Lately, the "in thing" is to have SEOs tell us that directory submission is a waste of time and money. I won't argue with the fact that one should not waste TOO MUCH time or money on directory submissions, however, I think a small bit of time and/or money spent submitting to good directories is not a waste. I actually get some decent traffic from a few directories. But I'm not here to debate the issue, as I'm sure you've already decided for yourself if it's worth the effort or not. However, if you do choose to submit to directories, at least do one thing...make it easy on yourself. Sometimes outsourcing the job is the right call, but this means that you have no control over the process, so you may prefer to do it yourself. If you decide to DIY this task, then use a smart tool. My favorite is SubmitEaze. I've discussed SubmitEaze several times in the past. Once again, Martin and his gang have listened to feedback (including my own) and have improved the product. I wanted Alexa rankings for each directory, and now I've got 'em. Lots of other enhancements were made as well, but that was the one I wanted most, so that I could make a semi-informed judgment about its value.
So, to recap, why use SubmitEaze? Because it shortens the time needed to submit to a directory by a huge amount. Spend a few minutes filling out the following form. (Note that I've blurred out my actual data).
Now, when you click on any one of the hundreds of directories in the list, not only does it give you more information about that directory, such as the Alexa ranking (see screenshot below), but it also pre-fills the directory's submission form for you.
It randomly selects one of the anchor text phrases and one of the descriptions you initially supplied from your site's profile settings, selects a matching category if one fits what you've supplied, and does all the work for you. All you have to do is glance over the form to make sure you agree with the choices it made. If you're happy with the choices it made, and you're happy with the submitting to the directory itself, click the submit button.
This combines the best of both worlds - manual submission with automation ease. You are still manually submitting, so there are no worries about spamming. You still have full control over what is submitted, and to where. But the process itself is super easy and as quick as one could hope for.
So if you don't want to spend time or money submitting to directories, that's your choice. But if you choose to do so, then at least use a tool to make the process nearly painless. I've always subscribed to the "just in case" theory. If it might help, do it "just in case". And if doing so is easy enough that you can't even call it a waste of time, then what's the harm?
Note: Yes, that is an affiliate link up above. So what. I honestly like the product. 🙂