Are Directories Still of Any Value?
-
I know directories are an out-dated way to gain backlinks but the more I look into competitors that rank high link porfolio - many of thier top links come from paid directories. Granted, these can be old links but they still maintain highest authority, etc.
Do you guys find directories still valuable as a linking building strategy?
-
I will start out by saying I am not answering your question, really. The whole reason I found your question here is because I was about to jump on and ask THE VERY SAME QUESTION.
I am working on several projects, and on at least 75% of the projects, I am seeing the exact same thing. The one or two sites I am targeting in OSE are CRUSHING ME with what Google and Cutts would perceive as crappy backlink sites. I have seen some people have responded to your question by saying "don't let OSE, Raven, Majestic or whatever" be your guiding light in this regard, as Google doesn't use any of these services.
But the pattern cannot be denied. Backlinks STILL work. Now, it's possible this could change at any time, and I am - for the most part - refraining from duplicating their (in Google's opinion) backlink strategies on these thin directory sites.
However, it is really difficult to explain to your client why slow and steady will be better in the long term for their SERP efforts than blasting their link and anchor text out to dozens or hundreds of sites.
Of course, there is this - which was pointed out on inbound.org I believe:
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/34432?hl=en
Before May 27:
In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by increasing the number of high-quality sites that link to their pages.
After May 27:
In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by creating high-quality sites that users will want to use and share.
==
With this in mind, I think a lot of those sh*tty backlinks that are beating my arse are likely on their last leg.
Again, this is all conjecture. But that sly change with no real announcement is interesting, no?
edited for formatting
-
Yes your Right my friend, Now a days Some of directory sites are not good for you to submit. The best thing for you Dylan, is find a Relevant Directories
Surely you will be a Successor!
-
I would strongly suggest only submitting to directories that you believe will benefit you outside of search. i.e. directories that will deliver relevant traffic by themselves.
-
I agree with Matt, there is no go-to directory. A directory or listing can have value for one site but not for another based on relevance, location, and site quality.
If you're looking for a list of directories that MIGHT be valuable then you're going about it all wrong. Don't waste your time with directory listings. Instead, spend time building good off-site content and link bait. Look at the two following discussions for ideas and caveats.
http://moz.com/community/q/niche-directories
http://moz.com/community/q/seomoz-directory-list-some-clarity-needed
-
I was hoping that wasn't going to be the part of that reply you focused on!
Honestly, I don't think that there is a single "go to" directory that I would use for every project. The ones that have value are those that are valuable resources that just happen to be in directory format. The common themes are that they are likely to be hand curated, tricky to get in to and cover one particular niche. They will also often form part of a larger site that has a user base that actually uses that directory.
-
I think it depends on the actual directory as well as its relation to the website's niche. Some directories will still hold value, while others might actually hurt a site. If the directory is related to the site's niche and has a natural www, http, or branded anchor text then they should offer value. With paid directories I would be super careful though, unless it's something like the BBB.
Local directories and citations are still important for local business site rankings too. In addition they give awesome referral traffic because the site or business profile page will show up in serps.
Some of our clients have old directory listings with anchor text that is over-optimized, so we're working on diversifying and/or removing them completely.
When you look at these competitors' paid directory links and their authority, you also need to consider a couple of other things: their relevance to that directory's topic, the date the listing was created, and whether a user would find that listing valuable. At the end of the day it's all about user experience, and there are still a few directories out there whose listings would be valuable to a user if they found them in a search.
Does anyone else have any advice on directories and their place in a site's link portfolio?
Hope this helps
-
Can you list what you think are good directories to name a few?
-
but they still maintain highest authority, etc.
Be very very careful with that assumption. Just because OSE (or whatever your backlink analysis tool of choice is) reports a high metric for a link, it does not mean that link actually has any value. Google doesn't use OSE! (or majestic / ahrefs etc). Only they know for certain which links are passing authority/weight and how much and we know that they have cautioned us about directories.
Use of directories for backlinks is one of the strongest correlation factors I have witnessed with site that have dropped during Penguin updates. Be very very careful indeed.
Now - all that said... here is where I seem to contradict myself!
Some directories are great!
Google doesn't actually have an issue with directories. It has an issue with links that have no value - which includes the vast majority of directories. Those that do count though are few and far between and it is now probably best to steer clear if you are not certain.
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
-
Competitor Bad Practice SEO Still Ranking Well But Why ?
Moz Friends, A very close competitor have always been challenging for similar competitive keywords. We seem to have the advantage for alot of long tail keywords but on one of the higher traffic relevant keywords they seem to do well. I really struggle to understand why, particularly with the back links they use Just my thoughts and notes on the two: Our Page Better written text content (Maybe slightly written to for experienced target audience but we are working on simplifying things) Good Clear site URL structure and navigation for usability Fresh content updates Mobile optimized Reasonable page speeds Good on-page optimization Good back links from industry influences Competitor Page Negatives Site structure and URL's are inconsistent and messy Lower quality content site wide They use tried and tested on page optimization methods like Keyword spamming, Bold Keywords,Underlining Keywords (Sarcasm) Terrible back links, all directories and free article submission sites (Seriously take a look) Less focused on page optimization Not mobile optimized Most of the rest of the sites carry on the same sort of differences, Engine: www.google.co.uk Keyword: Sound level meters **Our Page: **www.cirrusresearch.co.uk/products/sound-level-meters/ **Competitor Page: **www.pulsarinstruments.com/product-information/Sound-Level-Meter.html Any feedback would be greatly appreciated please, i am really struggling to get my head around this Thanks James
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | Antony_Towle1 -
Competitor link profile shocking - yet still out ranking!
