Before submitting to a directory, what do you look for?
-
I'm going through one of my competitors links and of course I'm coming across some directories. Just wondering what you might look for in a quality directory.
I'm looking at one right now called SoMuch.com and it appears to be a quality directory but then I look down at the footer and I see "Search Engine Friendly Free Link Directory". The domain authority is 80.
Thanks
-
I remember aviva getting penalized by Google several years ago.
hotvsnot sells casino links http://www.hotvsnot.com/Games/Gambling/
this site nofollows http://central-payment-corporation.topcreditcardprocessors.com/
frcafe is a mess
chamberofcommerce looks legit but the intermal pages i looked at had no PR
-
Such as? I would be impressed if you list 10 directories that you got links on who meet the following SEO criteria:
a) not guaranteed inclusion (which is just a silly way of skirting around pretending that they are not selling you a paid link)
b) don't have any casino, adult or meds categories
c) the page you are listed on is indexed and has decent PR with dofollow link that uses your desired anchor text
d) page has a relatively low number of outgoing links on it so your PR is not completely diluted
e) Doesn't cost $300 like Yahoo
-
I agree with James in that directory listings still have a place in link building; that is, when used in moderation. You pointed out yourself, Brandon
Here's what I look for: Highly relevant niche directories that are human curated and selective. (Submissions are hand-edited and not everyone gets approved.)
Look at other listings in the directory you are considering. Do they look like they naturally belong in the directory? Do they link to high-quality, authoritative sites that you would want to be associated with? The same goes for the directory's brand, as James noted. Do you want to be associated it?
All listings should add value to the directory and its users. If yours belongs there as well, it will too. Good luck!
-
I don't think you should forget them altogether. You aren't going to get penalized for directory listings with Yahoo, Manta, etc. I would use your best judgement as to whether you believe the directory is user friendly enough that you would use it and decide if you want a link there. I think of it more as putting your brand on another brands site, do you want to be positioned with that brand? I personally don't want links from shitty brands or sites, I think it's too risky.
-
Another check I'll usually do is plug the url that I get from Open Site Explorer and plug it into Google to see if it's indexed.
So even if I do get a link from this directory, it's probably not going to carry much weight if any at all.
Think I'll skip it.
-
This isn't an answer to your question as such but more of an observation of SoMuch.com.
It would appear that every category page is PR0. In fact, I've just clicked a dozen pages at random and they all appear to be PR0 despite the homepage being PR6. Despite being advertised as a 'search engine friendly link directory', I don't think Google like them.
Just an observation.
-
Niche Directories are fine if you think users will find your service in it
(ask yourself do expect that link to get clicks & If search engines didnt exist would you still want that link) - such as a directories of seo companies based in Settle.
-
So just forget directories all together? Even SEOmoz offers a list of web directories to consider.
Directories isn't my only strategy put just a small piece of it.
I also just read an article that supports using open site explorer and get the same links that your competitors have.
-
Directories are no longer a recommended link building strategy.
EDIT: haha three thumbs down for speaking the truth!
Keep posting in directories and soon you'll be contacting (and possibly paying again) the same directories to remove your links in an effort to unwind your Google penalty. Directories provide ZERO benefit to users and all benefit to SEOs and Google has taken action on these YEARS ago.
Why are you submitting these links, to affect your sites rankings in Google or generate traffic? **You are doing it to affect your search positions! and are therefore in violations of Google's guidelines. And Google hates directory sites. **
Better you spend your time working on a link building strategy that has not already been smacked down and flagged by Google. I stopped linking on directories in 2007 when Google started penalizing directories. That was 5 years ago.
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=465342
Good luck.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
We're looking at providing SEO for a website that has the majority of its incoming links from websites created solely to provide links. Few have bad spam rankings. How worried should I be about those links?
The majority of incoming links to a prospect's website are from website pages apparently created solely to provide links to the website. Few have high spam scores. The sites linking to the main site have versions of blogs with linked text. They seem to be providing positive SEO value now, but I'm concerned they might get noticed and hurt the main site in the future.
Link Building | | PKI_Niles1 -
Paid Subscription Directory with Low Moz Open Site Explorer Spam Score
Looking at different backlinks of my competitors and came across a few directories that require a 1 time payment for the year. Is this considered the same as paying for a link or would this be considered something like getting a listing on your local Chamber of Commerce site? Also, I put the site through Moz's Open Site Explorer and it had PA:22 and DA:20, which is nothing incredible, but also had a spam score of 2. So would a site like this hurt my rankings? I know that's a good spam score, so I am a little confused with what to do. Here is the site: http://scl-online.net/en.htm Thanks for any help! Love this site.
Link Building | | aua0 -
Links from Directory Websites with NoFollow Tag
In reviewing our root domain links, I noticed that many of the directories (like Yellow Pages, Insider Pages, Merchant Circle, etc) that there are no follow codes included in the link to our website. Is this a common practice for these directories? Also, I wanted to confirm that this would not help in our link building strategies with any relevant "link juice." Below is a copy and pasted (with some extra characters that shouldn't have copy and pasted), but the key note here is the no follow tag that was included in this link to our site. Visit Website Thanks as always MOZ Community - cheers!
Link Building | | Leithmarketing0 -
Should we pay for this attorney directory?
I'm aware of how most directories don't matter and/or have lost significance over the past few years, but in the legal world, it sure seems like this one does: http://www.martindale.com/ I doubt we will ever get many cases from this directory, but it would be a nice link to have...I think. The DA is 88 and the page we would be listed in is a 39. Almost all of our competitors who outrank us have this link as well. Granted, it's not the only link, but it's one I could afford to obtain. Any thoughts or experiences? ***If any of you market for attorneys, and you're outside the Tampa area (don't want to cause any professional conflicts) have you recommended this directory to your clients? Thanks, Ruben
Link Building | | KempRugeLawGroup0 -
Business directory and rel=canonical
If a business directory is using the rel=canonical tag on the first page of results for each section, is there any value from having a link on page 2 or 3 of these sections?
Link Building | | Silkstream0 -
What is the purpose of submitting your blog articles to directories?
I was wondering what the purpose of submitting your blog articles to directories are. Doesn't it require enough "points" or "+1's" for it to become a "do-follow" link? People on the forum talk about automating directory submission, can anyone recommend a good software for this? I've been hearing that Google Penalizes you for article submission because it looks like spam?
Link Building | | kevinyu10290 -
Please have a look at the SEO of our site
Hi, Could you look at nlpca(dot)com and give me feedback and hints about the on -page SEO of our site, as well as any suggestions of link building strategies to move us up to first for the head term "NLP" as well as the long tail Thank you, Bob
Link Building | | BobGW0 -
Can Low Quality Directories Hurt?
I realize that links from low quality directories aren't of much value. Having said that, can doing this kind of linking actually penalize a site?
Link Building | | waynekolenchuk1