However, link building for ecommerce SEO is not easy. Link sharing is sketchy, and guest blogging poses many limitations for ecommerce sites. But then there are always directory submissions. Ah yes, directories, the classic source of building some inbound links for SEO.
Nowadays, it's very important which directories you choose. Some are down-right risky and can raise a big red flag for Google to come and penalize you. However, some directories are credible, trusted, and very SEO-friendly.
If you own or do marketing for an ecommerce site, then here are the top 3 directories to help your ecommerce SEO project:
DMOZ! Directory
Okay, so there's not actually an exclamation point after "DMOZ," but I personally think this directory deserves one (and it also sounds cool when you say it with such emphasis.)When it comes to classic SEO, this is about as classic as it gets. Dmoz.org has been around for a long, long time, and it's a highly trusted and authoritative directory (homepage is PageRank 7 [and many category-level pages are PageRank 3+]). Additionally, the link you can get is a succulent DoFollow.
Find the most relevant category for your ecommerce site. Once you've pinpointed the most precise category in the DMOZ directory, click the "submit a site" option in the top right. In time (and assuming your ecommerce site is legit,) you can have an awesome, natural, and SEO-friendly link pointing to your ecommerce site.
Elib.org International Directory
At Elib.org (another righteous, PageRank 5 directory for ecommerce SEO,) there are 3 different kinds of submissions: Basic, Express, and Sponsored. The sponsored submission is pretty sweet if you're doing ecommerce SEO, because you can create five additional "internal" links in the description of your site's profile. However, all require some form of payment.The other two options are fine as well. Like DMOZ, search through Elib.org to find the category the best matches your ecommerce site. You'll also need to go through the process of finding the precise location of your ecommerce business (found just below the product categories).
Once you have narrowed down both the location and the most relevant product category, you'll then see the "Add URL" link. Now you can get to business and build your directory listing.
Yahoo! Directory
So Yahoo! Directory (yes, the exclamation point after "Yahoo" is supposed to be there,) is a doozy. In addition to Google, it has also been known to uplift keyword rankings even further in Bing and Yahoo search. In short, Yahoo! Directory is wickedly authoritative and offers a top-quality inbound link for your ecommerce SEO project.The down side is the price for a directory listing on Yahoo!. It's $299 per year, which to some companies is a bit out-of-budget. But if your ecommerce marketing budget does allow for this investment, it's one of the best links you can get.
Visit Yahoo! Directory's retail section and in the top right you'll see the option to "Suggest a Site" (a bit misleading considering they take you directly to a page with a price tag.) If you got the funds, get it done. If you provide ecommerce SEO services, then this is one you'll definitely want to use for your clients.
So that wraps up this post on the top three directories for ecommerce SEO. There's definitely more options out there, but do proceed with caution. There are numerous web directories that are sketchy as all get out (whatever that means.)
This article was contributed by Tyler Tafelsky, lead ecommerce SEO analyst at Click Centric SEO, a full-service ecommerce SEO company that offers a wide spectrum of marketing solutions for ecommerce sites.
