Over the past few years, more and more people have discussed how bad web directories are for your site. I think it is a bit of the Penguin and Panda paranoia (Triple P) that has run rampant in internet marketing lately. Why else would be webmasters start freaking out over having your site in a good, quality directory.

With that in mind, I want to go over a few quality directories that are very useful for businesses. Not because they have a huge impact on your search, and then Google will find you more interesting, because people link to you. No, these directories are important, because they deliver direct traffic to your site. Even more so, they have valuable information on them. Instead, of creating a directory with worthless information, these directories prune out the bad sites, and constantly update their site to give you the best information possible.

So, I ask you to stave off your Triple P for the moment. Instead, let us look beyond the Google machine.  Directories, despite what the fear seekers are saying are not dead. How could they be dead? So many of them have such valuable information that it is not feasible for anyone, including Google to completely wipe them out of existence.

How To Find The Best Web Directories?

Instead of dismissing web directories, we need to find the best web directories still in existence.  To help you do that, we will look at five web directories that are very relevant to your business today. Please note: some of these are paid, and others are free directories.

DirJournal- This business directory is great for finding pretty much any type of business around the world. Their hand picked list is one of the largest in the world. Plus, they actually have full how-to guides for their eight separate journals (business, internet marketing, health, entertainment, Internet, and shopping).

The other amazing part of DirJournal is they provide personal service – you can actually talk to them during business hours. Something unheard of with most directories.

Aviva Directory -This is a comprehensive directory organized by category and location. So, you can actually have information on the directory sorted out her via different locations around the globe. *Quick disclosure: I have been paid to write articles for Aviva on different categories and locations in different parts of the world. That is the reason why I know the list is so comprehensive.

Technorati -The definitive directory for blogs. This site lists the top 1000 blogs by their Technorati Authority. A ranking system they developed to properly rank top blogs around the world.

Open Directory Project -If you have not heard of the Open Directory Project, or DMOZ as the URL is called then you have not had a web site for that long. This used to be the fastest way to get indexed by Google. Google would periodically scroll through the Open Directory Project to add sites to their list, before they had a full system in place. As Google developed, they came up with their own system. However, a link in this site is definitely worth it’s weight in gold still.

Yahoo Directory Listing -Probably one of the oldest directories. If you want Yahoo traffic en masse this is a great way to start. Get your site listed on their paid directory.

How To Know Which Web Directories Are Good For Your Site?

The directories listed above are amazing places to start getting your site listed. Use the power and traffic of these directories to get additional, targeted traffic to your site. Remember, however, that it is up to you to do your diligent research on which web directories best fit your needs.