Links from Directory Websites with NoFollow Tag
-
In reviewing our root domain links, I noticed that many of the directories (like Yellow Pages, Insider Pages, Merchant Circle, etc) that there are no follow codes included in the link to our website. Is this a common practice for these directories? Also, I wanted to confirm that this would not help in our link building strategies with any relevant "link juice."
Below is a copy and pasted (with some extra characters that shouldn't have copy and pasted), but the key note here is the no follow tag that was included in this link to our site.
Thanks as always MOZ Community - cheers!
-
First, it's crucial to know that 99% of directory websites out there at best will not help you and at worst will hurt you. The directory is good only if the answer to all three of these questions is yes:
**1. Would I want this link if Google did not exist? **In other words, do a lot of real people visit this website? Would a link send you valuable referral traffic of people who are interested in your website's topic -- or, are you trying only to get a link to boost your search rankings.
2. Is this directory curated by a human who is an expert in the field and who does not accept each and every submission? In other words, would Google view the site's owner as an authority on the topic? For example, a list of recommended Seattle restaurants compiled by a local newspaper food critic is much better than a generic list of each and every restaurant in Seattle on some random website.
3. If this link is being paid for, does it not pass PageRank (i.e., is it a no-follow link that adheres to Google's guidelines as such)? Paying for any link to try to manipulate rankings could get you hit by Penguin.
For this reason, Google is not a big fan of directories. And that's why more and more of them are adding no-follow tags -- they don't want to get hit by Google themselves. Yes, no-follow tags do not pass "link juice."
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
-
Any reason to nofollow outbound links to social platforms?
This one is stumping me - a site I'm working on has decided to nofollow all of their outbound links to LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. I can't find a reason for doing that...I think it's from the old and mistaken suspicion that this would deliver link equity away from the site. Everything I've read says that there's no downside to dofollow outbound links as long as they are to legit sites and on the up-and-up (e.g., not overly link-trading with another site, for instance). Thoughts?
Link Building | | TimDickey0 -
Is it worth to get links from startup directorys?
Hi, I have a startup that connects people with lawyers. There are a lot of directories of startups. These are legitimate directories and not like the spammy directories. Is it worth getting links from these types of directories? Let me know.
Link Building | | RafeTLouis0 -
Is there an extra SEO benefit for linking to pages that link to you?
Currently working on a link-building strategy and have gotten a few mentions. Just curious if there is any SEO benefits of linking back to the pages my site was mentioned and linked on? Would love to hear your thoughts, thanks!
Link Building | | Derrald0 -
Link Auditing
Anyone have any useful ways to link audit? I'm stuck picking up the slack from a previous worker who decided buying links was a great idea for our clients.
Link Building | | CGR-Creative0 -
Linking to press coverage, reciprocal links?
We have been generating decent online press coverage with links to our site thanks to our PR agency and I have been asked to link to the online coverage from our website in a 'press coverage' section. My question is would google consider links from our site to the online press coverage as reciprocal links? Thanks
Link Building | | gavinr
Gavin0 -
When pitching a whitepaper as Push Content for Link Building, is it ok to give the person I'm pitching a link to a landing page with a form on it?
When pitching a whitepaper as Push Content for Link Building (i.e. pushing out content that my client has created), is it ok to give the person I'm pitching a link to a landing page with a form on it? Or should I create a landing page with the whitepaper included on it? I’m not sure if the client will be ok with this b/c I know they use the whitepaper for sales purposes to gain leads. For example, my pitch email would include a line such as this, "the whitepaper can be found at LINK and I'd love if you could share it with your readers." I think it may be weird/a little wrong to ask a webmaster to include a link on his site to a landing page with a form to get the whitepaper. Does this make sense? What have others done with whitepapers as Push Content for link building?
Link Building | | ArketiGroup1 -
Which is better - A) links from multiple IP addresses, or B) Links with more associated social signals?
If you had to choose: A) 100 links contained in posts on 100 PR2* blogs, all on separate IP addresses, where none of the posts had associated social signals, or B) 100 links contained in posts within a single PR2* blog (single IP address), where each of the posts had 20 associated social signals, Which would you choose to increase your SERP performance? *I chose PR2 so that PageRank would not be a factor in the decision.
Link Building | | JohnScottDixon0 -
Where do you buy your links from
OK which brokers / sites do you use to buy your links or gain links from and why.
Link Building | | therealmarkhall0