In the web world there are people who swear by online directories for link building and traffic generation. I am not one of those people. In fact if I was taking a “web personality” test and the question came up “Do you find online directories useful?” I would have to answer that with a resounding “Highly Disagree”.

Online directories are sites that list countless websites in different categories. Many people believe that by getting listed in many directories will help Page Rank and generally increase their search engine positions. While this CAN be true, it still does not justify the existence of directories. With search engines being so mainstream now you can find anything you need by a simple search. I have yet to meet a single person who goes to a web directory to look for websites. With the immensity of the internet, it’s hard to believe that a “phone book” approach will even begin to give you a good sampling. A simple search in Google or Yahoo will easily bring you what you are looking for.

But what about the people who use directories for SEO purposes? Honestly I think that is the ONLY use for directories now anyway, but, why resort to 100% search engine spider traffic? If you are going to spend the money to list your website(s) in a directory, why not just spend the money on quality high PR link placements on websites with human traffic? Websites such as forums, blogs, news sites, and entertainment portals are indexed continuously by bots just waiting to follow any outside link they can find. Not only that, but since these types of sites are highly trafficked by actual humans you will also receive a good amount of click-through traffic which is what you are trying to get in the first place.

Personally I have never been a fan of directories. I feel that they are simply adding an unnecessary step to the web marketing process. You advertise, you optimize, you get traffic, and then you monetize. That’s all you need. By adding your website to directories you are getting stuck on the wrong side of SEO. Why target just the bots when you can also target the people you want to eventually click your ads or join your site.