When it comes to promoting your web site, an excellent, free promotional tool is to submit your page to internet directories. Getting your site listed on internet directories provides the same service as external links – it will improve your page ranking and drive more traffic to your site. Also, since directories are compiled by real people according to categories, relevancy is high and page ranking does not count.

The two biggest and most popular internet directories are Yahoo and the Open Directory Project DMOZ (dmoz.org). DMOZ is the more prestigious and reputable directory, and it’s free, unlike Yahoo, which charges for submissions of commercial sites just to get them reviewed. Many major search engines use the DMOZ database and DMOZ uses human editors to approve submissions and thus has a reputation for high quality. The drawback is that this process can take some time and humans can turn down links for a variety of rather subjective reasons, so it’s possible that your link might not be approved. This is not the kiss of death for a web site, but it can be rather discouraging.

So what can you do to improve your chances of being approved, especially if you’re considering spending money to list in a directory? First and foremost, of course, is following the directory’s submission guidelines. The best way to make sure you are NOT approved is to not bother to read them.

It’s a simple and obvious thing, but an important one – make sure the URL is correct. Even the tiniest, most common mistakes, such as using a comma instead of a period or forgetting a backslash, can invalidate your time and hard-earned money.

Make sure your description is and title information is spelled correctly and contains no errors. There’s nothing like hitting the submit button and seeing a typo or misspelling flying off into cyberspace. Editors have enough to do without worrying about proofreading all site submissions. And be certain you are submitting your site to the correct category and/or subcategory. You might think a more general one will generate more traffic, but if your submission is turned down, it will generate nothing.

There are many internet directories out there. If you take some time, follow their submission guidelines, and proofread you work, you should be able to get your site listed in directories both big and small and improve your page traffic significantly.