Directories, which are like an interactive version of the phone company yellow pages, are compiled by human beings, not by automated software. To submit a site, you choose a relevant category and submit a URL, title, and description for your listing. Eventually, an editor will review your site for inclusion.
Because of this human review, directories can catalogue only a small part of the web, but, in contrast to search engine returns, their listings have undergone some screening for quality. For better or worse, submitted descriptions are often edited for style or relevance.
The three major directories are Yahoo, LookSmart, and Open Directory Project (ODP). Yahoo is a self-contained portal and is the most-visited site on the Web. Yahoo data appear only on Yahoo. LookSmart and ODP data appear on many search sites, sometimes preceding crawler based rankings.
Directories can be navigated either by browsing their categories or by search. In a directory search, what is generally looked at is not the text content of your site, but rather the text content of the listings in the directory. Search words in a listing's title and description are therefore all important. The category name, category popularity, and keywords allowed by some directories also affect directory searches.
Directory Submission
There are no guarantees when you submit to a directory that your site will be listed. The quality of your site, the appropriateness of your description, and directory priorities all influence whether you will be accepted.
If you are accepted, how your search terms have survived in editing will influence how well you do on search. To keep your search words from being modified, you need to submit so carefully and appropriately that your description is virtually edit-proof.
First, you must choose an appropriate category. To select where your site belongs, use a combination of search and drill-down. Search for matches on your most important search terms. Look for categories that contain sites most like your own. Keep in mind that regional categories are often easier to get into than national categories.
Most commercial sites on Yahoo must descend from Business & Economy > Companies. The other directories tend to be more spread out from the first page on. Yahoo and ODP usually, but not always, restrict sites to one listing. ODP may allow "deep submissions" for pages or sections within sites that offer unique content. LookSmart will sometimes place you in multiple categories after submission. In all of the major directories, you submit via an online submission form linked from within the category you choose. Carefully read the directory's submission guidelines.
During submission, you'll be asked for a title and description. Though a meta title and meta description from your site may be good starting points, they probably won't work for directories. Directories have their own requirements, and there are some biases particular to directories that are important to heed. Be careful of anything that smacks of hype. You must be very conservative about this, particularly with Yahoo. Directories also strongly resist what feels like keyword padding.
They also avoid reproducing the same material in both the description and the title. On business sites, Yahoo and ODP reduce the directory title to your business name. On non-business sites, they may (or may not) accept your index-page meta title. If your business name happens to contain two or three desirable keywords, you are fortunate. If the name is something cryptic, like "The Soft Factory," you're probably going to have to rely entirely on your description when it comes to directory search.
In your Yahoo or ODP description, concentrate on weaving in 5 or 6 prime search words which can be combined in various ways to produce your 3 or 4 most important search phrases. You want a description that motivates people to visit your site, and you want these search words to survive intact. Avoid lists of more than 3 words that enumerate products or services, because "too many commas" will raise the keyword filter flags in the minds of many editors.
Submission guidelines don't completely spell out what directory editors are looking for. Sentence style can be as important as the number of words or sentences specified. Study other descriptions in your category. Look for patterns that suggest a directory format or an editor's approach.
Be cautious about pushing the length limit on both Yahoo and ODP descriptions. Yahoo advertises a 25 word, 200 character limit, but it currently accepts closer to 15 words. ODP is similar. In general, what works for Yahoo will work for ODP. When you submit, have additional information at hand that each directory may request. Yahoo will give you a chance to request a second category (rarely granted). LookSmart will ask for up to 5 keywords to supplement your title and description.
Express Submission Services
Directories have had a hard time keeping up with all the site submissions they receive. To address this problem, both Yahoo and LookSmart have instituted express submission services, for which they, coincidentally, each charge $199. Both services are accessed at the beginning of the submission process. Yahoo's Business Express currently reviews only business sites based in the US. LookSmart's Express Listing will consider all categories. For your $199, Yahoo promises to review your site within seven business days, LookSmart within 48 hours. Neither promises to accept your site. LookSmart will refund your money if they reject you. Yahoo won't.
Since there are no guarantees, why pay the money? Directories have only limited editorial resources to handle an increasing number of submissions. They tend to give their immediate attention to maintaining categories for which there is user demand but a lack of sites. If your category is considered "full," you may have a long wait.
For a business site that depends on web traffic for revenue, the fast review is usually well worth the fee. If you are rejected, you will find out why; and, most importantly, you have the right to an email appeal in which you may request changes in your category and description. Since directory descriptions are normally difficult to get changed, this appeal offers a rare opportunity to affect a very important listing. Whenever appealing a directory decision, be nice, succinct, and not demanding. Make things as easy as possible for the editor. In an email appeal, for example, submit alternative descriptions that an editor can simply copy and paste.
Express submission, incidentally, is not the way to change a listing. Yahoo states that sites which use Business Express to attempt to change descriptions will be charged and ultimately directed back to Yahoo's change form. ODP is edited by 20,000 volunteer editors, so express submission is not a factor. If there is an editor for your category, ODP processing can be fairly rapid. But the editing in ODP does tend to be more subjective than the editing in Yahoo or LookSmart. Because ODP data is free, it is used by over 100 search sites on the Web, and the directory has become an extremely important factor in search.
Did you miss the First Installment of Revving the Engines?
Robert Charlton works in a variety of media and consults in Web site search engine optimizing and search engine-friendly design. His search optimizing clients include companies in the fields of publishing, wine, clothing, photography, psychological testing, telecommunications, and entertainment.
