AdSense Websites and Directories

Different kinds of directories

Directories are basically human organized sections of the World-Wide-Web. Volunteer or paid individuals are used by the directory services to classify and maintain countless numbers of submitted sites. Submitting your website to directories is a good way to gain some kudos with the search engines.
Directories are probably the best way to obtain quality inbound links to your AdSense website.
Points to remember about directories:

Don’t submit your website until you have least 20 or more pages. Directories can reject your content for not having enough content.
Make sure that your website is decently coded. You can be rejected if your website performs poorly on too many browsers.
Don’t submit a poorly presented website. Your site has to look good. Graphic elements should look professional and NO ‘under construction’ signs.
Don’t apply for AdSense as soon as your website goes live. Directories often reject submitted sites that are full of adverts, so be patient.
The different types of directories all have their own set of requirements to follow when submitting your site. Choose the right category for your site and don’t choose more than one.

Paid directories

Unfortunately the services of the very best aren’t cheap. Yahoo! Is especially noticeable in this category of directories. For $299 you will get up to 20 quality links to your AdSense website and your site will be included in the directory within 7 working days. The alternative, which is the Standard means of submission, however doesn’t guarantee a timely consideration of your site. In other words it might take anything close to year before your site is even considered.
There are other good paid directories, but none have the same kind of impact that a Yahoo! Submission could have to your rankings.

Free directories

Free directory services are not as good as their paid equivalent. The quality of their links are often not as good and the speed of their service can be extremely slow.

However, there are some exceptions. DMOZ is a free directory, whose editorial duties are undertaken by volunteers. Over the years they have gathered a reputation that is second to none compared to other directories of their class DMOZ data is even used in some instances by Google to compile their search engine results pages.
Attaining a DMOZ listing can substantially boost your page ranking. Especially if your website is based on a niche topic.
But getting a DMOZ listing can be a particularly slow and hard process. Your submission may be rejected for one reason or another, it is especially difficult to get a listing for themes that are already well covered.

Getting a DMOZ listing would undoubtedly help your AdSense campaign. However, don’t get obsessed with it. Be patient and resubmit your website every three months, if you don’t hear anything from them.
Also be aware that the impact of DMOZ has diminished a little over the last few years and its shine has been taken over by other well-established directories.

Reciprocal directories

Reciprocal directories lie somewhere between the paid and free variety of directories. They are free but it still costs. To get approved for a listing, requires that you place a link on your site. Depending on how you feel about placing a number of links on your site reciprocal directories can be seen as good or bad thing.

Keep a close eye on the activities of reciprocal directories because some of them are not completely reliable. Make sure that they keep their end of the deal after you’ve created the outbound links on your site.

Table showing the most popular directories:

Website	Google Pages*	Cost	Comments
Yahoo http://dir.yahoo.com/	2030000	$299 Per year	The best. Can be simple to join if you are willing to pay the fee.
Best of the Web http://botw.org/	118000	$249 One-off	Very good directory. Has over 100,000 categories.
Ezilon http://www.ezilon.com/	140000	$199 One-off	Large database but relatively cheaper than the big two.
Joant http://www.joeant.com	106000	$39.95 One-off	Medium sized directory and reasonably priced.
Clush http://www.clush.com/		$19.95 Per year	Extremely fast inclusion (2 hrs). Also one of the cheapest.
Open Directory Project http://www.dmoz.org/	4610235	free	The most popular free directory. Essential for good SE ranking.
Librarian Internet Index http://lii.org/	22000	free	Has a small database but packed with quality sites.
Jayde http://www.jayde.com/		free	Completely free. Established in 1996.
Directory World http://www.directoryworld.net/		reciprocal	Small but neat directory optional $24 fee.
Links Traffic http://www.linkstraffic.net/		reciprocal	Provides other paying options and easy registration process.