Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Directory Submission
-
Is it worth of submitting our company website in directories mentioned on http://www.directorycritic.com/free-directory-list.html?sort=pr&pg=
-
NO
-
Hi Ravi,
As already echoed above, I would avoid these now. There is a bigger risk now than there was when that was first produced.
Link-building (link acquisition)now needs to be focusing on having link-worth assets and sharing these with those who would be interested.
I always use BuzzSumo as an example here, because you are able to see what is being shared in your niche, who shared it (great for outreach) and then even if it has lead to any backlinks. It's these sites that linked that you can also contact.
I would suggest looking at great content that has been shared, and try and make something better. You would be surprised what can come from this.
-Andy
-
Hi there
For my vote, I say no.
The best way to assess potential backlinks are to ask the following questions:
-
Does this link help my website?
-
Does it send quality traffic?
-
Is this link relevant to my website?
-
Would I trust this site (that's linking to me) if I landed on it?
-
Is the website or content in which I am being linked from topically relevant to my website?
-
If you check metrics - does anything about the metrics (domain authority, page authority,Majestic, SEMRush traffic/ranking data, etc) make me feel uneasy?
-
Are the links from directory templates? (example)
-
Inspect URLs with blatant spam words
-
Free
-
Porn
-
XXX
-
Submit
-
Directory
-
Paid
-
Links
-
URL
-
Sex
-
etc.
-
Check for multiple domains and URLs on the same IPs
-
This can usually show link farms or spam
-
Don't be quick to discount nofollow links - nofollow's do provide value, so as long as they pass your sniff test, don't remove them simply because of this tag
If you have to question a link or if it's worth obtaining, it's probably not worth obtaining in the first link. It's hard to explain, but a good link is something you just know is valuable when you see it, or one that you know is relevant enough to your website and fits perfectly in the content that it's linking from.
Directories like those you linked to here are only built for the reason of gaming the search engines and build mass amounts of links as quickly as possible. Google, and other search engines, understand this and are actively putting a stop to it and deranking sites with backlink profiles that contain fair amounts of these links.
My vote - avoid them - and acquire links naturally, it will benefit you so much more in the long run.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
-
-
No is the short answer.
Below is a great article detailing the dangers of directories.
https://moz.com/blog/web-directory-submission-danger
If you want a great contemporary webinar on link building. This came out two days ago on the 18 June from the guys at page one power. I like to break up the reading with a webinar every now and then!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n39BPLmMiY4
Hope this helps.
-
Generally people seem to be avoiding directories as they can be spammy and thin on content. I have had problems with getting huge numbers of no follow links from them. I would say avoid.
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
-
NoFollow & Directory Scraper Backlinks
I was wondering how important it was to remove/disavow: NoFollow backlinks - many ("buy viagra" etc). Directory backlinks - many questionable/generic directories. Obviously the focus is the equity passing links but both of the above constitute a significant proportion of backlinks to the site - I've seen that "scrapers" are seen as natural and obviously NoFollow do not pass link juice - but does the sheer number have a bearing and therefore make them equally important to address? Thanks in advance for your responses. Regards
Link Building | | National-Homebuyers0 -
This directory looks great - would you agree?
I know people have mixed feelings towards submitting their sites to directories, but this one really seemed special, so I decided to share the opportunity with the Moz community, as well as open up a discussion on the value of being a part of this directory (and similar ones.) We recently submitted our site to Dial a Human (www.dialahuman.com) It is a directory of companies' phone numbers, which go directly to a person (bypassing the machines.) I think this directory actually does provide users with value, and is far from your typical link farm. The Page Authority is 56 and the Domain Authority is 47, and it is a PR5 site. The other companies listed are all extremely reputable (most of them are fortune 500 companies.) The fee to join is $75-$150, but to be included with this group of companies, we felt it was very worthwhile. We would join this type of directory over and over again. Would you? If you have any other directories which are of the same caliber please share!
Link Building | | JMacSupply0 -
Content - Onsite Blog vs Article Submission
Hey Folks, First post! I have a 4 year old site with reasonable authority (49) and lots of content. Easy first question. I plan to create lots more unique, useful and relevant content however I'm in a quandary as to whether to: A. Post the content on our sites blog or B. Submit the article to an article directory like ezine-articlesand backlink to my site. Is one better than the other? Thanks, Richard
Link Building | | Rich-O0 -
How do I remove bad web directory listings?
I am starting SEO for an E commerce website. I guess like 1 year or two ago they had another SEO company working for them. After looking in Site explorer I realized that they have like 2000 links (almost all from website directories) that have the correct anchor text but are all in the wrong categories, and most from countries like china and india. Many of the Titles are even in Chinese. This company sells packaging supplies and they are in categories like real estate, animals, and so on. I am changing the domain name, so I guess any links to internal pages will be lost, however I have to forward the main domain to my new domain, so any links to the home page will still be there. Does anyone know how I can remove these links??
Link Building | | DTOSI0 -
DMOZ submission
Has anyone had any experience submitting to DMOZ and waiting times. The category i've submitted to has only a few links (http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/England/London/Westminster/Arts_and_Entertainment/) Yet I submitted the site (www.capitalalist.com) over a month ago! Can anyone give examples of waiting times, or a way to perhaps get some feedback from DMOZ? Thanks in advance as always...
Link Building | | AdenBrands0 -
Asking other websites to link your website when the want to be in your directory
Hello, We have 3 web directories, and I wonder if it is legal for search engines to ask people who want to be in the directory to link to a particular website in order to be in our directory. I mean, it is free adding the url in the directory but if they lwant to be in the directory they have to ink to a website we have decided.
Link Building | | teconsite.com
Is this correct, or is punishable? Thanks!0 -
Which Directory Sites to Choose?
Hi All I am a newbie to SEO and have a quick Q. Assuming that appropriate steps would be to; a) Ensure all onsite matters are are correct, title tags, meta descriptions, redirects, canonical issues. b) Submit to Directories c) Build Links I am approaching step b) Which Directories are worth submitting to? For those which require payment, how can I decide which are value for money or should I just use SEOMOZ list of links and assume that theyre worth the $50 - $100 if my higher ranking competitors have links from these directories. Also, can this be looked opon as grey/black hat 'buying of links'? Thank you Sean www.pretavoir.co.uk
Link Building | | seanmccauley0