Are Directory links relevant?
-
What are everyone's thoughts on directory links now a days? I'm talking about the old tried and true ones, like Yahoo directory and DMOZ?
We had previously been on a couple and removed the links, thinking it was hurting us. But we've been falling in rankings for a while now, and I'm trying to think of some ways to bring us back up (even if they're small). Do you think it would be worth it to be added back in?
Anyone's thoughts on this would be appreciated.
-
I would approach directory link building, as with any other form of linking, as a way to attract new traffic to your site. Pursue a link opportunity, not because it will provide link juice to your site, but rather, drive an engaged consumer who will ultimately convert. The goal is all about getting more traffic to your site, not to rank on Google/Bing, right?
I manage 5 national brands with over 900 locations across the US. Our link profile is heavily weighted on directories that are both popular and industry specific. This helps drive a very large amount of visitors to our pages that ultimately become a lead. We don't go after a directory listing unless it will deliver a visitor who will fill out a form or call. otherwise, what's the point?
-
Contrary to popular belief, I find that _some _directories are still worthwhile. Not the cookie cutter scraped sites, but relevant industry directories that have editorial control and are highly ranked can be excellent sources of links. It may cost you some money,, but they can be worth it. You just need to do your research and use the tools here.
-
Apart from reaching retirement age before your link is live in DMOZ and spending a fortune for Yahoo I wouldn't bother. I would only consider doing these as 'an also' activity.
I would focus on reaching out to high authority, highly relevant sites and seeing if there are ways you can work with each other to get great content on their sites with a natural link back to your domain.
If your rankings are still faltering you may need to go through your link profile with a fine tooth comb and remove anything that is not good quality or spammy. Also ensure all your content is unique and you don't have multiple pages with thin content.
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
-
Ran a backlink competitor analysis and found that the competitor has their links coming from various linkedin and youtube posts but my client does the same thing and im not seeing any links coming from those sources for them?
Ran a backlink competitor analysis and found that the competitor has their links coming from various linkedin and youtube posts but my client does the same thing and im not seeing any links coming from those sources for them?
Link Building | | Stongex0 -
Backlinks vs External Links vs Referral Links vs Outbound links
Hello all, I was just wondering if you could explain the difference between all the links above? I'm confused as they all seem to be the same or similar and I would just like to clearly know what distinguishes them from eachother. Thanks for your help, Jayne
Link Building | | NCOREGSEO0 -
Penguin Recover: Remove links vs Burry Links
The best is to do both. However with those with limited resources, would building more links with branded and naked URL anchor links be a better solution than painstakingly asking every webmaster to remove links.
Link Building | | reprisemedia10 -
Submitting to Directories
What do you look for when submitting to directories? I'm going through the Web Directories list that SEOMoz has put out and trying to decide which are the best. I'm just wondering if anybody has any suggestions as far as what to look for before submitting. I know PageRank is kind of an old metric but I do seem to see a correlation between PageRank and directory cost. If I submit to a directory category with a PR of 4 or 5 it seems like it will cost me anywhere between $50-$300.
Link Building | | TRICORSystems0 -
Where to link?
Hi I need to gert this page up in the rankings http://www.kerryblu.co.uk/wedding-headbands-70-c.asp but am getting no where fast. When applying for links should I direct them to this page or to the homepage, and let them filter through. Thanks
Link Building | | Yorkie0 -
Which link should I use for link building?
I have an article which have high rank on Google. But recent, I use mod rewrite url so this article have new url. old: mywebsite.com/c1/p-1 new: mywebsite.com/c-e/p-1 Now, google is indexing old url. I want to ask when I build linking to my site, which link should I use for link building? I should build linking for new url or old url. Thanks
Link Building | | sonzin13040 -
.edu links
Hi mozzers, I've had some great success reaching out to many .edu webmasters. Often they are professors and such. My question is, i'm guessing during the summer holiday period, reaching out to these webmasters won't be so fruitful. I'm not in the US and was wondering when the US Summer holidays are for universities over there? Also, does anyone have experience outreaching to these webmasters over the holidays? Peter
Link Building | | PeterM221 -
Finding Directories – HIGH Quality – Directory Critic REALLY???
I am trying to concentrate on high quality directory link building as part of my search for quality one way followed links. My usual criteria is: Domain rank of at 70+ Page ranks of 20-30+ on the actual link pages. Human edited I have been finding them using loads of different resources and have occasionally used Directory Critic. (Obviously I have used the SeoMoz directory list but as we are all aware this is past it’s prime..) Any resources or techniques other people use?
Link Building | | JohnW-UK0