If you want your web pages to come up on the first page of the search engine results pages (and who doesn't?) are automatic directory submission tools the way to go? What if they guarantee results?
Are Directory Autosubmitters wise?
My opinion is that anything that "promises to boost search engine ranking" should be avoided. There is no way to promise improvements in ranking. It just so happens that following best practices does result in better rankings, but if your competitors are also following those same steps and doing it better, you still have to work hard to try to improve your rankings.
Content Most Important to Improve Rankings
I say it a lot, but the best way to improve a site in the engines is truly to make sure content is well written and that it answers searchers' questions. The biggest reason searchers leave your page? Your page title, which they saw on the search engine results page, promised to answer their questions; unfortunately your text didn't deliver.
(To improve your bounce rate, you also need to ensure your meta tags are targeted to each page, that you don't make searchers wait even 5 few seconds for a page to load, and that you find opportunities to get a link to your site pages.)Building Links is Vital and Time Consuming
Building quality links is not the easiest part of search engine optimization, yet it is one of the most important. Directory submissions are definitely part of the equation, but autosubmitters tend to submit to irrelevant, foreign, or low-PageRanked directories. Your link may be buried on a page of 100 links, and you won't have nice anchor text indicating what it is you do on your site.
If you want to submit to directories, pursue quality directories (dmoz, yahoo, business.com - which other directories use). Research competitors to see what directories they use. Also do searches to find niche directories. Search for keywords to find any directories in the top 10 results and submit to those. A listing in a niche directory has the benefit of getting in front of more qualified searchers, even if the listing doesn't pass much PageRank.
Take the time to hand submit to quality directories for the best results. A link from a relevant directory is worth more to your site than links from 10 irrelevant directories.
SEO and Directory Autosubmitters - A Wise Choice?