SEOMoz directory list - some clarity needed FROM SEOMOZ STAFF
-
There are 455 directories (212 web, 188 social & 55 local) on the SEOMoz list.
Presumably they are there because SEOMoz recommends them.Yet common wisdom seems to be that web directories have negligible SEO benefit - see this recent SEOMoz Q&A discussion.
Matt Cutts advises against paid directories in this video (which >99% of them are)
In a private Q&A last month a member of the SEOMoz staff told me a link to my site from this directory, which appears on the list, was a "poor link".I think some better clarity in SEOMoz's guidelines on directories would be appreciated -- and I'd appreciate SEOMoz staff weighing in as promised when Private Q&As were ended -- especially as many SEOMozzers take most of what we learn here as near-gospel.
-
We've decided to hand off the directory list to a few interested industry friends, who are planning something new for it. There should be a placeholder for the new site soon, but it will no longer be part of Moz.
-
I am not seeing the list anymore on the new Moz. Shall we consider the list dead or is it going to come back?
-
Actually, you have asked that our staff respond, and we have. So I see this being answered.
-
I would add that one criterion we look at for the directories list is whether or not real people are actually using them. I don't think directories are a good tactic (and certainly shouldn't be your only tactic) for getting links, but can be a way to build brand recognition and drive some additional referral traffic, which is part of the reason why we don't just abandon the directories page completely.
I will say that we have plans to go a different direction with the directories page/list in the near future, although all of the specifics haven't been nailed down yet. It's definitely a resource whose usefulness we've questioned and we're working to make it more useful.
-
I'm not really even disagreeing, but the original goal was a balancing act. My recollection is that we wanted to find decent directories but also enough breadth that it covered a lot of industries. This naturally means that, for some industries, the end result isn't always as high-quality as we'd like. It also means that finding editorial directories was nearly impossible (there just aren't many of them).
I would not list yourself in 75-100 directories, regardless of industry. It could absolutely look low-quality, especially with exact-match anchor text.
I know there's been discussion about whether this is a resource we want to continue to support, and I can't give a definitive answer, because there isn't one at this point. The goal was to try to create something actionable and weed out the truly bad directories, but as Google's attitude towards directories change (and, unfortunately, as some directories become lower quality over time), we'll probably have to revisit this.
-
Dear SEOMoz
I don't know why/how this thread has been marked as "Question Answered" when it hasn't.
-
Toss up a lot of keyword links into those directories. I bet you get hit with Penguin.
A big list of directories on SEOmoz will mean "go here" to lots of people.
-
Thanks for your response, Peter. But I'm still as confused.
Surely, if SEOMoz cherry picks a shortlist -- having applied criteria for inclusion, otherwise you'd have www.spamlinkdirectory.net and all sorts -- then puts them on a page headed "SEO Web Directory List" it must been seen as an SEOMoz endorsement (implicit or otherwise) of their SEO benefits. I could probably find 75-100 on that list (Web+social+local) that could be construed as relevant to my site. Would listing in them be a "terrible idea", given that I'm also using other link-building techniques?
-
That's always been a tough line to tread - we want to list potentially useful resources, but that list is certainly not an endorsement. Personally, I think directories can have limited value, but:
(1) It's true that Google doesn't put much value on non-editorial directories.
(2) It's an easy thing to abuse. Picking a couple of relevant directories to list yourself in can be a way to pick up a few links and get a small amount of traffic, but someone is going to try to list themselves in all 455, which would be a terrible idea.
I think the original goal was to help people understand the diversity of what's out there and give them enough information that they could find 2-3 relevant directories that fit their niche. Unfortunately, in SEO, any good thing can be taken too far and often is.
-
Regardless of the value (or lack of) of a specific link from a specific directory I would agree with you that the seomoz directory list is a bit problematic. Since they are listed it does give the impression (rightly or wrongly) that these directories are 'approved' by seomoz and this might be sending the wrong message to many people. Would be interested in hearing the thoughts of a staff member on this, personally I would be tempted to get rid of the list!
