Overview: BOTW, Yahoo! Directory and Business.com

One of the simplest ways to build backlinks for SEO are through listings on web directories. There are thousands of free and paid directories on the Internet, directory submitter tools, submitting services, etc. - it's a whole industry by itself.

Ever since Google went all out to devalue web directory links (and even penalized certain web directories in their SERPs), experts in the SEO fraternity have claimed that the only directories worth submitting to are DMOZ, BOTW, Yahoo and Business.com.

With DMOZ practically dead, we're basically left with the other 3 paid directories, where a single listing can run you up to US$299 a year. Below is a summary of the 3 directories:

Strong Mainpage, Weak Inner Pages

What I dislike about web directories are that although they may have very strong mainpages, the page you're going to be listed on is usually located deep inside the directory - usually pages with no PageRank. In addition, the pages also contain many outgoing links but little content.


Are BOTW, Yahoo and Business.com Directories Worth Submitting to?

If you're a big company and the US$299 annual fee is not much of an issue, then by all means, you should go ahead and get a listing in all 3 directories. The search engines supposedly view these 3 directories differently because they are old and despite the fees, all submissions are reviewed by a human editor. You should just submit, pay and not think too much about it.

But if you have a limited budget, you can probably get more mileage by spending the money elsewhere - a premium press release on PRweb.com for instance, or on local directories that not only help with SEO but bring actual traffic to your site.

Based on experience, a listing in an established directory is good for giving you a mixed profile for your backlinks, but they hardly affect your rankings in most cases. They may help new websites move from page 10 to page 7 in the SERPs, but is unlikely to get you from position 10 to position 7 if you're already in the first page.

In conclusion, whether it's worth paying for a listing in BOTW, Yahoo! or Business.com directory, will depend very much on your budget, how established your site already is and your current rankings in the SERPs. BOTW has an affiliate program that pays out a 25% commission - that's like a 25% savings - although, you need to accumulate until US$100 in commissions before you get paid. BOTW also run frequent promotions in the form of coupon codes at up to 20% off, while I've seen Business.com give up to US$100 off for their directory listings.

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