How Google differentiates web sites like directories?
-
Hi,
I want to ask how google differentiates web sites like directories or company listing websites? How it understands that is a normal thing to have many links in a directory site? Are there some guides links about what to do and avoid and how to make SEO optimization for a directory web site.
-
I'm afraid I've seen issues with even decent quality directories. I have a client who originally published a print directory and then moved it to the web - they have relationships with all of the companies whose "products" they list (it's not a product directory, but that doesn't matter much for this discussion), they use unique descriptions, and they really focus on quality. Still, they've seen gradual declines, as the OEMs (essentially) rank higher and higher.
I think Google is just starting to view the directory model in general with more and more suspicion. They'd rather land someone directly on a result or answer then go through what's essentially another search engine. That's not to say you're automatically penalized, but it's a tougher model to succeed at than it was even 5 years ago.
I think, ultimately, you've really got to show some kind of unique value. If you're basically just listing other people's information, your chances of making much of a splash in the rankings aren't great these days.
-
Right now, I can tell you that I have a message proving that directories will indeed get you penalized. I had a pr4 51 authority link on a directory site that was very popular. Google doesn't generally give you an hints on links, but they did and I have proof. They told me to take specific directory links down that we built to very relevant sections. Not only that, but even told me that my main url of my site I used as the keywords was still spam.
So, Google I feel is hand picking the directory sites like DMOZ, etc, etc. I also don't feel directory sites are that high of a quality in a link anyways. What can you really say in 30 or so words about your site.
I am not saying to stay away from them all, I am just saying be very careful, because I thought they were ok to use if you picked good ones too, but it's not.
Have a great night.
MB
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
-
Keyword Cannibalization vs. Optimizing Site
I am in the process of optimizing our website and I am having a hard time reconciling two best practices I have found on Moz. 1. You should avoid having multiple pages focus on the same keyword because you will lose some control of which result will show. 2. You should identify your core keywords and weave these keywords multiple times (naturally) throughout your site. I have spent months identifying our top 7 keywords and am working through the site now. The first piece of advice keeps giving me pause. Can anyone weigh in with other considerations or advice on how I can reconcile these two strategies. Thank you
On-Page Optimization | | NikCall2 -
Google Console returning zero data
Hi. I verified my site both www. and non www. with google search console a while back and yet for neither domain am I seeing any data at all under Search Appearance and under index status (under google index) it is saying 0 pages indexed even though I can see in google search there are over 116. Any idea why this might be? Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | CosiCrawley0 -
Does no-follow for pages affect site ranking?
Hey, I have a question. On my site, it's divided into the main site and the blog is in a subfolder of same domain. Within the main site (same domain), there are MANY checkout pages and other internal pages we use though all with "NO FOLLOW" on each. Despite it having "NO FOLLOW", will it affect our blog rankings in any way or domain ranking?"
On-Page Optimization | | Mirian0 -
Do Google Know What People Are Doing On My Site?
I run an ecommerce site and am keep to increase the time on site and reduce bounce rate. I have had some good results from writing good articles and advertising them on Outbrain and Twitter; both of these metrics have improved. However, I am wondering if Google will see this. Clearly if people land on the pages from the SERPS and return there they will know what is happening but will they know if people get there from an advert?
On-Page Optimization | | T0BY0 -
Yahoo small business host has two web sites and confuses the spiders
Both another consultant and my first seomoz test stated that I have two websites and that confuses the spiders. . One is www.mystore.com ( example) and the other is mystore.com. Yahoo states that's how they role and I can not delete one. I can do a 301 redirect and redirect one site to the other but they do not have a recommendaation as to which one to redicrect. Which one should I redirrect?
On-Page Optimization | | Wales0 -
Numbers above actual site content
Most pages on my website contain many numbers above the actual text on the page. This is useful for users and looks good on an actual view of the page. However, when a bot reads the page it appears as rows of numbers with a few sentences at the bottom of the page. Does having these number have a negative SEO effect? If so, should I change them to something such as an image so they aren't readable by search engines?
On-Page Optimization | | theLotter0 -
Site architecture
Hi guys, I have a new website in the recycling bins sector called recyclingbins (dot) co (dot) uk. We are building it as we speak and just wondered if the below would be a good choice for our category pages? office recycling bins kitchen recycling bins outdoor recycling bins school recycling bins home recycling bins What i am particularly interested in is whether having the keyword recycling bins at the end of every category is too much? Thank you Jon
On-Page Optimization | | imrubbish0 -
On my site, www.myagingfolks.com, only a small number of my pages appear to be indexed by google or yahoo. Is that due to not having an XML sitemap, keywords, or some other problem?
On my site, www.myagingfolks.com, only a small number of my pages appear to be indexed by google or yahoo. I have thousands of pages! Is that due to not having an XML sitemap, keywords, or some other problem?
On-Page Optimization | | Jordanrg0