Which Directory Sites to Choose?
-
Hi All
I am a newbie to SEO and have a quick Q.
Assuming that appropriate steps would be to;
a) Ensure all onsite matters are are correct, title tags, meta descriptions, redirects, canonical issues.
b) Submit to Directories
c) Build Links
I am approaching step b)
Which Directories are worth submitting to? For those which require payment, how can I decide which are value for money or should I just use SEOMOZ list of links and assume that theyre worth the $50 - $100 if my higher ranking competitors have links from these directories. Also, can this be looked opon as grey/black hat 'buying of links'?
Thank you
Sean
-
Keri, that link in your post is broken. I see it as:
http://../blog/seo-link-directory-best-practices
-
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 about the directory updates and link building via directories at http://www.seomoz.org/blog/seo-link-directory-best-practices
-
Yeah I just feel like if SEO people put half the effort they put into tricking Google, into doing SEO the right way and creating value that they could have one hell of an SEO product.
What you are essentially looking to do is create web spam.
It seems like a lot of effort for something that may work for a whille but will almost surely be figured out eventually and doesn't bring any value to your clients.
-
Cheers for reply Roger.
-
You should put that in a new question and I'll bet it would get more eyes on it.
I've seen it done a lot but not sure as to how effective it is. I would think its pretty easy for google to figure out. Especially if they are all new domains registered to you and hosted on one c block or even the same IP address.
I think to do it where it wouldnt raise obvious flags would be expensive and you are still just getting links from new sites with little/no authority so not sure its worth it.
My guess is Google would figure it out anyway.
-
Roger
Thanks for that advice.
I just downloaded quite a good whitepaper from http://www.fastdirectorysubmitter.com/ which seems makes sense to me. Any of you have used this site or similar?
Thanks
Sean
-
Not a chance its worth 50-100.
-
I never pay directories for inclusion, nor do I pay people to do directory submission for me (unless you're just trying to get into 1000 low-value spam directories, it's not worth it). You need to do it yourself so you get the categorization of your site's listing correct (each directory is a little different) and optimize/maximize the characters that each one gives you to write a description of your site (and/or add tags/keywords). It's a high-touch operation for human-moderated directories that are actually valuable.
-
Mike
Thanks for taking the time to give your advice. I think you make good points.
One last thought is; Is it worth paying 50-100 $ pa?
Thanks
Sean
-
Directory submission is a background task and subject to time management constraints and other things you need to get done. I would do all of the relevant non-weak directories first. Then, when you have time, get around to the relevant weak directories. Every do-follow inbound link you get has some value. Especially if it's on a different C-class IP address, or from a trusted source (human moderated directory). I wouldn't obsess about directory submissions, but I would put it on the list of things to do for when you have a few minutes (do a few per day or else you'll get burned out on it if you do them all at once).
As for UK vs non-UK, it may help you to have some .uk directories but regular old .com directories should help, too.
-
Thanks Mike The seomoz contains 180 directories with some of them towards bottom of list described as weak? Why have they listed these weak links? Also, as I am in the UK a) Should it make much difference as to which directories I use? b) As I am hoping to optimise for google.co.uk in the main, is there a different approach I should take due to my location? Sean
-
SEOmoz maintains a list of directories here: http://www.seomoz.org/directories
-
Roger
Thanks for reply. That makes sense.
I will take a look at these links.
Sean
-
Hi Sean,
I guess I am being a little black and white there. I would try and get listed in any directories that your competitors are listed in that show authority in OSE. It may or may not do you any good but it wont hurt.
Here is Yahoo Directory, submit link.
https://ecom.yahoo.com/dir/submit/intro/
I guess what I am saying is that I would limit my time submitting to directories and try to use that time doing something that ads value, like participating in a community. It will pay you back way more than just pure SEO value and directories just aren't a good use of time or money in any large quantity.
Also check these links out for more info (the fact that SEOmoz has not dedicated ANY resources to updating this list or really discussing directories at all since 2008 is a good indicator of what they think of directories.)
