It wasn’t that long ago that submitting your site to every directory on the planet was a way to get backlinks for your SEO efforts. These days, submitting to too many directories (especially a ton at once) can be a signal to the search gods that you’re trying to game the system with a ton of backlinks.

So, I’ll be putting together a list of suggested directories for those getting started with optimizing a site. This will be a work in progress. I’ll be adding and subtracting along the way. Most will require payment, but face it, the ones I suggest you get into will give you trusted backlinks and most, with the exception of Yahoo Directory, are a one-time expense.

The Big Two are still ODP and Yahoo Directory. Despite the hassle of trying to get into the Open Directory Project, a listing there is still considered a major trusted link. And, though expensive, if you have the budget I still recommend getting a Yahoo Directory listing. You won’t get much traffic directly from it, but you will get a bigger boost from that trusted link than from just about anywhere else for the money.

Naturally, I’m leaving out any that redirect to your page rather than provide a direct link.

Here we go so far.

Best directories to submit your site

The Must-Submit
(in alphabetical order)
Business.com
If you are using this directory for link building purposes, stick with the Standard Listing for $199 per year.
Best of the Web
Free for non-commercial. $69/year for the rest
DMOZ (also know as Open Directory Project)
Free, but due to volunteer nature, you may never get in.
Yahoo Directory
Non-profits are free, the rest of us pay $299/yr

The Best of the Rest
Azoos
$89.95 for the first URL, discounted for additional
Gimpsy
Free submission available with at least a 6 month wait. Best bet is the $40 Express Review
Go Guides
$39.99 per URL.
IllumiRate
Free, but can take a long time to get listed unless you become an editor.
JoeAnt
Free for editors, $39.99 for the rest of us.
MassiveLinks
Free for non-profits, $24.99 for a Basic Listing all the way to $59.99 for a Premium Listing.
Skaffe
Free for editors, $39.99 for the rest of us.
Site Sift
$49.95 one-time fee.
Wow Directory
Free submission with long wait. Express is $43.
Starting Point
A fee of $99 guarantees review of your site and if approved gets you listed for a calendar year.
Jayde
Free submission.
Librarians’ Internet Index
Free submission, but good luck getting into it. Your site must have great informational content. Commercial sites probably won’t get in.
Starting Point
It’s got a $99/year listing fee, but pretty good PR and chances are your competition hasn’t found it yet.

Others to consider:

http://www.worldsiteindex.com/
http://www.webotopia.org/
http://www.all-linkdirectory.com/

I have added Business.com back to the list because apparently the way that directory is redirecting links does pass link juice after all.

Some Tips
Before you invest your money in a link in any directory for the purpose of getting backlink juice, there are a few things to look out for. First, hover your mouse over the links to some listings in the directory. If the status bar shows a URL that belongs to the directory and not to the web site in the listing, that link is redirected and you won’t get any link juice. Pass.

On the other hand, if the URL shows a link to the site listed in the directory, check to make sure there’s not a no-follow attribute connected to it. View the source code and look for that URL. If the link code shows rel=”nofollow” then the directory is blocking link juice. Again, pass.

Another thing to look for is a meta tag on the listing page that keeps the page from being indexed. If you see meta name=”robots” content=”noindex,nofollow” in the meta tags, the page isn’t being indexed and there’s no link juice to be had. Pass.

Finally, check the robots.txt file for the directory. If it is blocking spiders from the listings pages, pass again.

There are other S E O friendly directories out there, but don’t go overboard. Search engines are clamping down on directories that basically are just in it for your money, so you could find yourself paying for inclusion only to have the directory delisted from one or more of the search engines.

I recommend submitting to just a few quality directories to get some authority backlinks pointed at your site.