Links from Directories

[Colbys]

We are currently listed in a number of Association Buyer's Guides. We signed up for these last year in an effort to increase our external links. With recent Panda changes, do these links carry any value for us? Here are some examples:

http://buyersguideforeducators.com/

http://wasteindustrymarketplace.com/

http://wefbuyersguide.com/

We're in about 40-50 of these different directories.

Thanks,

Ben

[SEM-Freak]

The example directories you have given look pretty spammy to me. They all have the same design and look to have been made to make money rather than service a need. In the print world they would be the crap newspapers put through people's doors, left in supermarkets / shopping centres.

My advice would be to try to avoid these. Look for directories that provide a benefit to users and look to have unique content i.e. specific to niche or region.

[Mintyman]

Sorry for the blatant plug!

Would you believe it............I actually run a directory (www.semi-directory.com) that you might actually want ti be listed in (assuming you operate in the semiconductor / cleanroom industry).

Since the site was built by me (in Glasgow no less!), I specifically built it with SEO in mind. It is def no spammy as every new company listing is manually vetted. Get in touch if you want to know more and I can even show you some tricks to get more out of your free listing too.

[PeterAlexLeigh]

For some niche keywords, link directories can work and have a positive effect, but you'd be best to avoid anything that seems spammy or thrown together.

The examples you've given are all suffering from the problem of having an excessive number of external links from a small number of domains. For example one has 30k links from just 22 domains. That suggests something fishy to me and probably would to Google.

You can use the seomoz toolbar to get some useful metrics on directories before you submit your site. As Wayne has said, also try and make sure the directories are relevant.

Another useful check is to check the pagerank for the directory. If it's a lot lower than the MozRank (as in seomoz toolbar) then you may deduce that the directory has suffered a penalty and you may be wise not to put your link there.

[Wayne76]

Hi Ben,

Some people will tell you that directories are not worth your time. I don't find that to be true in every instance. I think that listing yourself in a few of these industry-related directories (the most valuable and non-spammy ones) can not only yield minor influence in the engines, but more importantly it can serve as a great source for referrals, especially when it's in your niche market.

That said, if you're going to concern yourself with paid directories, I would make sure that you are listed in those like Yahoo and Best of the Web. I've seen positive influence from both of these directories, and they are trsuted by Google.

In whole, directories are not going to elevate your SEO campaign too terribly much.