Proper Directory Submissions

David Wallace 

Now for some specific requirements and techniques for each directory discussed in Part I.

Yahoo!
Yahoo! charges $299 on an annual basis to be listed in their directory. You can still submit to some non-profit categories for free but there is not much chance that a Yahoo! editor will ever get to your submission and review it. Therefore even if the category you want to be listed in has a free submit option, it is recommended that you pay the $299 and you will be listed in 7-10 business days.

Make sure that when you submit that you are not already listed, that no portion of your site is under construction or broken and that your site is browser and user friendly. If it does not meet any of these requirements, Yahoo! may reject it while keeping your $299 submission fee.

Looksmart
Looksmart is a pay per click directory meaning that you have to create an account with a budget to submit your listing and then you will be charged a "per click" charge every time someone clicks on your listing. They charge you a set up fee of $29 for each listing and per click fees start at $0.15. The benefit of being listed in Looksmart is that MSN displays Looksmart Listings in their search results.

If your site is non-profit, you may be able to submit for free to Looksmart owned Zeal whose listings also show up in Looksmart.

The Open Directory
The Open Directory Project (ODP) is comprised of volunteer editors all over the world who are responsible for one or more categories of the directory. Therefore once you submit to a specific category, it is the responsibility of the editor assigned to that category to review and approve or decline your listing. Some editors are more diligent than others so it is hard to determine when your site will get listed if it gets listed at all. It seems as of late that it has become more difficult to get listed in ODP. There is a website where you can check the status of your submission. It can be found at http://resource-zone.com/ and you would want to submit to the "Site Submission Status" topic. Top level editors are pretty quick to respond to your post.

GoGuides.org
GoGuides was started from former editors of the Go.com GoGuides that was killed after Disney decided to drop out of the portal race. Like ODP, it is comprised of volunteer editors that are responsible for specific categories in the directory. There are two ways to submit to this directory. One is to pay a one-time fee of $39.99 where your site is guaranteed to be listed in two business days or become an editor yourself. You have to take and pass a test proving you have some experience submitting sites to a directory before you are approved as an editor. Once you are an editor, you can add sites to the category for which you applied to; they are added instantly to the directory. If you want to submit a site to a category in which you do not have editing privileges, you can add to your own category and then move it to another category where you will then have to wait for that editor to approve your submission. As your editor level increases, you can apply to edit more categories.

JoeAnt
JoeAnt was also started by former Go.com GoGuides editors and is comprised of volunteer editors that are responsible for specific categories in the directory. Like GoGuides.org, there are two ways to submit to this directory. One is to pay a one time fee of $39.99, the other is to become an editor. There is no test to take to become an editor. You simply apply, choose the category you want to edit and then are approved via email response. You can then add sites to your assigned category. If you want to submit a site to a category in which you do not have editing privileges, JoeAnt has a forum that you can post to, asking other editors to list the site. As your editor level increases, you can apply to edit more categories.

IllumiRate
In order to submit to IllumiRate, you have to apply to be an editor as well. Once you become an editor you can submit to most levels of the directory. As your level as editor increases, you can then submit to more areas of the directory.

Skaffe
In October of 2003, the 5 owners of GoGuides had a irreconcilable disagreement that split three of them off to create a new directory called Skaffe. It originally used the exact same structure and database as GoGuides and therefore it is very similar to GoGuides as far a the submission process goes.

Web-Beacon
And the saga continues. This directory was birthed out of a friendly split between the two remaining owners of GoGuides after it split up into two directories in October 2003. It is very similar to GoGuides and so the submission process for GoGuides is pretty much going to be the same here.

Wherewithal/Xoron
There are two ways to submit to this directory - one is the standard way of finding the correct category, submitting and waiting for approval, and the other is to become an editor yourself. Once you are an editor, you can "grab" any category that does not already have an editor. Once you have this category, you can instantly add sites to it.

Zeal
Zeal is owned by Looksmart and is comprised of volunteer editors as well as Looksmart's employee editorial staff. Submission to Zeal is free but you can only submit if you are a non-profit business or website. All commercial categories would require submission through Looksmart's CPC listing service described above.

By following proper etiquette in directory submission, you will not only insure that your submissions are accepted but that they are listed in a way that will give the site its best chance at exposure and visibility.