As one of the earliest purposes of the Internet was to provide information, directories that are online quickly made their mark. The Open Directory Project and Yahoo’s directory are a couple of the oldest and most reputable web directories, and having your website listed in them is very difficult and costly. Unfortunately, as the size of those directories grew without sufficient staff, the quality of their websites have diminished and some do not even exist anymore.

The number of web directories have skyrocketed due to many reasons. One of those is that the cost of web hosting, graphic design, and scripts have all been reduced, making it more affordable to start and run a web directory. Another reason is that directories provide a good source of useful websites for users, and are well categorized into logical groupings. Finally, webmasters enjoy submitting their websites to directories because they often provide much needed traffic traffic from the directory visitors.

Niche directories are also becoming popular. While most web directories are general web directories, there is an increasing number of specialized ones. Some exclusively list business sites, articles sites, or regional sites. Others are called deeplink directories, which mean that they allow you to submit your inner web pages to them, instead of just your homepage.

You should note that having your website listed can sometime cost you money. These are known as paid directories, or bid for position directories. However, most web directories are free, or at least have an option for free submissions which may or may not require a reciprocal link.