This post discusses the benefits of submitting your Blogger blog to blog directories and provides a comprehensive list of some of the best blog directories on the internet today. This is an introductory article aimed at novice bloggers but is suitable for any blogger who wishes to build site traffic quickly.
Benefits of Submitting to Blog Directories
By adding your Blogger blog to a number of blog directories you are likely to increase traffic to your site expotentially. If your site has not been getting the kind of traffic you were expecting it could be that you have not generated enough inbound links to your site. Signing up to some of the top blog directories will create quality backlinks and expose your site to many potential visitors.
I have signed up for each blog directory in the list of recommendations below and in all cases have found that they have generated at least a little bit of site traffic. A few have boosted traffic considerably and have helped me establish new blogs quickly by generating an audience. A couple of blog directories have more than exceeded my expectations. TopBlogLists and BlogCatalog fall into this category - attracting 20 or so unique visitors within a day of sign up.
How Do Blog Directories Work?
Most blog directories require that you place their button somewhere on your blog. In some cases the button's function is to track visitors from your blog or website to the directory. Some buttons may also reflect the ranking of your blog in relationship to other blogs in your chosen category within the directory. If you see a number appear within the button it denotes your blog's position.
Get Organized Before You Begin Submitting to Blog Directories
In order to add your blog to a blog directory you first need to register. The sign up process will run more smoothly if you get organized before you begin. I suggest that you take the following steps first:
- Craft a description for your blog of roughly 250 - 400 words.
- Check your feed details as you may be asked to provide the URL of your feed. (This is especially important if you have burned your feed at a feedburning service like Feedburner.)
- Make sure you know the exact URL address of your blog or website. If in doubt, navigate to your home page and check the the URL in the address bar.
- Decide which email address you are going to use. Blog directories tend to create quite a lot of mail. Therefore, you should consider carefully which email address would be best - unless you want to have your mailbox clogged up on a regular basis. You may decide to start a new email address specifically to handle this kind of mail.
- Decide on an easy to remember (but not to obvious!) username and password and stick to it throughout. This will make life a lot easier than trying to remember twenty different usernames and passwords. (Alternatively, you could get yourself a password safe that encripts and stores all of your passwords so you only need to copy and paste them. One of the best around is the free KeePass Password Safe.)
- Determine your top six keywords and keyword phrases as most blog directories ask you to provide these tags.
- With such a big choice of blog directories to submit to it pays to be systematic. Keeping a list of where you have signed up in Notepad or a similar program will help guard against double ups.
How to Add a Blog Directory Button to Your Blogger Blog
Most blog directories send out an email on sign up. You need to click on the link to confirm your membership. In most cases you will then be directed to a menu where you can begin adding your blog or blogs to the directory. Once you have entered the details of your blog the directory will generate the button code which can be copied and pasted into a standard HTML/JavaScript widget. It is a good idea to place all buttons together in one widget for convenience and to reduce loading time.
To add a blog directory button to your Blogger blog navigate to Layout --> Page Elements --> Add a Gadget --> HTML/JavaScript. Paste the button code in the Content section. Save.
List of Recommended Blog Directories to Get Started
As mentioned above, I have signed up for all of the blog directories listed below. The blog directories are in no particular order, with the exception of BlogCatalog and TopBlogLists which I have placed on top of the list because I have found them especially helpful.
BlogCatalog is a social community for bloggers and one of the largest blog directories on the internet. It is one of the best options to begin promoting your own blog and to connect with other bloggers. BlogCatalog offers lots of linking options. You can add a button, a link to your blogroll or verify your site using a meta tag and dispense with a visible site link altogether. In addition you can add a BlogCatalog Readers widget to your blog like the one shown here.
Ranking of pages is done according to the number of unique visits each blog brings in to TopBlogLists.
Easy sign up. Only one keyword phrase permitted, so make it a goodie. Ranking is based on unique visitors.
This blog directory tracks unique visitors. No option for visitors to vote. Every month statistics are reset to zero to give everyone a chance of being highly rated.
A nice control panel for site management. Ranking of pages is done according to the number of unique visits each blog receives in a month.
Ranks blogs according to the number of visits a blog receives in a certain amount of time (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.).
Requires two buttons to be placed on your blog. One is the tracking button which tracks number of visitors and displays the rank of your site. The other button is the voting button. If a visitor votes for you it is equal to 100 unique visits.
Tracks thousands of blogs. Submit yours. Try doing a check first. You may be surprised to find your blog has already been located automatically.
Over 155,000 blogs currently (Feb. 2010) in the BlogFlux directory. Nice Control Panel interface. Sign up is immediate although all submitted blogs are checked manually which will result in a time delay before your blog will appear in the directory.
Top 100 most popular section. Score increases depending on variables like users ratings, incoming traffic and outgoing traffic.
Blog of the day feature chosen on the basis of the number of unique visitors directed by the blog to the directory per day. The blog of the day gets the whole of the site traffic for that day. Blogs are listed randomly so that every blog gets equal exposure.
Other Blog Directories You Might Be Interested In
Bloggernity
Free Blog Directory
Blog Rankings
For more information please consult my post 21 Essential Blog Directories to Submit Your Blog to.
Lists of Blog Directories
For a comprehensive list of blog directories go to:
Great Blog Directories for a list of free directories
In this post I have told you a little bit about the benefits of submitting your Blogger blog to blog directories. I have suggested ways to get organized to make the process less daunting and I have recommended some blog directories which I have personally found to be useful. Adding your Blogger blog to these blog directories should result in an increase in site traffic.
Good luck!
1 Comentário:
The backlinks from blog directories should be combined with the backlinks from the articles submitted to article directories (on topics closely related to your blog's most important keywords).
A properly developed backlink program will deliver far more targeted traffic to your blog due to its impact on the search engines than due to the actual directory links themselves.
I maintain a list of The Top 101 Blog Directories & RSS Submission Sites on my blog at:
Blog Directories List
Since I update this list weekly there are now 503 entries listed with NO DEAD LINKS.
Try to submit to 3-5 directories PER DAY. This discipline will pay big dividends over the long run.
If you find sufficient value in this list, please link to it in your sidebar.
Thanks.
Best of success,
Robert A. Kearse
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