Howdy fellow Mozzer's,
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | TimHolmes
I have been doing some background seo checking on a competitor in my small "insurance niche" to try and see why they have recently shot up the listings and are now consistently out ranking us.
We have quality content on our site and have always taken an approach of trying to be whiter than white when it comes to developing out SEO plans. The site in question has recently moved ahead of us (along with some aggregators e.g. confused.com) possibly due to shifting patterns from possible algorithm changes favouring brand or could it be a case that Google has dropped a ball when it comes to checking back links as the competitors site is 99% linked to link farms, link submission sites, directories and lots of other spammy/poor quality sites. We do not feel they are doing anything from a content stand to justify their sudden propulsion up the ranks. I am reluctant to pursue dodgy tactics to help get out site back in position as I feel it could then contribute and hurt us down the line. Does anyone know how I can combat against their poor QUANTITY over QUALITY banklink profile that is surely helping them at the minute? At a bit of a loss so any help would be greatly appreciated. aRTu4cT0 -
Does Ezine articles still make any good?
In the past many of the articles we posted in our blog we post on Ezine articles. After Penguin still make any sense to post on Ezine? Can the post on Ezine make any bad or Good to our ranking? What kind of tactics are guys using to promote articles/post in your blog?
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | Felip30 -
Help figuring out if certain paid directories are worth it
The person in my position previously had quite a few paid directories our site was listed on. What is the best resources you guys have used or know of to figure out which ones are good to keep? For instance one that is up for renewal this week is site-sift.com. I know the person previous to me did some not so ethical stuff and I'm trying to clean up messes. Any advice on directories would be much appreciated.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | inhouseninja0 -
Why Google still display search result so bad?
When I search this keyword Backlink คือ by Google browser(Google.co.th) then I saw these Domain that is spam keyword and worse content (Spin content and can not understand what it said) อํานาจเจริญ.dmc.tv/?p=19
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | taradmkt
ฉะเชิงเทรา.dmc.tv/?p=28 พังงา.dmc.tv/?tag=backlink หนองคาย.dmc.tv/?p=97 ขอนแก่น.dmc.tv/?tag=backlink ชัยนาท.dmc.tv/?p=70 ตราด.dmc.tv/?tag=backlink etc As you can see the search result**.** My question is 1. How to tell Google to check these network 2. Why these network display Top 10 for 3 weeks!!!!! and after that they rank drop. 3. Why Facebook page rank on Google in the search result Please make me clear.0 -
Does the SEOmoz Suggested Directory List Need to be Updated?
So, since Google updated their link schemes page (http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=66356) with avoid using "Low-quality directories", I've been thinking a lot about what makes a directory "low-quality". Obviously, this is important, or Google wouldn't have mentioned it. I was wondering if someone could explain to me how some of the directories suggested by SEOmoz at http://www.seomoz.org/directories are NOT low-quality, specifically some of the ones marked "General". The page lists stuff like busybits.com, for instance. One that I guess many are aware of, and yea it has a high home page PageRank, and it's got some history, and it's human-edited, ok great. But does it actually add any value to anyone that's not just looking to get a link? A page like http://busybits.com/Business/Others/2/ having (dofollow) listings like "Phone cards, Calling cards" "Insurance in Canada" .... ect. It just looks like an SEO backlink hub. No value at all to a user trying to discover new sites/content. Anyway, back to my main question, how is something like this NOT "low-quality"? Thank you
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | MadeLoud4 -
Link-Building - Directories
Hello, The SEO world is a bit confuse in the last months with the Google Antartic updates. Its normal since Google is trying to kill SEO to have more Adwords publicity results. My most recent doubt is about directories. I heard Matt Cutts from Google in a recent Google Hangout saying that registering a website in directorys was ok, but not the ideal method to become relevant in the internet world. However it seems that this procedure is not against the Google policies. Now, here in the forums, I already saw someone writing about adding your site to directories and how dangerous that situacion is. So, whats your opinion about adding your site to free and pay directories as first link-building strategy? If directories are out of the question, why SEOmoz as a huge list of paid directorys? Is SEOmoz outdate?
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | PedroM1 -
Check For Bad Directory Backlinks For Free
I used http://deletebacklinks.com/ yesterday to search 7 of the directories they have access to for searching bad links. I found one of my sites had links on these directories and I was able to remove them for fairly reasonable price. Thought this is a good tool to do a free quick check for any bad linkbacks on deindexed directories. I know this may be a small portion but every little bit helps.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | TheSEODR0