Directories

The first step for any webmaster in a general link building campaign is to submit the domain name to multiple directories.  These help give a foundation of backlinks which you can work off of later and expand into more specific link tactics.  There are a few very high quality, difficult to get into, directories that make a big difference early on as well.  One of those is DMOZ, which is almost a backbone for any web directory since it’s not only old, but gigantic and the quality control is very good.  Thus, it can take months or even years before getting listed there as they have to do manual reviews.
Yahoo Dir and a few other high quality paid services are good, but you have to spend some serious cash.  Yahoo Directory costs almost 500 a year for a good listing that will really do you some SEO help, but it will help your rankings and can do so very quickly.  We’ll see how all that changes when Yahoo makes its merge to Bing next year.
I want this to be thought of as a “foundation” strategy, only a small but necessary part of your link-building tactics.  This is especially true since directory backlinks are not going to be the majority of your backlink building campaign once your website is up and flourishing.

Basics to Directory Backlinks:

• Google search : “free submit directory/add url directory/reciprocal link directory submit” etc.
• Submissions include a title, category + subcategory, description and URL
• Have a logo or small related image for your site, 75×75 or 125×125 to include
• Make an email on your domain for just backlinks, admin or similar

Now, it’s easy to find many directories on the web to add your site to.  But it’s not recommended to just spam your domain name to any and every directory that will take you.
Google and other search engines have been known to “tag” websites for being associated with know spamming domains or websites.  So adding your new domain which has no reputation to a “bad sector” of directories can have a harmful effect and stunt your early growth.

SEO Tips for Directory Submissions:

• Only add to Page Rank 2 or higher directories
• Only add to directories that have a category or subcategory that is RELEVANT to your site
• Use focused keywords in your anchor text, do the research before any SEO efforts
• Always add to DMOZ first, it takes forever and it’s one of the highest weighting directories for your sites Google rankings