I was looking for some ways to promote by blog post for free, and one of them (which is also approved by Google) is directories listing such as article directories or niche websites.

But finding good directories wasn’t easy and took a few hours so, to save you some time, I created for the lucky ones who will land on this article a ready-list with the best website directories. These directories will both give links and referral traffic, since millions of active users visit these websites every day.

But, before giving you my list, I want to explain the importance of them and link building in general. And I will do that by picturing the typical blogger scenario.

So, imagine that you’ve decided to write some nice content for your blog. You’ve done a good job of putting up some interesting and useful information on your site but you want people to read it, right? The problem with that is that search engines don’t know that your post exists without links or it will not give him ranking, because nobody is talking about it and Google has no feedback about it. It will probably be only you and your family reading it (harsh but true) while the analytics show barely any traffic from search engines.

So after writing and publishing, your post will most likely be “ignored” by the search engines and nobody will ever find it because it’s just a piece of text without any link, any reference. So you want to throw some link to give authority and maybe get some referral traffic…but you want to do it “legally” too. You want to follow Google guidelines to avoid penalization or what not. Sounds impossible but it’s not, and I am not talking about social media’s like Facebook or twitter – even tho you should definitely do that as well. I am talking about…da da da *drums playing*…article directories. Yes, use a directory! Article directories are one of the most powerful ways to gain exposure for your blog or website and you can take advantage of their power by posting an excerpt of the original article. This way you will give some value to the directory reader and, at the same time, also tempt them to visit your blog for the full story. And, last but no least, get a backlink for your blog!

Why spend time and money when you don’t have to? Use directories, write a short, summarized yet intriguing post and then add a hyperlink at the end of it, that readers will click on it and the link will take them directly to your site. So just you can sit back and watch the traffic roll in.

Utilize the post directory format

Well yes, I came up with this name. But that means you should use the blog’s name in the author box and a link at the end (just at the end). As for the text content, don’t just stuff it in there. You need to make it interesting so it can actually rank on the directory and then get indexed by Google. So add a couple of quotes from your original post and talk briefly about the hottest topics in it.

A bonus point about directories is how they usually work: Your post is placed into an article directory category, and you can add tags or hashtags. When the post you are placing into the directory is picked up by an article directory user, who searched for it after filtering the category or making a quick search, then you are credited for the posted article. By using the website’s name as you profile name, you will also raise your brand citations – a Google ranking factor.

Hence, using an article directory is an extremely effective yet free way to generate targeted traffic to your site. It can also serve as free advertising and link building, if used properly. By submitting articles regularly to directories, you will see a steady rise in your site traffic. As long as you keep in mind that this type of advertising does not have instant results and…as long as you pick the right directories. But no problem for the latter, because here’s the list I promised you 🙂

Best article directories (with active users)

Please note that these article directories are not those old fashioned directories, but different, more modern ones: they might have bookmarking features, social media features or business features. What matters is that you can use them as directories for all new posts and get results in return.

  • Scoop.it
  • Plurk
  • Spoke.com
  • Yahoo
  • GoogleMyBusiness
  • Flipboard

So, I hope this helped. Best of luck with your blog!

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