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.
How do paid directories like thomasnet.com do so well in the serps? Aren't the Panda updates supposed to be moving us away from this?
-
With all of the updates/changes to Google's algo, I assumed that paid listings & links like those on thomasnet.com would have less merit. Is this an incorrect assumption?
-
Thanks again Ryan. Thomasnet does well in the serps, but they do so on the backs of those that pay to be in their directory. That being said, I fully understand your explanation and appreciate your clarification for me.
-
Mike, the one point to clarify is whether you feel that Thomasnet.com is performing well? or whether the sites which pay Thomasnet.com for links are performing well?
If Thomasnet.com is not paying for any links themselves, then there is no reason for them not to perform well.
My understanding is that Google would penalize the BUYER of any links by removing the value of any paid links. There is much speculation about whether Google takes any additional steps. They could penalize the seller and they could further penalize the buyer, but I am not aware of any confirmation to either point.
-
Hey Ryan, thanks for the reply. They do offer free listings on their site, but not free links. Perhaps I was a bit fuzzy on my question. Thomas does very well on many keywords from their listings. The majority of thomasnet's content are the listings of companies that pay to be on the thomasnet website. Thomasnet has a rather high domain authority of 77. If thomasnet content consists mainly of paid listings with paid links and my understanding is that these are not good for SEO, why would thomasnet perform well?
-
Paid links do not pass link juice. What is causing you to believe otherwise in this case?
Also, I took a quick look at the site and noticed a Free Links link in the footer. I didn't investigate it but they may offer both paid and unpaid listings.
-
Yes, I do understand how linking works. My questions is about the links on their directory which are paid links. Any company in their directory with a link to their website is a paid link. Shouldn't paid links be valued lower than non-paid organic links?
-
Thomasnet is a large site with a nice, but not overwhelming number of links.
Also, a lot of their competition is in naive markets where they compete against much smaller sites. Although Thomasnet is not a major "powerhouse" they do have a nice number of links and that gives them enough authority to be a strong competitor in the naive and smaller markets.
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
-
Do You Risk A Penalty From Local Paid Directories in 2022?
Hi there, I have a client who wants to advertise in a local directory along the lines of "find your nearest plumber". The directory only has paid listings and they are follow links and they also mention your site or generated landing page may get a nice bump on google. Is there a risk that they may get a penalty for using this directory? The client wants to use it regardless of if it gives them an SEO boost but obviously wants to avoid any penalties at all costs. Thoughts on this? Thanks in advance
Link Building | | Scottlinklater0 -
Moving blogs to different domain
Hey guys, We currently have some blogs on one of our pages (fraserisland.com.au) and we are launching a complete rebranding of our sites. We want to move the blogs from fraserisland.com.au to the new parent page of travelfreedom.com.au (but still link it to fraserisland.com.au), however I don't know what affect this will have on the ranking of the blogs. The biggest thing I'm worried about is that the domain will be completely different, and not a sub domain, but I'm not sure what impact this will have on the effectiveness of SEO on the blog. Thanks guys
Link Building | | Mysites0 -
Are directories still a valid practice? If so what are some of your favorite and most authoritative directories?
After combing over several competitor sites I have found many if not the majority of their links are from directories. I am curious to know if individuals/companies/seos etc. still use directories, if so what are some of the favorites?
Link Building | | Firestarter-SEO1 -
Is www.indexkings.com safe to use?
Does anyone know if www.indexkings.com is a safe site to use to index a url in the eyes of Google?
Link Building | | SEOQuest720 -
Socialmonkee.com
Hi Mozez! I signed up for Social Monkee a while back and used it in bits and pieces to promote blog content. About 1 year ago I use to get great results with this tool. Just wondering what your thoughts are on a program like this to gain social bookmarking links, in the current state of search. socialmonkee.com Thanks in advanced. Regards, Michael
Link Building | | ecentricmarketing0 -
Best Relevant Directory submission software
Hi Guys, Is there any really good relevant directory sumbission software out there?? Or am I just wishing for too much here! There must be a good sodtware tools out there where I can submit my property website to relvant property related directories with a jit of a button! Any help of poing me in the right direction would be very helpful! Thanks! G
Link Building | | GAZ090 -
Are you using ArticleBase.com for link building?
I'm digging my way through my competitors' link profiles on OSE and came across one that had been using a site called ArticleBase.com Apparently you can publish articles for free and browse other published articles for usage on your own site (provided you follow their TOS). It actually seems like a nifty idea. I'm wondering if anyone has utilized this site for re-publishing content and building external links. Worth the effort? Thanks!
Link Building | | TBiz0 -
Directory List -
Hi Mozzers, please write here the directories the strong directories you know please, make a fresh-list here. thanks
Link Building | | leadsprofi1