Right way to find quality free/non free directories to submit web page

[komir2004]

​I have one question about link building. What will be right way to find quality free/non free directories to submit my web page. My web page thematic is nail-art.  Thanks and best regards

[KarlBantleman]

Directories are unlikely to get you better rankings, many directories have been devalued in recent months. Given that many of them are freemium, you are better spending your time writing a great piece of content and reaching out to bloggers/websites to help you spread the word about your brand.

1. Always start with the onpage optimisation, without it your backlinks will mean little. Think more about site speed, URL structure and user benefit because this is what will give you a better conversion rate.

2. It is possible but as Gavo said below, it depends on how competitive the keywords are. Look at interacting with people on social media, follow them, look at how they would like to be connected with and do so. For example, if some influential in your industry is talking about a particular topic, put your spin on things and get a conversation going. This will help make you an authority in this industry.

[Gavo]

In response to your questions....

1. Onsite SEO I think initially takes priority and should be the first thing you focus on.

2. You can get on google without any backlinks or with only a few backlinks. However, this depends on (a) What keywords you're targeting, if they are not competitive, this can be achieved (b) the quality of your backlinks if you just have a few. If they are of exceptional quality, you can be right at the top, though once again depending on the competitiveness of the keyword you're targeting.

All the best!

[komir2004]

Hi, thank you for your help.

In first step, I want to use it for my SEO benefits, to get better position on google.

I have few newbie questions.

1. To compare, onpage seo and backlinks, in start, what to have as priority?

2. Is it possible to get good position on google without backlinks or with only few backlinks?

Thank you

[Gavo]

Good response by James.

To add to the conversation I would also advise that you be clear about why you are wanting to get a link in a directory: is it to get traffic through those directories that will best result in an enquiry for your business? or for SEO benefits? (Though these two questions are obviously not mutually exclusive).

If it is to get traffic that will potentially lead to an enquiry, seek to find the popular directories either in (1) your industry (2) your locality. Being in nail art your industry may be something along the lines of beauty services.

I would proceed to go to what I think is the best link finding tool which is Google itself. To find good directories, you could possibly type in "beauty services directory + [your country]" and see what you get. This would result in niche directories that I think would best allow to achieve your purposes. Not all of them will be free, so you will have to sort the free from the paid. You will also have to enter in different search terms potentially to yield more directories of which you have an opportunity to submit a link.

If your main goal is to get better rankings by directory submissions, you want to also ensure that the directory has good metrics (i.e. Domain authority). Implementing the Moz Bar will help with that. You also want to make sure that the directory doesn't look dodgy and established for the sole purpose of just building links.

All the best!

[Antony_Towle]

There is a existing question on this topic, it has some directory ideas,

http://moz.com/community/q/best-directories-to-get-listed-on

Once you take a look maybe the tools mentioned in this article will help you evaluate the directories you find,

http://moz.com/blog/using-blekkos-seo-data-to-evaluate-web-directories-14678

Hope this helps,

James