result (in this case, Already).
24. In your spreadsheet, run a search for the URL. If you find it, look at the Results column. Did you submit it already? If there was an error message, try submitting again.
25. Go back to the home page. If there is no home icon or tab, click on the directory name in the banner up top; that usually works.
26. Go to the category you have selected for your site. If, for example, I am selling windshields, I would go to Shopping, Automotive, Replacement Parts. If your usual category is not listed, look for related words, or do a search on your keywords.
27. Click on the "Submit Link" icon. Different sites use different layouts; you will learn them as you continue the project.
28. Click on the appropriate radio button for the kind of ad you want to post. Usually, I click on Free. If there is no Free, then note this in your spreadsheet.
29. Copy and paste the information requested from the *.TXT file into the directory.
30. Enter in the Captcha code, if needed. The Captcha is CASE SENSITIVE, and NO ERRORS ARE PERMITTED. This is not my rule, just the nature of Captcha. NOTE: Captcha is a way to keep automated posters away. There are several versions; you will learn to recognize them.
31. Click on "Agree to the Posting Rules".
32. Click on Submit.
33. You are looking for "Posting Submitted for Approval" or something similar.
34. Copy the URL and paste it into your spreadsheet, with the date and "OK".
35. If there are errors, try to fix them and click on Submit; if that doesn't work, copy and paste the URL into your spreadsheet, note the date, and what went wrong.
36. When you run across a directory site with errors, or it is now a pay site, or it requires a reciprocal link, use the "Report" link on the directory listing site you are using to tell them about it. After all, you want to be using the most accurate information, and the directory listing site won't know about errors or changes unless SOMEONE tells them, and it might as well be you.
37. You need to check your e-mails every so often, too. Many sites send you an e-mail that says something like "you have submitted your site to us." There are a few, however, that require you to confirm your e-mail address. They normally require you to click on a link in the e-mail to confirm.
38. When you get an e-mail in from a directory site saying you have been listed, note the date and the result in your spreadsheet. If they declined the listing, note that.
CHECKING YOUR WORK
39. Make a sheet in your spreadsheet with the following columns:
- Date
- Google
-- Keyword used
-- Page listed on:
-- Site listed
- Bing
-- Keyword used
-- Page listed on:
-- Site
- Yahoo
-- Keyword used
-- Page listed on:
-- Site
- Backlinks
-- Yahoo
-- +/- from previous day
-- Google
-- +/- from previous day
- Alexa ranking
-- +/- from previous day
-- 5-day moving average
- PR
- Remarks
40. Go to Google, Bing, and Yahoo in turn. Run a search on your keywords and see what page your listing is on. Note this in your spreadsheet. NOTE: Many times you will find one of your subsidiary sites, maybe one on Merchant Circle, or a Craigslist ad, is the way people find you. Keep track of not just where you rank, but which site is ranking for you. You do this every day, since despite what people tell you, the rankings are volatile, and you can drop from Page 1 to Page 10 or lower in one day if your Craigslist ad, for example, expires or is flagged and removed. Again, despite what some people say, the rankings for Bing and Yahoo are NOT identical.
41. Go to a backlink checker and see how many backlinks you have. Some will allow you to see what each link is. This allows you to see the results of your work. Some excellent backlink checkers are:
http://www.highqualitybacklinks.com/backlink-checker/
http://www.searchbliss.com/seo-tools/backlinks-report.asp
http://www.backlinkwatch.com/index.php
42. Don't let the number of backlinks, your PR, or the Alexa ranking take your focus away from what your goal is: Page 1 on Google, Bing, and Yahoo. There is NO fast and easy way to get there! You need to make directory postings a part of your daily routine. Keep plugging away, and you will eventually get to where you want to br.
