Are followed links from these high authority domains any good?

[Silkstream]

Hi Mozzers, I have a link building question, in 2 parts.

1. I am in the UK. We have a large local directory network over here which involves some high authority national news domains. Basically, you get a citation for free but if you go "featured" as well as the benefit of being returned top for keyword searches in the directories, buried under a tab on your page are deep links to your website, and they are followed. What are the risks/benefits of this?

2. Are followed links from other high authority domains like Visual.ly and Behance worth it? They are easy to get and I've always believed an easy link usually isn't a good link.

Thanks in advance!

[Silkstream]

Didnt want to say on a public forum after the MBG fiasco. Look for us on social media and we can chat more

[YNWA]

What are these sites you refer to in regards to being the biggest "networks"?

Is it Scoot?

Thanks

[Silkstream]

Hi Tom, Thanks for a quick response!

Yeah you probably do know the directories I mean as it's one of the biggest "networks" over here, although there are only 5 domains, they are all strong to powerful in metrics. You have echoed my thoughts on "going paid", so I guess my gut instinct is correct and we need to weigh up the risk vs benefits factors on this. And the same again for the "easy links".

I never dreamed that one day I could be debating links from domains like these, but lately it feels like link building has become a game of russian roulette with websites!

[TomRayner]

Hi there

Algorithmically, the directory link you are talking about (I think I know which one you mean) could very well pass on a good amount of link equity.  This is presuming that the site hasn't its strength penalised by one of the Penguin updates - and we know in the past that Google has targeted directory sites for quality reasons.  I'm not sure this directory would fall under that category, as it is local, moderated and business related.

However, you need to ask the question: "How natural does this look?".  Going "featured" is screaming out going "paid" and we know what Google's opinion of paying for links.  So you're running a risk here that it is pretty blatant.  Depending on your strategy, it might be one you choose to take or not, but if you're trying to keep things squeaky clean I would avoid it.

The same really for visually and behance.  You're quite right in your assessment that an easy link isn't a good link, probably because the domains have had their authority diminished (no matter what the stats say) due to it being so easy to get a link there, and again it is possibly one to avoid as it may be seen as low quality by Google.  I've seen sites perform well with these links in their profile en masse, so algorithmically they could work, but again you're taking a pretty significant risk there.

Hope his helps.