Directory submissions can make the business, LITERALLY. Submitting to search engines is fine, and SHOULD be done. Submitting to directories is definitely a necessity. What kind of gains can one expect to make by using a directory submission service?

Once Directory listings take, you can expect to probably double your traffic. Double traffic could mean double sales/leads.

What could the downfall be of using a directory submission service?

Well, un kept promises. Many "other guys" make big promises, but deliver seldom few or none altogether. Do your research. How long has the site been in business? Do a “who is” look up and see when they bought the domain name just to be certain.

Can you give 3 tips on successfully submitting to directories such as DMOZ for example?

With Pleasure!

Tip 1.) MOST IMPORTANT Proper Category Selection is KEY You MUST submit to the applicable category. This is the most overlooked, because we think we have a site selling Sports Blankets, like http://www.blanketmall.com/tim and they wanted to be listed into the "sports category" After research, I decided it be best that they be submitted into the Shopping: Sports: Theme Merchandise category. If I would have submitted the site into the root of sports, I can GUARANTEE it would have not been accepted.

Tip 2.) Wait.
Do NOT submit your site to ODP (dmoz.org) again in a month. Give it 2 months to see results. If after 2 months, you are not listed, rethink your submission, drill down to a deeper, more relevant category, and resubmit.

Tip 3.) Do not hound the guides.
I have seen people talking about "direct relationships with guides for category "****" They say to email the guide and bug them. We disagree with this. If your site is properly submitted, you will not have a problem. We have clients that tried this tactic, and have never been listed. We submitted them, and got them listed.

Thank you for the opportunity to give my feedback in this. It has really been a pleasure. Thanks!

About the Author

Have You Been Thinking of Creating E-books? Brian Holte is a freelance writer/researcher and owner of www.theebookking.com
he publishes a newsletter which focuses on brainstorming and researching techniques for e-books.