Directories most often market and advertise themselves well. To the point, that when they turn up on the page in front of you, it’s almost always difficult to refrain from submitting your site(s). However, you should take care with some of the directories you come across because often they can be link farms or simply just another directory script that thousands of other directory owners are using. Alexa is a good indicator of traffic- use it. Check PR for trust reasons only don’t depend on it. The owners can throw up a no-follows tag at any time which some directories have done once they’ve reached a certain size. Re-worded, don’t join directories for the sole purpose of gaining PR – you’ll only be disappointed in the long term. However, PR DOES indicate trust.
Here are some alternatives for you to consider;
1. You can use a directory submitter for easier uploading. This still means that you do the work but one outstanding benefit is that you get to choose which directories you submit to and you can take your time analysing them. The best software I have seen for this has been Directory Submitter. The free version is pretty good but it has some restrictions in place so that you’ll eventually think about upgrading to the paid version. Either way, they are both good. You can even have a choice of site titles and description with the paid version. If you think this suits your needs, have a look at Directory Submitter.
2. You can choose just the free human edited directories and avoid the automatic directories. Many highly regarded SEOs and even spokes people for the search engines prefer to use and recommend only the human edited directories because they are known to be more particular about original content and reject ‘spammy’ style sites. I have generated a list for you to peruse and use at your leisure on this page about human edited directories.
3. If you would like a firm to handle your submissions but you feel reluctant to trust anyone, I have had a great experience with one submission service I can recommend. They aren’t the cheapest on the block but they are far from the most expensive. For just a little more than most other submission services, they will submit a mix of descriptions and titles on your behalf once you have compiled them to your satisfaction. Communication has been excellent and they also submit on a delayed basis. I’m sure I don’t have to explain the benefits of those last two point. My experience with them has been nothing short of excellent to date. Make contact and send them an email with your query – Dan seems only to happy to help unlike some other services I’ve tried. They are called Vilesilencer. If you want something that’s less expensive but has a little less personalization, you should look at Directory Maximizer, it has the best paid directory service I have seen to date; mainly because they have truly negotiated some attractive bargains you won’t get by yourself. I have used both these services to satisfaction and both are run by real people who reply to your queries.