Set a Budget for Directories

The next step you need to do is set a budget. Decide before hand how much you want to spend on directory. Yes, spend money! Not everything on Internet is free. Yes, you can register free listings on search engines but you can never guarantee that you will get a high listing or even be listed.

So invest a little money with a directory so you don’t have to keep registering with search engines every month. Your time is valuable, so spend a couple of hundred dollars on directories and just relax. This way you know that you will have some guaranteed visibility on Web.

Keywords

Next, you need to select a keyword or keywords that you want your website listed under. Select keywords that best describe product that you are selling. If you are selling camping equipment, you may want to select keywords "camping equipment" and "sleeping bag".

Two Type of Directories

There are two types of pay-for-listing directories. The first like GoTo.com, allows you to set a bid price per click through. You are ranked by bid, higher you bid, higher you appear on search results.

The other type like, Stopsurfing.com, charges a flat price for a year. You pay one set fee no matter how many hits you get.

Just Click It

Whatever you decide to do about directory listings, Just Click It and move on to taking care of your current customers. The Internet moves at warp speed. You need to get visibility now. Don’t delay, get some directory listings in place while you are waiting for your "Free" search engine listings to get your Web traffic.

"You have permission to reprint what you just read. Use it in your ezine, at your website or in your newsletter. The only requirement is including following footer..."

*Article by Your Name. Visit www.YourWebsiteUrl.com for more original content like this.

If you're a web designer you can use this strategy too! Simply put a statement like that one above in your terms of use page. Something like this...

"These images can be used freely. Please include following at your site..."

*Some images at this site, courtesy of Your Name. For more original artwork for your website, visit www.YourWebsiteUrl.com.

Getting idea? See how this continually works to get you links? There are lots of websites in need of decent content. Supply it and you can benefit greatly - if you do it right!

2. Bribe webmasters into linking up.

Another strategy that can work very well is "bribe". In a nutshell, you simply give something of value away to anyone who links to your site.

There are lots of ways to do this, and you are limited only by your imagination. Here's an example...

Just a few days ago I set up a new niche directory at my site called Internet Marketer's Resource Directory. But rather than a run-of-the-mill directory, it's actually a link generation tool that bribes my visitors into linking to my site. It does this by offering two distinct rewards:

a. Marketers can get a free listing in directory - a link from my site to THEIR best Internet Marketing Resources.

b. When they reciprocate with a link back to my site, they get a free book.

If you want to have a peek at how this works, see: http://linksmanager.com/bizweb2000/

Now I'm not telling you about my directory to get you into it. That's already happening by itself. (My little niche directory has generated 100 new links in just three days.)

The message I want to get across today is this:

- Never stop looking for links

I've been marketing online for five years. But I never stop looking for ways to grow links into my site. And there are endless opportunities for ANY webmaster to do just that. You just have to use your imagination then ACT on your linking ideas.

And there are lots tools available for you to use. Heck, I found 69 indexing scripts just today at: http://cgi.resourceindex.com/Programs_and_Scripts/Perl/ Pick one and run with it!

And if you're not cgi inclined, there are also web services that can automate your link growth ideas. The one that runs my own little niche directory is called LinksManager and it does everything from directory creation, URL submission handling, email confirmations, and reciprocal link checking. The system even gives away free eBook when reciprocal links are verified.

No matter how you do it, start growing your links. And remember... last thing you want is NO strategy. That may leave you looking back a few years from now thinking, "If only I'd had a link strategy, I coulda' been a contenda." Start a solid strategy now and who knows, maybe someday your site will be a 900 lb. gorilla!