Should I switch all paid-for directory backlinks to nofollow backlinks?

[McTaggart]

Hello Mozzers, I'm looking at a niche party services directory (b2c), established for over 8 years. They're not using nofollow tags on backlinks from their paid entries (free entries only get phone numbers and not backlinks).

If they suddenly switch all the paid-for backlinks in their directory to nofollow backlinks, might that have some kind of negative impact. Switching sounds like the best way forward, but I want to avoid any unintended consequences. Perhaps I should only implement this change gradually?

Thanks in advance, Luke

Edited 30 minutes ago by Luke Rowland

[McTaggart]

Thanks Chris... they have virtually no backlinks but definitely operate within niche and quality is middling - there is some useful content on the site relevant to the niche, but not shedloads of content. Almost all outbound links (and not many of those either... perhaps 200). Finding it a tough one to call...

[Chris.Menke]

If I understand correctly, you are making changes to the directory and you're wondering if you should change all of their followed/paid links to nofollow all at once or some at a time. If that's right:

I'd first consider the quality of the directory itself.  How many back links does it have and are they from authoritative sites within the niche? Is there a high percentage of low quality links?  I'd next consider the quality, number, and relevance of the sites being linked to from the directory.  Are they are all within a well defined niche that is consistent with that of the directory's back links.  Is the scale of outbound links well beyond the scale of the directory's outbound links?

If it is a strong, editorial directory with relevant back links and outbound links to a well curated list of niche-relevant sites,  you might keep the followed links and focus on building the directory's editorial value within the niche. You could do that by adding content that makes the site more valuable to visitor and more linkable to other sites within its theme.

If your directory has anything but those quality, relevant back links and/or has outbound links of a scattershot relevancy, it may not make much difference what you do, because there's likely not much intrinsic value in the site.

[seovp]

Hi,

A directory shouldn't be used for SEO purposes, only if they are relevant and used to help customers find relevant site, especially in niche industries.

The damage of a link penalty would be more of a threat that any lost link juice from the links changing to nofollow. If your site's authority is determined mainly by directory links then you may need to look at some other methods of creating quality links.

Kind Regards