Every once in a while there is a post in a forum that laments how hard it is to submit unique descriptions to directories. Recently there was one that asked the question of how often the submitter should change up the title and description when submitting.
I responded to the question and thought I would also blog about it since it seems to come up time and again.
The simple truth is that there is something on the internet called duplicate content and search engines can easily find it and at the same time disregard it. If you are wondering just how easy it is to spot duplicate content go to Copyscape and test nearly any article you want to in an article directory. Results come back in scarcely a second and will tell you if there are other copies of that content on the net or if it is unique.
When it comes to directory submissions, after review and approval your link will appear on a details page. A large part of the content on that details page consists of the descriptive text for the site submitted. If that text is identical to what was submitted to 50 other sites there is a good possibility that search engines will disregard or discount the value of the page.
Yeah, that is the page your link is on so I think that most would want it to stand out to search engines. Many submitters to directories will make the mistake of using the same descriptions over and over again. Those same submitters will in the same breath wonder why directory submissions are not as effective as they would like them to be.
To get the best results those descriptions need to be unique. It is that simple.
As a directory owner I have another perspective on unique descriptions. The flip side of the coin from my perspective is I want a quality directory which gives value to visitors and those submitting here alike. I want the pages indexed by search engines. I want them indexed so internet surfers can find them and find the directory. It gives those who have websites listed here added value.
I want unique content in articles and link descriptions alike. While reviewing submissions I will do a search using the domain of the submitted site to see if there are other links out there with the same description that was submitted. In most cases I can find 3 or 4 in the first couple pages of results.
As far as the initial question that sparked the whole thread, “How often should I change the description and title when submitting?”
There are really two different answers for it.
If you are paying a review fee you should submit a unique description every single time without fail.
If you are submitting to a free directory ideally you should submit a unique description every single time.
The thing about free directory submissions is that most submitters will submit in bulk to them. It is common to submit to free directories 1000 at a time via a submission service. They will tell you they are manually submitting to each directory and charge a whopping $5 for the service. Syed over at Balkhis recently posted on that and you can read more about those services there.
Think about it, those thousand submissions are using maybe 5 different descriptions and 5 different anchor texts plugged into an automated form feeder which will submit to those thousand sites in about 10 minutes.
That screams duplicate content and is one of the primary reasons that nearly every free directory and many pay for review directories have diminished value for listings. The sites that are listed there are just duplicates in content to what is found in other places. Listings with duplicate content simply means diminished importance for those pages in search engines.
So the right answer when submitting to directories is to write unique descriptions every time because most directories available either free or paid will not rewrite what you submit to diminish duplicate content issues.
The Authority Directory does modify and rewrite descriptions to make them more unique. All you directory owners, let us know if you do the same or not.