-
Roger
Thanks for you reply. The main reason I ask is that when I use Seomoz Open Site Explorer they list some of the most important links of my competitors as some directories. Our site is as you suggest almost devoid of links. I have submitted to dmoz and I assume that is just a waiting game. How do you get listed with Yahoo sites you mention?
-
If you can get into dmoz (impossible? maybe) and Yahoo sites they are worth while. Unless you are just have absolutely no links I think directories are pretty useless anymore.
If you are looking for quick easy links, maybe spend some time in some forums answering questions related to your business. you get a signature link (for what it's worth) and if you add value as a contributer, you can see some REAL referral traffic.
I would not pay for many directories.
Find some good communities and participate.
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
-
Backlinks from missing sites
While combing though spammy backlinks, I'm finding a lot of supposedly "active" links that lead to 404 errors, pages that contain no html, domains for sale, and sites that all have a uniform design which I can't tell if they're web host default pages, or pages using a spammy third-party link aggregator (or both).
Link Building | | rickmic
For example: http://easyreveal.us/ So, do I disavow missing sites? Lost sites? Is there a drawback to disavowing sites that have been removed? Any help would be appreciated.0 -
Removing Links From Spammy Directories
Hi all, I just wanted to check with you all about removing links from spammy directories. We have 100s of links from directories like this http://www.groundanchors.co.uk/ all the same layout and registered to the same person. I just wanted to know if our rankings will be affected in any way by removing these links - bearing in mind there are 100s of them. Many thanks.
Link Building | | AAttias0 -
Yahoo Directory inclusion of Spanish Websites
Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone of you know if the Yahoo Directory accepts Spanish websites. My website has its 100% market in Mexico, so i havent seen the need to put an english version of the site. I dont know if i can accomodate my site under regional or something in order to avoid translating the ecommerce site. Or i must put an english version of the site. I would deeply thank your comments. Thanks,
Link Building | | JesusD0 -
Article submission to multiple directories
We know the general consensus among the crowd here is to avoid free article submission directories. But we have to do this as part of our overall deliverables and have hit a roadblock. A couple of our agencies are insisting that we submit one article to multiple sites - which we contend would trigger duplicate content issue and render all links useless. Any feedback on submitting one article to multiple article sites?
Link Building | | eBrandz0 -
What to look for in paid directories
I was looking through some of the directories in the seomoz directory list and a lot of them are paid directories. What should i be looking for to decide if these directories are worth paying for a link? obviously if the page my link is listed on is in fact indexed by google. What about the following questions: 1. what about page rank of the page that it's on? Does that matter? i've heard that one page rank 5 link carries the weight of hundreds of page rank zero links. Is this true? 2. What does it mean if the page rank is unranked? Is it worth paying for a link if the page is old and is unranked? 3. i read in an SEO forum that there are many other things i should look at in a directory besides page rank. Obviously traffic is one but what about other not so obvious things? 4. How many directory links at one time is too many? how many is too many over a long period of time? THanks in advance for your help Mozzers! Ron10
Link Building | | Ron100 -
Building backlinks for a newspaper site?
Anyone have tips on building links to a newspaper site? I am looking for a strategy to create links to a news site beyond building one link at a time. We have so much content that is constantly updated that it would be impossible to do this one page at a time.
Link Building | | BostonWright0 -
Links from Domain Portfolio Advertising Sites
I recently purchased a domain from a someone with a large portfolio and my site's link is still found on thousands of his one page/low quality sites. I find these links on Open Site Explorer but not in WT. Should I ask the portfolio owner to remove the link from his low quality domain advertising sites?
Link Building | | mj7750 -
Why aren't links to my site showing up in open site explorer?
My site is http://www.thesquarefoot.com Google analytics shows many more (though more than a handful of links that we have gotten recently still don't show up there). Definite newbie here so please be kind... Thanks!
Link Building | | TheSquareFoot0