The topic of "blog directories" is something making the Webmaster forum rounds lately.
We predicted years ago that directories would become less and less important, that even the mighty Yahoo! (way back when, their directory was more important than any Search Engine) would not be able to keep up with algorithm-based Search Engines that will only get faster, more complete and smarter with time (directories, by contrast, are human-reviewed).
Sure enough, even Yahoo!'s directory delivers near-zero traffic nowadays. That, believe it or not, was the original goal of submission, just like listing in the engines. But that is history forever. There may be the exceptional niche directory, but nowadays you list in good directories only to get a quality inbound link or three (i.e., as part of your site's Inbound Link Program).
However, if you can easily afford the $299, it's still probably worth listing at Yahoo!'s directory as part of your link program (even though Google no longer specifically mentions Yahoo! by name). If you can't afford the fee, don't bother. There are tons of ways to build inbound links and you only need enough to get the traffic "snowball" started.
Now let's talk about directories and blog directories for a second...
The Yahoo! Directory, dir.yahoo.com, has a PR of 8 and receives around 3 million visitors per month.
Blog Catalog seems to be the most significant blog directory. The home page has a PR of 7 and 550,000+ visitors every month. But that is for the entire site.
The home page of the directory itself is PR6, and there's no way to know how many visitors are going directly there. I suspect it's a small percentage since it's a social community site. So don't count on receiving much traffic from it.
What is blogcatalog.com all about?
The directory itself is not very impressive. The categories are very "macro" in nature. In Yahoo!, anguilla-beaches.com is listed here. And there are solid sites around her.
In Blog Catalog, she'd submit to this location. (PR4 and probably will never send a visitor. And no, you won't find her there. I'm not suggesting it to her.)
The process is not complicated...
You join and become "part of the community" (instead of just submitting to a "regular" directory). Submit your Site Blog URL, not your home page. Fill in the rest, pretty straightforward.
Unfortunately, that means you then start getting e-mails from others wanting you to join their network of friends. You can also join blogging forums there. But none of this is a very productive use of your time.
And unfortunately, sites are ranked and rated. So you may have to spend some time getting some ratings. Phew, it's starting to sound like work.
So, as long as you avoid the downside of distraction, and since it takes little time (you might even find a good link exchange from those invitations -- who knows?), there's no real big downside to submitting there. As to upsides, who knows? There are tens of thousands of blogs listed there, so, at the very least, your Blog It! blog gets associated with similar blogs in your category.
I don't know that it's worthwhile. But for the simple act of submitting it, you do get a link from the directory to your site blog. You might want to set up an e-mail account just for this so you can filter out invitations if they become an annoying waste of time.
Think of this like submitting to a second tier directory, basically. That's what it boils down to.
I'm not sure there are any other "blog directories" with the PR and traffic juice of Blog Catalog (and for a general directory that crosses all niches, the numbers are not great). If you do find a good blog directory that has Blog Catalog's numbers, let me know in your comments.
Please note... You can check traffic using Search It!'s 5-in-1 traffic tool in the Popularity category. Google's toolbar tells you PR.
In a world where directories are less and less important, how important is a single link from a blogging directory? Not much. As long as you don't make the same mistake as regular directories, chasing free listing in tons of free and lightweight directories, it can't hurt.
All the best,
Follow Ken at Twitter
Very helpful analysis Ken, as always. :)
I posted a couple of days ago about BlogCatalog's bias against network marketing websites. My advice was to not waste time submitting a network marketing site to their directory.
BlogCatalog of course has the right to determine what kind of sites they list in their directory. I simply wish they made it clear up front that network marketing sites are not welcome.
By the way, my blog contains tips and resources for network marketers; it's not one big ad for my business as they characterized it.
Thank you for all you do,
Mark
Posted by: Mark Worthen | October 28, 2008 at 05:19 PM