Large Paid Directories - Still Worth It?
-
Hi,
So we've heard all the updates from Google lately: don't get involved in buying links, link networks etc etc.
My question is, does buying a link from one of the traditional large directories get penalised by Google? If I was to buy a link from Best of the Web - http://botw.org/ - would this be a waste of time? Would I get penalised?
If we are only buying 2-3 high value links for our site from very high quality directories, do you think this is fine?
I'm asking because BOTW is having a sale today (tomorrow US time), half price submission.
Thanks!
Edit: Paid directories such as this are still featured on SEOmoz - http://www.seomoz.org/directories - so I'm thinking they still have value if used sparingly?
-
You are correct, BOTW isnt one of them- it is currently marked in LinkDetox as a "toxic" link
-
Getting links from directories like Yohoo and BOTW are not considered paid links by Google due to their authority and also because the amount they charge is towards editorial fee and they still reserve the right to reject any spam site.
Having said that, due to recent changes in the way Google uses incoming links in determining ranking these links might have no to little effect in rankings. They still might get some direct traffic.
-
Don't expect too much improvement from those directory links. They're good to start a project but you'll need a lot more to achieve good rankings.
-
Google knows that there are high quality directories out there, and BOTW is one of them. Since Google knows that real humans are reviewing the sites that are submitted and allowed to appear on the site, it's a quality service that benefits the web.
While the list of high quality directories is small, they are certainly worth getting for any link building campaign.
-
We will see...I just got BOTW and Business.com a couple weeks ago...looking forward to the April 27th crawl for updated rankings.
-
As far I know, registering your business in these well known directories is not considered as "link buying". These are "quality" business directories and (according to them) they do filter dodgy, spammy, low quality websites.
I've registered a large number of websites in BOTW, Yahoo, Business.com, etc and never had any penalties.
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
-
How many Directory Web sites still active?
After a long period, near about 6 years I want to know what kind of Web Directories still active? Is that kind of Directory links help SERP for gaining Ranks?
Link Building | | nopain8100 -
Is Infographic Distribution Still OK?
Hi Mozzers. I'm designing an infographic to be used in conjunction with a report we've compiled. It's a really strong story backed up with good data. We're planning to do a bit of PR activity around it to hopefully get it in some very authoratitve publications. On top of this, to maximise the backlinks that we're able to build I've been considering posting it on some (possibly all of the infographic sites) listed on Paddy Moogans blog post about infographic distribution. Would this provide any benefit or is it likely to get me penalised in some way? Are there any tips/advice you would give to do this? i.e. link to a mixture of different pages, use non spammy anchor text? Should I limit how many infographic sites I distribute it too? Is there a maximum total I should consider or even a maximum number of infographic links I should build per week/month? Anything else I've not considered? Thanks in advance David
Link Building | | OctopusHR0 -
Does Yext Directory Listings Help with Links?
Question: Does Yext Directory Listings Help with Links? They have 53 directories and I am trying to find out if this service is going to help building our links?
Link Building | | Tim_Jacquet0 -
Paid for News Media backlinks
We have been lucky to have some great coverage and resultant backlinks on some very high domain authority news sites such as The Times in the UK. Now that a lot of their content (including our articles and backlinks) is now gated because they are a subscription based, does: Google site attribute the same domain authority to the subscription sites? Does Google site crawl this content? Does the same Google Juice flow once the site is gated? Is the value of 'paid for content sites' eroded?
Link Building | | Switch_Digital0 -
How do I change Yahoo directory listing?
Years ago an old employee put us on Yahoo. The information is no longer correct and I have no idea who put us on or when. Does anyone have a suggestion? Or an email to contact yahoo?
Link Building | | EcommerceSite0 -
Looking for good legal web directories
Hi, I am looking for some good legal web directories. I looked at the seomoz list but I didn't see any categorized as legal/law. Are there some good legal directories you can recommend? Any thoughts on Justia.com? Thanks, Scott
Link Building | | slangdon0 -
Renting Directory Listings
Is anyone aware of services that allow the renting of directory listings? Someone explained the concept to me and I am trying to find a good source for directory rental links. Thanks
Link Building | | jenadams0 -
Traditional link requests still the right way?
Is the traditional way of link building wherein we send requests for two way or three way links still important? I feel posting articles, blog commenting, blog posting, forum commenting etc are better means to build links... but since I am still new to this industry I may be wrong. Please suggest.
Link Building | | KS__0