Directories for backlinks
-
Hello,
I was wondering whether directories are a good source of creating quality back links?
Thanks
-
Hi! A suggestion for next time is to link to the article with the original discussion. This was formatted such that most of the people thought that you were the one who wrote this, rather than Marie.
-
Yes, KLLC is right. A good rule of thumb, when it comes to directories, is how easy is it to get into the directory? If it's easy, it's mostly likely considered spammy...
-
Well said KLLC!
Directories with NO editorial policies at all might be dodgy since everyone would be able to list his/her site their.
There are some good relevant online directories - before posting your site on directories ask whether you will benefit from traffic coming through this directory (remember that SEO is about quality traffic not just increased traffic). Also, ask yourself whether it is TOO easy to get a link from that site - if yes then you might want to be extra careful.
-
wouldnt have put it better myself. Directory submissions are still worth the effort IMO as long as they are relevant and as KLLC put it , the directory is not built for seo purposes only.
-
Hi Peter Allen,
Answer By Marie Haynes from http://www.seomoz.org/q/are-links-from-directories-good-or-bad
When I'm deciding on submitting to directories I ask myself one of the questions from the quality guidelines: would I be doing this if search engines didn't exist?
I submit my sites to local directories that make sense for the site and could drive traffic. I completely avoid directories that are made for SEO purposes.
I'm also careful not to overdo it. Anything done in excess can cause Google to look on your link building with suspicion. I also avoid using keyword anchor text and prefer to link from directories using my URL.
A recent unnatural links recovery client of mine got their warning mostly because of directory links. The quality guidelines, under "link schemes" tells us to avoid "Low-quality directory or bookmark site links". The question is, however, what is "low quality"? If you feel that you are ranking because of links from directories created just for SEO purposes I would guess that this ranking will eventually die and could even be penalized.
I have a theory that Google created the disavow tool to help them find all of the low quality pages and devalue them, or even worse, penalize sites that have used them. My thought is that if a large number of sites choose to disavow www.exampledirectory.com then Google takes a look at that site and determines whether it is a site made just to boost the PR of other sites. If so, then they likely deindex it. A few months ago Google deindexed a pile of directories, but there are LOTS of them out there that, in my opinion will soon be gone.
Personally, I wouldn't risk a client's site on this tactic unless they had full knowledge of the potential risk involved.
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
-
Looking strategy for Backlinks
Hi, I'm a new bee here, Just wondering if we have some good but easy strategies to get a higher rank in PA and DA?
Link Building | | BeriCollection
My Store URL is [https://bericollection.com].
We are selling Shoes, Watches and smart gadgets.
We do shipping worldwide but need help from the community.0 -
Renew Our Yahoo Directory Listing?
Our yearly renewal for the Yahoo Directory is coming up. Has anyone cancelled their renewal, and if so, did you see a drop in SEO? Not sure whether to renew this or not. Thank you for any insight.
Link Building | | christopherinc0 -
What kind of backlink give me trust?
Hello I'm newbie on SEO and I don't know which type of backlink give me moztrust. root domain or sub page? high pagerank? high domain authority or high page authority? high domain mozrank or high page mozrank? I need your lovely answer . thanks
Link Building | | vahidafsharicom0 -
Backlinks and PDFs
Hi, we are trying to improve on the number of links to our website. A supplier has added a PDF file which is case study to their website. In the PDF it has a link to our website, will this count as a link or not? Thanks
Link Building | | danieldunn100 -
What backlink is better?
Hi Guys I recently helped out a friend with some marketing advice and to do me a favour back he said that he'll put a link on his site back to my website. Just some background on the site, it is very high quality with DA of 71 with each blog post/inner page having roughly PA of 45, it's been online for 15 years and has nearly 4,000 indexed pages and 10,000 links. Anyway my question is would it be better to get a sitewide link in a sidebar that is displayed on every page of his website or would it be better to write a blog post on the site that links back to mine? Thanks
Link Building | | jackalancurtis1 -
Directory sites in 2013
Are there any directory sites or article/press relies sites that are worth getting links on in the post panda/penguin worked of 2013?
Link Building | | mark_baird0 -
How to Check the Amount of Deep Backlinks?
I'm thinking about checking the amount of deep backlinks on my site because I have a hunch that I don't have enough of them. Now, the problem is that I have no idea what tool (on-line or offline) I need to use. I did some Google research but it did not give me any results.
Link Building | | VinceWicks0 -
What's your favourite SEO directory?
We're having a bit of a debate in the office today about SEO directories. We all seem to have our favourites here - Octopedia, AbiLogic and JoeAnt to name a few that have been mentioned. Just wondering what everyone else's favourite directories for SEO are? Which pass the best link juice? Which offer the best value for money? Would love to know everyone's thoughts...
Link Building | | Digirank1