Paid Directories
I have been asked several times in the last few weeks, are paid directories worth the money? In my experience there are only two essential paid directories but depending on your product/service there may be more in the form of niche directories.
- Yahoo!
The Yahoo directory has a $299.00 non-refundable, recurring annual fee per submission, and is the only paid directory specifically suggested by Google.
Find the appropriate category for your site in the Yahoo Directory (normally where your competitors are) and click on the ‘Suggest a Site’ link on that page. You will need a Yahoo! ID to complete the submission but you can sign up during the process. After ticking various declarations and agreeing to the terms of service you will be taken to the submission form itself. Fill in the form following the guidelines for completion making sure that your site description does not exceed 150 characters.
- Business.com
Business.com directory has a $199 fee for the first year which is renewable thereafter at $149. Included with the site listing are up to four additional links which allow you to list deep site content. Annual directory inclusion and standard listing account set-up can be found here.
- Niche Directories
There are three basic ways to find relevant niche directories for your site.
- Look in the Business Directories section of DMOZ.
- Enter your competitors sites into Yahoo Site Explorer and look to see if they have links from any niche directories.
- Search with Google for your industry keywords plus the word directory
e.g |”lawn care” directory|.
One last suggestion if you find that a large number of your competitors are using a paid general directory other than Yahoo or Business.com then you may wish to consider joining them.