In addition to DMOZ, there are a large number of high quality directories where you can get your site listed for free. While many of these directories can be spidered, others cannot. A lot of directories use URLs which are modified. Because of this, your site will gain no SEO advantages by being listed in them. Despite this, it is important to realize that your site may still get a large amount of traffic based on the number of directories it is listed in. While a large number of directories are overrated, getting a few links from DMOZ can put your website in a excellent position. The best thing about this is that you don't have to spend any money.
Another thing you can do to optimize your site is to set up a link exchange through a directory on your own site. At the same time, it should be noted that this one of the least powerful tactics. A much more powerful technique would be to conduct link exchanges with sites that have the same topics as your own. The only problem with mutual link exchanges is that the amount of outbound links you have will be equal to the inbound links. Overall, it is best not to place a high emphasis on link exchange programs. Although link building techniques can bring you a lot of traffic, you don't want the search engines to notice odd link patterns on your site.
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