Directory submission is the process of submitting websites to link directories available on the web with the motives of link building and increasing the website's visibility. Considering the huge number of link directories available on the web, webmasters wish to submit their websites to as many web directories as they can.

Manual submission and automatic submission to a link directory are two methods adopted by the webmasters. So, which of the two methods is more suitable for directory submission? The following discussion compares the two methods on the basis of various factors.

Speed of Submission
Manual submission is a slow process whereas automatic directory submission is fast. With automatic directory submission software, hundreds of directory submissions can be done in few hours. This is the reason that automatic directory submission gained instant popularity when it was introduced initially.

Choosing the Right Directory
Manual directory submission is more effective in choosing the right directory for submission. Automatic submission software submits the websites to each and every directory coming its way, irrespective of its relevance for the website. Using manual submission, you can carefully select the right directory where your website should be submitted. For example, you can manually submit the blog to the blog directory only.

Selecting the Right Category
When it comes to the selection of right category, manual submission again wins over automatic submission. With automatic submission, you have to specify one category and the software submits the website to that particular category only. However, you might require submitting the website to a more relevant category on some directories. Moreover, automatic submission software skips those directories which don't have the specified category.

Directory Preference
Some of the link directories completely restrict automatic submission. So, using automatic software you might not be able to submit to some of the best web directories. However, no such restriction is faced by those who choose manual link directory submission.

Following the Rules
Automatic directory submission has nothing to do with the rules and guidelines of submission to different directories. This result in violation of rules at few directories, thereby leading to disapproval for the website submitted. By submitting manually, you can take care of the rules and stick to them.

Link Spamming
Automatic submission might make your efforts look like spamming. A sudden rise in the website links using automatic directory submission might indicate your behavior to be that of a spammer. However, manual submission being slow takes more time to submit links to a few directories. So, link building is easily distinguished form link spamming using manual submission.      

Submission Cost
Manual submission might be expensive in case you hire the services of an expert SEO company. On the other hand, the automatic submission software tools are cheap and should help you save on link directory submission.

As you can see, most of the points favor manual directory submission. The issues of speed and cost can be easily ignored if you consider the benefits of manual submission. So, the main motive of link building is effectively fulfilled by choosing manual directory submission technique.