Is purchasing internal page links from directories worth it?
-
Since data suggests that only the first link on a page to a singular URL is counted, are the deep links purchased from directories worth the money/provide any value?
-
As others here have addressed the merits of directory links, let me address your question more narrowly. Do deep links, if they are from the same page, count?
Short answer, yes. Results from several experiments over the years have shown that Google only counts the first link on a page to a particular URL, but links to multiple URLs still count. (although there are ways to get around this as well.)
Think of them like links on your homepage, all pointing to various internal pages on your site. Each link passes value, although certain links pass more weight than others.
Almost always, the first link in any price of editorial content carries more weight than all the others. Multiple links to the same domain carry much, much less value.
Best advice: Deep linking from directories may carry value, but in light of Penguin and Google's mass de-listing of several directories, I'd be careful to only obtain links from the highest quality of human-edited niche and specialty directories. I'm no longer a fan of general directories at all, although more testing needs to be done.
-
If you notice, the list of directories on SEOmoz is very very short, but I agree that Google's policies may not be the most helpful to someone in your situation. if you notice many of the directories SEOmoz recommends are niche directories with a very narrow focus and a strong editorial policy.
Just as book publishing moves from pay for play vanity presses to esteemed academic houses, so do directory link values move from cheap spammy free and pay sites to directories like DMOZ and Yahoo and BBB.org which provide true value.
You should certainly submit to yahoo and dmoz, of course. I think it all comes down to PR and authority when Google looks at directory links and the nature of the editorial policy. You have to ask yourself "is this directory designed to make the owner a profit only or is this directory meant to add value to the Web as well."
I think a good alternative to buying directory links is to start building links through social properties. Sites like Twitter, Delicious, and Pinterest act like directories in many ways.
So, I would start building some stacks, creating some twitter lists, and pinning all that great content your client is producing along side a few strategic directory submissions. And good luck!
jonatdrpower
-
What about all of the directories the SEOmoz.org suggests as "good" directories? Are you saying Google sees editorial reviewed directories that require payment for that review as bad "paid" links?
-
Business.com external links are no follow, which is in accordance with Google paid links policy, so you would get no seo benefit from buying a link from business.com. I don't think many people would use business.com to find a service or product anyways...They would most likely just use google.
-
This is a little confusing as even SEOmoz produces a list of "good" directories to submit your site to, many of which require a payment for editorial review. Are you saying that Google is now looking down on directories like Business.com. BOTW, etc?
Let's say that you only focus on quality directories that editorially review submission (with a cost). Would multiple links on the same page to internal pages of yours be counted?
-
Mj775,
For me purchasing links of any kind is too risky.
That being said, I don't think these deep links are worth the money. Depending on the size and quality of the directory, you could pay from $5 to $100 a month. That's per keyword of course, and over a year or even six months this could add up.
If I were in your shoes, I would look to expand the number of linking root domains and not the number of links per domain. And if I did buy directory links, I would make sure my link had its own real estate.
And of course, stay away from site-wide links.
Thanks,
jonatdrpower
-
I think google's stance is that any paid links for search engine ranking purposes is bad. Purchased links for advertising purposes is ok. If your purchasing internal links from directories for the sole purpose of rankings, I think google will pick up on that and end up penalizing you sooner or later.
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
-
Effects of a bad link linking to a image
i am getting a lot of links from wallpapers sites.. One person has created 1000's of similar sites that are linking back to my images. My guess is images do not pass link value positive or negative. But I am not sure what the potential effects would be. Does anyone know who linking to images might effect SEO especially when there coming from horribly low quality auto generated sites.
Link Building | | KentH0 -
Linkbuilding: Relevancy and Internal Linking
Hello, For linkbuilding, how important is relevancy and how is it calculated by Google? For specific context, we are interested in putting a scholarship campaign on our reference page (www.spanishdict.com/traductor), and were wondering how that will impact relevancy. Additionally, we were wondering the value of internal linking from one page to another. We want to get more links to our hubpage – Page A (www.spanishdict.com/traductor) but much of this interesting, relevant content lives on our blog page – Page B (ex: www.spanishdict.com/blog/traductor/el-gh-en-ingles/). What is the best way to handle this? Would it suffice to internal link from the blog page (Page B) to the page we actually want to get links to (Page A)? Or should we try to house this content on Page A? Thanks for your help!
Link Building | | CuriosityMedia0 -
Any value in link building to local pages on my site?
If I'm trying to rank for the term 'wedding band' with my url: http://www.musicliveuk.com/home/wedding-bands will linking to local pages such as: http://www.musicliveuk.com/live-acts/hire-wedding-bands/wedding-bands-london help the main page to rank? I added the 'local' pages to try and pick up any traffic from long tail search queries but my main focus is on getting the main page to rank as the traffic from long tail queries is so small. So is it worth me spending time building links to these local pages in order to try and help the main page rank?
Link Building | | SamCUK0 -
Effects of link bait page
Hi Mozzers! I'm thinking about putting a page with some interesting comedy content on my site as link bait and had a few questions on how i should go about it. 1. Should I link to this page from my home page or would it be better to build outside links to it and then funnel all the page rank to the pages on my site that i want ranking higher? I've been told that page rank is a tiny factor in ranking in the serps so is it worth doing if the only reason i'm building it is to funnel page rank to my important pages? The link bait page content will be on the same subject as my entire site so it will definitely help google associate my site with my product from the incoming links. 2. if a web page on my site receives links does it help other pages on my site to rank higher or just the page with the incoming links? One time i had a flurry of links pop up to my home page and it seemed like all my pages started ranking higher, but it might just have been coincidence? Any thoughts? 3. What's a good way to get my page seen by the masses to draw links? I thought about buying some stumbles on Stumbleupon to get it seen quickly but are there more or better ways to do this? Thanks in advance everyone! Ron
Link Building | | Ron100 -
Link Directories - Good or bad?
I've just done a search on open site explorer for a competitors site that has is ranked number one. Most of their highest authority backlinks are from link directories. I just read an article on here saying to stay away from directories that state things like 'seo friendly directory'. Many of my competitors links are from these kind of sites! Will it harm me to get links from such sites? It seems to be working for my competitors.... confused.com!
Link Building | | SamCUK0 -
Outgoing links - internal vs. external
I thought that the important factor in the value of a link was how many outing links a page has total. Some tools seems to tell me that the important data point is how many EXTERNAL links a page has. Which number should I be paying attention to when looking at pages I want to get linked from? (Yes, I know there are many other factors that are important)
Link Building | | EugeneF0 -
Getting a link from a page on a site with high site DA but low PA?
Does anyone know if it is still worth it getting a link from a page on a site with a really low Page Authority - say a news page on a site that has an SEO Moz tool bar PA of just 1 or 2, but the domain of the site has a high DA like say 83 Is this worth getting?? Thanks
Link Building | | inhouseninja0 -
New links for Internal Anchor Text
If pages get moved and 301s are in place is it still important to update the anchor text links to the new page url? For example would it be optimal to go through old blog posts and change the urls for the anchor text if the old anchor text url redirects to the new page url.
Link Building | | jmansd0