-
Yes, Google have turned down the link value of links coming from most of the directories but saying that the link value of directories is finished is untrue! There are many directories which contain a link value and paying for them is a worth investment (in terms of link juice and business conversions.)
Yahoo directory and others are few of finest example of it as people still find them reputable and pass businesses to the businesses listed here!
-
I believe Google is against paid directories that accept everyone. Directories such as Yahoo, BOTW etc charge a fee, but those fees can be considered an editorial fee. Believe it or not high quality directories actually do reject applicants.
In google's guidelines it tells you to submit to directories, but people ended up taking that and submitting their site to thousands of directory sites not matter the quality. Submit to the big high quality directories and you will be fine. Make sure that the directory page you are submitting to has a higher page authority that way you can pass some link juice. These are my personal practices and beliefs and may vary with other people on this site.
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
-
Are Directory Links a Good Source of Branded Links?
I am trying to increase the number of branded links for a few of my sites since the links are too heavily weighted on anchor text. If so, would you recommend a service like Directory Maximizer?
Link Building | | rise10 -
Would you keep Paid Directory Submissions a part of your SEO Strategy?
We've been debating this. We've had some budget allocated to quality paid directory listings. We read that SEOMOZ analyzed some 2685 directories, 20% of which were banned from Google. So our question is, should we keep paid directory submissions with keyword rich anchor texts as a part of your SEO strategy or should we drop it. Thanks!
Link Building | | globaleyeglasses0 -
Is there any value to writing articles for Article Directories such as EzineArticles anymore?
Is there any benefit to SERPs of writing content for EzineArticles anymore or is it pointless?
Link Building | | harrygardiner0 -
How important are directory submissions to my off-page SEO?
Hi Guys, One area of my link building that I carry out is looking for online directories and social bookmarking websites to submit my website to. I do this in order to gain some backlinks to my website. What I want to know is are they really worth my time, and if so, which types would you say are the most important? I have obviously been through many directory lists, both on SEOmoz and on other websites, and also performed various searches to find relevant directories to my website. I just feel that posting up a link that lies deep in a directory online that, more often than not, have very low PA and lots of outbound links will offer very little in terms of SEO. If anything, this could really bring down the quality of my links and be detrimental to my website, right? This is a subject that I have been thinking about for a while and especially with the recent algorithm update from Google and the attack on many web directories that are, lets say, 'not playing by the rules', I'm worried that this will have a negative impact for my website. Let me know your thoughts guys and if you have any tips on how to get higher quality links from these kind of submission then I'm all ears! Matt.
Link Building | | MatthewBarby0 -
Is it possible to check domain authority for a list of 100+ domains at once?
Well, as topic. I have a list wih a bunch of domains, I want to sort them by DA. Is this possible in some quick way?
Link Building | | ToiletFish0 -
Directory Submission for 5 month old website
Hey guys. I recently started doing a directory submission program for new website. Right now I am submitting to 20 directories per day, as well as social bookmarking around 10 blog posts per day. I noticed a small drop in our Google rankings since doing this. Is this because it is too much? Or is it just Google re-adjusting itself to cope with the changes. As ever, really appriciate the help I get off the guys on here. Big love to you all 🙂
Link Building | | Nextman0 -
Clarification needed regarding link building
We are working on a SEO project for a client with a bilingual site. We have already started with the link building task for the English domain. However, for the Arabic domain the URLs for the inner pages are not yet finalized and it would take around 2 months to do so. I would like to know whether we could start with link building for the main Arabic domain although the inner pages URLs are not yet finalized?
Link Building | | Francis_GlobalMediaInsight0 -
Submitting to directories all at once? i.e. within the same week or 2?
I have found a bunch of around maybe 20-30 directories that we seem not to be in, and that seem like they might be worth it from what I am reading… My question is - is it a problem to submit to this number of directories all at once – i.e. within the same week or 2? Or should I think about spreading the submissions around a month or 2? Just worried that Google etc might through a flag with a bunch of submissions all at once… Thanks
Link Building | | inhouseninja0