Website directory submission, also known as SEO directory submission, is one of the ways to improve search engine optimization. However, in order to achieve this, it is important to choose a "strong" directory.
What are web directories?
What types of web directories do we distinguish? Web directories, also known as SEO directories (in English Web Directories), are special websites that collect and group external links placed by individual websites. They are like guides to internet resources. The first web directories were created in the early 1990s (with Tim Berners-Lee's directory in 1991 in Geneva considered as the debut). In such websites, we can find information about companies/institutions/people, as well as addresses of their websites. Listing your website in a directory, or cataloging it, is considered as one of the ways of positioning. In their beginnings, they were simply lists of links to specific websites, sorted thematically, but over time they became more complex and today they are treated as something like online business cards - we can find basic information about the company, the services it provides, opening hours, branch addresses, etc. The vast majority of them also have their indexed subpages in Google, which appear in search engines.
Web directories can be industry-specific - business owners add information about their companies and links to their websites, which is intended to improve the ranking of websites in the so-called SERP (Search Engine Page Result); placing data and links in industry-specific directories is often paid. Another type is business directories. These are pages functioning like old-fashioned business directories (today there is a website with such a name), containing names and basic information about companies. Placing your name there - with a good choice of the website - results in an improvement in positioning, but generally their effectiveness is considered lower than in industry-specific directories. Another type is general directories, often free, which primarily help in link building. Their weakness is the overload of data - there are companies from all industries and locations - and as a result, they are not always properly updated. A subcategory is local directories, which can refer to both general and industry-specific directories, but only contain data and links to companies from a selected region.
How to properly catalog pages?
First of all, you need to find a good page, placing data and a link on one that is not reputable can do more harm than good - there are directories that can even lower your position in the search engine. There are companies that specialize in paid link additions - often in packages - to directories that are currently "on top" (Google algorithms change, which can result in weakening or strengthening the value of a given directory). It is best to find a directory where you can include as much data as possible, for example adding a map or a link to a social media profile, a few photos, a logo, etc. The description should be unique, concise (usually the number of characters is limited), an important element of cataloging is considered adding links with a dofollow attribute, not nofollow.
Does cataloging affect SEO?
Just a few years ago, cataloging had a huge impact on positioning. The more directories a company was listed in, the higher it was positioned. Currently, the quality of the directories matters more - their appearance, transparency, and link juice (the value passed between pages, with higher link juice indicating more power in external and internal linking). Therefore, listing a company in a low-quality directory will not bring many benefits. It is important to choose a directory with a high authority in Google, a large database, and is actively developing (hence, moderated directories are recommended - where someone checks the data and takes care of it regularly). Cataloging can affect positioning, although it is not decisive - it is more of a complement. It is good to use it in this form, but it is not possible to base an entire marketing strategy on it (its positives are that it is quick and relatively cheap).
