SEOMoz Link Directory - As Silly as I think it is?
-
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE LOVE LOVE SEOmoz, but their "Link Directory" (www.seomoz.org/directories) is a bit deceiving.
I was looking for a list of DIRECTORIES that Moz recommends, not a bunch of places where you can pay for advertising.
On top of that, it also lists dmoz as one of the spots to get links from, but have you ever actually ever been able to get a link from dmoz? I know I haven't, and we've been trying to get a link for years.
Anyone else disappointed in this list? Does anyone have a good list of directories?
-Andy
P.S. I love you SEOmoz! Don't hate me for this critique!
-
Just wanted to leave a quick note saying that SEOmoz has upgraded the Link Directory! You can view a post Cyrus wrote with more information at http://www.seomoz.org/blog/seo-link-directory-best-practices.
-
Im with IanTheScot, I have been successful getting a link with DMoz, but I have also been trying to get one for 3 years with another client.
-
We've been trying to get a dmoz link for 9 years.
-
How much time and effort can you spend in obtaining a link from DMoz. I was of the opinion that its just a submit and waiting game?
-
SEOmoz knows and has acknowledged that this resource requires a good bit of TLC. That being said, there are still a couple of good directories in that list - it's not a terrible starting point.
In general, I would try to minimize the importance of directory submissions in your link building process. For my clients and my personal projects, I target perhaps 10-20 high value general directories (some paid, like Yahoo and JoeAnt), as many high quality niche directories as I can find, and then I move on. It's not a huge part of my process, and I don't think it should be a huge part of yours. The fact is that these websites have thousands upon thousands of outbound links that dilute the power of the link to your website, which is already buried deep on some sub-topic page below hundreds of other links. There are directories that are the exception to the rule and do indeed provide great links and good click-through traffic, but in my experience, those are usually industry-specific.
Now, I'm sure a lot of other SEOs on this forum do way more directory submissions than I do (I'm definitely on the low side), but I think most people here will agree that you don't want to make them a big part of your link building strategy. Pour your time and energy into creating great content, networking with bloggers and auhority figures on Twitter, writing guest posts, etc. I'll take one GREAT link from one of the above methods over 1,000 directory links in a heartbeat - and I think that you should too.
-
Well it is obviously out-dated, most links are from 2007-2008. While DMoz is hard to get, if you can get a link from that directory it is worth the time and effort. Some are also expensive, like BBB, but there have been posts on SEOMoz about the worth of a BBB link.
I guess the whole list is out-dated because there are not that many trust-worthy link directories in general. It is also an older tactic, whereas finding and earning natural links seems to be the better way to get links pointing to your site.
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
-
Links to external site (hotels link)
Hello, I am currently designing the webpages of my website and I am wondering if I should link externally or if it going to hurt me ? I am in the travel industry and for example in the France in the Loire valley, I want to list hotels that people can stay at in pre and pods trip. Is it ok to link to maybe 10 of those hotels websites or can it hurt me ? Thank you,
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | seoanalytics0 -
Link Spring Clean
Hey, Based on the most up to date thinking - what's the best way to approach a link spring clean? We've got a site with a large amount of links (a few of which look a bit spammy - SEO directories etc) Also, the brand changed it's name and URL a while back so there are directory/web citations using the old URL and sometimes the old name. The old URL is 301'd but I'm thinking (especially in terms of local SEO) these citations with differnt business names/numbers/web addresses could be particularly harmful? Cheers!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | wearehappymedia1 -
Spam Links? -115 Domains Sharing the Same IP Address, to Remove or Not Remove Links
Out of 250 domains that link to my site about 115 are from low quality directories that are published by the same company and hosted on the same ip address. Examples of these directories are: -www.keydirectory.net -www.linkwind.com -www.sitepassage.com -www.ubdaily.com -www.linkyard.org A recent site audit from a reputable SEO firm identified 125 toxic links. I assume these are those toxic links. They also identified about another 80 suspicious domains linking to my site. They audit concluded that my site is suffering a partial Penguin penalty due to low quality links. My question is whether it is safe to remove these 125 links from the low quality directories. I am concerned that removing this quantity of links all at once will cause a drop in ranking because the link profile will be thin with only about 125 domains remaining that point to the site. Granted those 125 domains should be of somewhat better quality. I am playing with fire by having these removed. I URGENTLY NEED ADVICE AS THE WEBMASTER HAS INITIATED STEPS TO REMOVE THE 125 LINKS. Thanks everyone!!! Alan
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Kingalan10 -
Charity links
Quick question - Are links on charity websites with a small mention about what your company does good links to go for?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | BobAnderson1 -
Real impact of canonical links?
I am responsible for 2 e-commerce websites. SEO Moz and Google Web Master tools both inform me regularly that on both sites there are many instances of duplicate titles, headings, decriptions and page content. Obviously from an SEO point of view I am more than a little concerned about this! Out product pages struggle to perform strongly despite the fact that our website is of a decent quality and we are leaders in our field. Our competitors rank above us when they add a product page, whereas we normal flit in between 8-10 or on the 2nd SERP. I know it is hard without viewing the site, but is duplicate content likely to be a strong, leading factor in this? I think it is, but want to put together a business case to spend the cash to sort it out....just need someone confirmation that this is worth sorting as a priority. Here are 2 examples of what I mean: 1) Category pages www.exampledomain.co.uk/category1.aspx We have filters on our category page (so the customer can sort products based on their price, colour, size etc.). When filters are used a new URL is generared. www.exampledomain.co.uk/category1.aspx?prices=0||10 www.exampledomain.co.uk/category1.aspx?prices=10||20 The content, titles, description is the same although the links are different. Do I need to set up a canonical tag on the page that reads: 2) Product pages Product pages on the websites have different URLs depending on how to arrive on them. You get 1 URL if you navigated to the page via the website navigation, but you get another different URL if you used the website search functionality to find the page. Example: Search link: www.exampledomain.co.uk/category1/Product1.aspx Navigation link: www.exampledomain.co.uk/12345/category1/Product1.aspx Again, do I need to set up a canonical tag for 1 of these link types so that the link benefit is not shared over 2 pages? Any feedback would be welcome! At the moment the ability to add canonical tags is locked down by our CMS (I know, rubbish!)...so website development would be needed - hence the need for a business case!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | DHS_SH0 -
Do I have any harmful links? If so, what should I do?
URL in question: www.nasserilegal.com/criminal.html I'm using OSE and see some questionable backlinks. At first glance, if you look at the page authority and domain authority, they look great. Once you go to the actual pages, they look spammy. If the links are hurting the rankings for the site, should I try to remove the links manually or just ignore and continue to build good quality links or even build a new site? I noticed for the last couple of weeks, the rankings started to slip. Thanks in Advance, Lucas
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | micasalucasa0 -
Links on Google Notebook
I have used OSE to look at links of a competitors site and notice they have dozens for links from Google Notebook pages eg http://www.google.pl/notebook/public/05275990022886032509/BDQExDQoQs8r3ls4j This page has a PA of 48 Is this a legitimate linking strategy?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | seanmccauley0
