When manually submitting links to directories webmasters normally ignore directories which don't present any page rank value. This is because the common presumption is websites with PR0 or low PR value are worthless, don't serve a purpose, and can potentially devalue your website. This is considerably true in most cases, mainly when considering purchasing text links on a site, but directories are a bit different. The differences with directories are they are mainly maintained by webmasters, which ultimately mean they will potentially gain PR value in the future. Directories usually go levels deep and the further down the chain the less likely the page you are listed on will ever have any PR, but most PR0 or low value PR sites are either new or less active, which means you can easily reserve a top permanent link placement and reap the rewards later. Additionally, the advantage to submitting to new directories is that it is less likely that your listing will be rejected or overlooked, directories is a numbers game, the more listings the better, if the directory is new the directory owner wants as many listings as possible. Inclusion in PR0 or low PR sites are usually FREE, but you can believe that once it gains momentum and its PR reaches an appealing level, the FREE inclusion would change.
The question I ask myself when submitting to PR0 or low PR sites, is does the good outweigh the bad? If I know it is a directory maintained by a webmaster that has other successful sites or directories, then I will definitely submit a link. If the site is SEO friendly and links are organized in first-come-first serve opposed to alphabetically or random, then I would submit a link. If the directory has very few categories, but at least one relates to my site(s) then I would submit a link. If the site I am advertising is a PR0 or low PR site, then I will submit a link, in hopes that the site submitted to would gain PR soon and share the value. And if the site give me a good feeling, then I would submit a link, I call it webmaster intuition.
If 60% or more of the sites you submit to which are PR0 or low PR sites eventually gain a good standing page rank value which is shared amongst the pages, then you have done good and will reap the rewards. Gaining PR is not a hard task, all it take is creating good backlinks and I bank on the fact that directory owners know this and are creating backlinks as well. Most directory owners know that to make a directory powerful and most active is by having a good PR value, having a good PR value allows a directory owner to charge more effectively for link placement, knowing this most directory owners are performing SEO tactics to increase their PR. You can almost bet that any directory owner is concerned about their page rank and actively trying to increase it. That makes it even more appealing to submit to directories.
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About the Author:
Ant Onaf is an internet marketing professional. He maintains online yellow pages for computer and internet related businesses and services.
