You check your metrics daily, you religiously study your analytics, and you refresh your page ranking as often as your fingers can click without cramping up. But your ranking is not rising as fast as you want it to. What can you do?
The lure of sites offering free URL submissions is a constant pressure as you search for search engine dominance. Sites offering to automate your URL submission free of charge (or often for a reciprocal link to their site on your page) can seem like just the thing to nudge your site up the search results page. And while it can certainly increase your web presence, it is very nearly AS important that you increase your web presence in the right way.
Many free URL submitting websites make it sound easy. They claim that your rankings will climb the second you sign up. But there are a number of problems with this approach, not least of which is the fact that search engines generally view a sudden, massive bump in directory submissions as evidence of spamming. Consider, too, that the search engines are always looking to match specific search strings with the right websites, so the more general the topic of a directory, the less likely those free URL submissions will be much help in getting your website in front of the right audience.
It is very much a question of quality versus quantity. Submitting your website to the big directories, such as Google and Yahoo!, may seem like a drop in the bucket if your goal is to increase your online visibility. But inclusion in one or two reputable, established, high quality directories will always be of more value than inclusion in a thousand useless directories.
“So should I never submit my URL to anything other than the big directories?” The main goal of any submission is to index your site in such a way as to make it more readily available and relevant to searchers. Do your research, and make sure that your free URL submissions are going to reputable indexes that serve as authoritative sources for your given topic or area, and you should be fine. Realize, too, that to get the results you REALLY want, you may just have to shell out some cash. Just be sure to hold the paid submission sites to the exact same high standards, and it will be money well spent.