Directory Listing Quality
-
Have any of you ever purchased a directory listing with Absolute Directory (http:www.absolutedirectory.com)?
I was thinking about suggesting it to some of my clients since it was inexpensive, had a good domain authority (58), moz trust (5.81), and didn't seem to be filled with any ads or obtrusive content. Any thoughts? Is this to good to be true?
Regards - Kyle
-
There is a very clear line in this regard.
Yahoo directory does not charge to be added to their directory. They are charging to review your website. They have specific standards. They do not accept all sites. If your site passes the review you are included in their directory. If your site does not pass, the fee is non-refundable and your site is not included. That is the line which Google permits.
If a site charges and any site which pays is included, that is not acceptable. If a site charges and any site which is rejected receives a refund, that is not acceptable.
Yahoo and BOTW are two examples of permitted directories where a fee is required to be added. BBB and other organizations charge a fee to be accepted into their organization then, once accepted, you receive a listing in their directory. That is accepted as well.
-
I see what you are saying, just seems so strange that some directories are okay and some are not. Maybe the its authority they have for instance yahoo vs absolute directory?
None-the-less, thank you for all the feedback, definitely helpful in making my decision.
-
In general I would agree with Ryans comment - paid links are a no-no as far as google is concerned.
Yahoo directory and business.com appear to be the few exceptions to the rule though (many companies list in both without any detriment), there may well be a specific reason for this, but one I won't claim to know!
With association sites, most will word their t&cs to state that you are paying to be a member, and by being a member it entitles you to a link, thus escaping googles TOS. As to how viable associate site links are will be dependent on the site on which the link is, it's traffic, rankings and so on.
-
You made a very good point. What about directories like dir.yahoo.com? Or association sites that are directly related to their industry?
I am not disagreeing with you i am just trying to understand if there is a line of black and white or if it is gray.
Thank you for your reply!
-
Each SEO will have their own opinions on this matter. The best I can do is share mine.
NEVER EVER EVER advise a client to pay for a link.
I view SEO along the same lines as the doctor's oath "first do no harm". Paying for links is a clear violation of Google's policy. You are trying to assist a client to improve their ranking, and the result could be a removal of the site from Google's index. It's a bad choice.
Make great content and promote it. That is the best means of obtaining quality links.
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
-
Directories
Hi The former owner of One of our competitors ( www.gastrocatering.com ) gave my some insight into how he got his site up in the rankings. He said he got his site listed on 100s of directories had bloggers Wright about him. Gastro catering ranks highly for almost every key word we want I used the moz tools to see where his links came from, Should I copy what he did? I read a lot of posts that lead me to the conclusion I shouldn't, but he ranks #1 for so many desirable keywords. What are your thoughts on this please? All the best Ben
Link Building | | SussexChef830 -
Loads of quality content but not getting links!! What should I do?
Hi I have been working hard and creating valuable content for 2 years now, we create a weekly news letter with around 10 articles and all our customers love it. But still we are unable to get links to our sites. There are no active bloggers or sites for our industry and content is highly technical and scientific. My competitors have thin content with bad links and they still rank better than us............. Please help me by answering the questions below - Should we start submissions to directories? If yes which directories should we submit to? What else can we do to build links?
Link Building | | Rajaindiain0 -
Gained my first quality link, was it worth 2 hours of work?
Hello,
Link Building | | wppseo
I'm a newbie. I'm building a brand new site. In a niche service business, worldwide.
Today I gained my first link, I tried to reach to the highest qualify link I could identify.
I'd like to know if you think my two hours effort was worthy, or laughable. Because I can gain other 3 or 4 links from other domains working like that. I tell you where is my first link: the top domain is in the same niche business, DA 79
My link is in a subdomain page (always in the same niche business) that has: 20 other links (mine is the only external dofollow) Domain Authority 79 /100 Page Authority 31 /100 Page Link Metrics Just-Discovered 79 in 32 Days Established Links 1 Root Domain 4 Total Links the homepage of the subdomain has Page Authority of 66 /100 Page Social Metrics 0 0 0 0 0 I'd appreciate any feedback.0 -
Sales agents posting job listings
So we are in the middle of a hiring blitz looking for sales agents in different areas of the country. One of our internal sales agents used a program called Job-a-matic which appears to be a product developed or sponsored by SimplyHired. This software seems to have put our job posting on a lot strange sites really unrelated to our industry and they job description such as: truck driver jobs teen jobs white collar jobs jobs a go-go database admin jobs medical coding and many many more When I Google our company name I see all of these listing on pages 3, 4, 5 etc . Is it possible that Google may see these listings as spammy or paid links? It appears as if these listing were just automatically generated and not really controlled in anyway. I'm worried that they could have generated a penalty as we did experience a significant drop in traffic. Thanks -Brandon
Link Building | | brandzz0 -
Which directories to use?
I've recently has a conversation with a colleague regarding which directories to use when link building. In her opinion we should use only the ones that are relevant and nothing else. For example if you're working on a travel website, you should only submit either to travel directories or local directories (based on the business location). In my opinion yes we should submit to these directories but then you'll reach a limit and then you need to submit to general directories that have the "travel" category, even if the business is in NY and the directory is in India, as long as it is a good directory and has the relevant category. What is your opinion about this?
Link Building | | blablabla20130 -
Why don't directory backlinks show up in Open Link Explorer?
Why don't we see linking root domains like yelp, google, yahoo, etc? Is there any way to get a more accurate list of links to a domain where webmaster tools are not an option?
Link Building | | ScottM0 -
What do you consider a low authority link directory
Dear All, I would like to weed out the low authority link directories that harm my site. Can someone explain me how you determine a low authority link directory? Do you look at "page auth." and "domain auth"? And do you consider all the links pointing to your site with a "page auth." and "domain auth" lower then - let's say 40 - as a low authority link directory? Thank you for your answers in advance! Regards, Thomas
Link Building | | ThomasH0 -
Has anyone done any real research about paid directories?
Hi Guys Im doing a little link building and in the industry Im working in there are quite a few directories....most offer free inclusion as long as you link back to them. This process can be slow due to the number of people trying to get listed. Also most offer a "express service" whereby you can get your site reviewed and uploaded faster if you pay a nominal fee circa £15. I'm not refering to any old directories these are directories which are industry specific and related to my site, however they are not confined to the country I am in (UK) but extend world wide So that got me thinking has anyone actually done any conclusive research which suggests that either A) you will not get any benefit from being included in such a directory or B) that you get penalised if you do so or C) none of the above and there is some benefit. I have been using open site explore and I can see these sites are giving link juice to my competition (as far as I can tell ofcourse) I found a site with almost all of its back links from these types of directories ranking on the first page for a very competitive term (67% using Keyword Difficulty tool) Would be interested to hear your thoughts / experiences
Link Building | | RankStealer0