Keyword use in online directories
-
I have been adding our website to online directories which quite often allow me to add a brief description of the organization and add a list of Key words. With regards to the keywords should I list keywords from the organisiantion description that I have entered on the site or should I use the key words that we are trying to rank for, that don’t necessarily feature in the description on the site
-
Hi Hardley,
Dana has listed some great factors to consider when choosing directories. However just consider the relevance of that directory rather than just the raw authority of the site.
Example (I've just been to Australia Zoo, hence this example) You're doing SEO for a company that transports Kaulas. The best link you could get isn't from a high authority site, with a PR of 8, & 1,000,000 links. It's from the most relevant sites. Out there somewhere will be a website on the perils of transporting Kaulas, written by the foremost expert in the world. Target that site.
In the case of directories, you target animal related ones. Because Google will know what the site is about, you won't need to worry about adding a list of keywords.
Hope that help
Iain - Reload Media
-
Dana points out excellent ways to evaluate if a Directory is worth the effort. Considering low quality links can actually hurt the site, I would make directory links a minuscule part of your overall strategy.
-
Personally I would select the 4-5 keywords that best describe the website, products or business and just stick with those. I don't think inserting a whole bunch of keywords is going to be beneficial, and honestly, the keywords probably don't matter at all. However, I understand that some directories will make keywords a required field so you may have to put something there. I would proceed with caution and just approach it with a "less is more" attitude.
Also, another word about directories, make sure you research them very carefully before you decide to submit. Answer these questions:
How long has the directory existed?
What is the directory's Alexa ranking?
What is its PageRank?
How many inbound links does the directory have?
How many of those inbound links are .edu and .gov links?
Is the directory even in Google's index any more?
Does the directory have real human editors? [try emailing them to see if you get a human answer0
Does the directory just include every site that pays them? If so, reconsider your submission.
Does the directory properly categorize the sites it lists?
If you answer those questions about each one, you'll get a better idea if a particular directory is worth pursuing or not. Also, make sure that this is part of a much larger, broader link-earning strategy.
Dana
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
-
Directories in the linkbuilding strategy
Hi all, what's your opinion about the impact of directories in the seo strategy? Are they efficient? Is it worth to pay attention to them? Could you give me some exemples of well-considered directories (apart from dmoz and yahoo)? Thanks
Link Building | | juanmiguelcr0 -
Keyword Alt text in Links
I am wondering about alt text in links. My website was ranking in the top 1-5 position for all my main keywords from 2006-2012. I took a big hit in april 2012 and my rankings tanked with the penguin update. I've really just left seo alone for the past year as I assumed my rankings would come back, obviously not. I am still ranked 90-120 for my main keyword a year later, other keywords I am still ranked between position #7-11 which I am happy enough with. I did not receive any warnings from google so I'm not de-listed and don't have a manual penalty. My main problem was if someone wanted to link to my site I just asked them to use the exact same alt text in the link pointing to my site. So after using seomoz explorer I see I have just over 2700 links which Is great because I never approached anyone for links I just told them the alt text I wanted when anyone approached me, which shows people felt my site was good. My main problem is I have 600 of the 2700 links with the exact same alt text. Should I use the disavow tool to remove links with that key word phrase? Would that help? I look forward to any help with this. Thanks.
Link Building | | Want1stPlaceYesterday0 -
Value of certain directory links
I am looking at the links to a competitors site and they have a ton of links from things like this http://www.directoryws.com/ Is it worth submitting to something like this? It has a 58 domain authority from Moz.
Link Building | | EcommerceSite0 -
Building on Brand for a keyword heavy domain with bad backlink profile
The domain is keyword heavy think along the lines of "mountainbikes.com" and they are ranking ok for mountain bikes, however on inspection they have a LOT of poor quality back links and a lot of those links are anchor text phrases (and far too much of it!). A lot of people recommend building on brand in situations like this, however how would I go about doing this for a site without a branded domain name? In this case their is a company name but it's not the same as the domain name, would you simply build links using the company name "Uber Bikes" or use the domain www.mountainbikes.com. If the aim is just to build a more varied back link profile then I guess using both would be good? Thanks in advance! 🙂
Link Building | | SEOKeith0 -
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 -
Should I use Article Submitter software?
I've downloaded Article Demon a while ago and have been trying to use it all though it hasn't been as easy to use as I would have liked. I was just wondering what you guys feel about Article Submitting software, if it's useful or if it's a waste of time? Regards
Link Building | | HeadStud0 -
Yahoo Directory unable to access a domain for submission
Tried submitting a website to Yahoo!'s directory but each time no matter how i input the domain i get the following error: We were unable to access your web page. Please double-check your URL. Is there anyway to contact Yahoo! to request a manual submission?
Link Building | | EAOM1