A lot of discussion for SEO relates to submitting your website to directories around the internet. Till a year ago, these practices resulted in quick search engine listings and profit, but now the rules have changed a bit.
Directory submissions are now actually looked down upon by Google, and rightly so. Read some contradictory arguments here.
Due to the huge number of websites opting for directory submissions, online directories contain only links and nothing else. There is no real “content” in submission websites and for that reason, they are considered to be a “bad neighborhood” by Google – at least most of them are.
This totally makes sense. If a website is not providing any unique content on the internet, then it has little use. Search engines now have started to penalize directories simply because they only hold links and no content, and webmasters can exploit the search engines by submitting their websites to thousand of online directories.
So stay away from directories, as Google might penalize your website if you submit to them too much. On the other hand however, if you submit to high quality directories such as DMOZ, Business.com and Yahoo Directory, you will get a lot of benefit from it. The downside is that doing so is costly.