Directory links will surely help you in obtaining links (backlinks) and traffic. Make sure that the your target directory has a good PR and is regularly indexed by Search Engines (esp. Google)
IMO if it is a link it still will count if it doesn't have the nofollow tag. But you need to have the page to be indexed first in order for your link to be counted.
directory submision for a website is considered as a mandotory one for all the websites since it a Part of SEO. the link from good PR directories are really a supportable one for your website. for a list Top directory sites visit seo blog
But you do get some benefits from them SEO (helps in boost on your SERP ranking) and traffic-wise. Traffic tends to be low from directories, but majority are very targeted
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