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?
-
Hi Wayne,
Google released an official post regarding this topic located here which may help to explain your question. As stated previously, by Google and in the post, Google does take measures to ensure submission to low quality links will not necessarily result in a penalty, but will likely not help your site a significant degree. This also means a significant ranking drop for specific keywords is likely not the result of low quality directory submissions.
-
That is a question we get a lot from clients. Extremely hard to pinpoint those drops.
-
That's what I thought, but I wanted an experienced opinion. I had a ranking drop after adding some directory links and was looking for a cause
-
Absolutely not.
If there was a way to 'hurt' a site then black hatters would be bombing sites to force them down in rankings.
How did you determine the directory being of low value?
In my eyes a link is a link is a link.
-
I don't think it can "hurt" a website.
Just because of the fact that a competitor could build them, to penalize you.
That being said, if very low quality links are built for months and months on end, that might possibly alert the search engines it's most probably the site owner building them.
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
-
Backlinks from subdomain, can it hurt ranking?
I just started doing an SEO audit and noticed I have 40,000 some odd back links from an OLD version of our site that has been moved to a subdomain. The back links are for articles that already exist on our main site. I don't think Google is picking it up as duplicate content because that site isn't being crawled anymore. Could this hurt us SEO wise? I plan on removing the site, but how long after it's been removed should those back links disappear?
Link Building | | MMAffiliate0 -
Blacklist IP on Barracuda hurt your Rankings?
Hey Everyone, I was wondering, I ran a website IP address on http://mxtoolbox.com/ and the website was on the blacklist on only one place that is on BARRACUDA. **Also the website other than that the site is clean. ** Domain clean by Google Safe Browsing: Domain clean by Norton Safe Web: Domain clean on Phish tank: Domain clean on the Opera browser: Domain clean by SiteAdvisor: Domain clean by the Sucuri Malware Labs blacklist: Domain clean on Yandex (via Sophos): Domain clean by ESET: So I have 2 questions. The site in question is a Classifieds Ad Website
Link Building | | EVERWORLD.ENTERTAIMENT
1. Does your ranking get affected if you are associated with a website who is linked to you and is on the blacklist for spam only on Barracuda?
**2. If a website has a bad rating on WOT or WEBUTATION. Does that also hurt your ranking? ** Your help is appreciated. Thanks.0 -
Where can I go to find the latest links to my domain?
I have checked the link analysis section and looked at link history. I have also checked Open Site Explorer but I can't seem to find a way to just show me the most recent links to my site . . .
Link Building | | BlueLinkERP0 -
BOTW & Yahoo Directory
Hello! Typically how long does it take for these links to show up in Opensite Explorer? I sumbitted these approx 3-4 weeks, OSE has just updated, and I still cannot see in my link profile? Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks guys!
Link Building | | TP_Marketing0 -
What are your latest backlinks? How can you tell?
Hi Can anyone recommend a tool (which is up to date) which shows the latest backlinks (in date order) that has been added to a website? Mainly I am planning for checking for bad links etc Many Thanks
Link Building | | ocelot0 -
Yahoo! Directory Category Question
The listing for my company was buried in a bad category in the Yahoo! Directory that had no Page Authority. I was able to get them to remove the old listing because I couldn't find the account info for the individual that originally created it. I resubmitted and they didn't put my site in the category that I requested but the Page Authority of the category that I was placed in is 50. Is this OK? Or should I repeal and ask them to move it to the category that I had originally requested which I feel would be more relevant for my company and listing which also has a 50 PA?
Link Building | | TRICORSystems0 -
Can someone give me criteria with which to judge the quality of submission directories.
The general advice is the SEOmoz community is not to bother with low quality submission directories. Makes sense to me as there existence seems solely to manipulate search rankings, which google doesn't like. So what are some clear and actionable criteria to distinguish between a directory worth spending time on and one that is not worth spending time on?
Link Building | | JesseCWalker0 -
Is there a way I can import Linkscape data more often than the standard update?
Hello SEOMOZ, As you know, the SERP results change constantly. I want to have a better gauge of what new links are moving the my sites/other sites up. I would like to run Linkscape data on a more regular basis. When I try to do this, I receive this message: You have an existing saved Advanced Link Intelligence Report, run on Wed, Mar 9th 2011, 15:31 for this URL with data on the Subdomain Domain How can I run this to get a real time report?Thank you,GRC
Link Building | | GRC0