Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Paid Directory - Whitehat or Blackhat?
-
Dear community,
Just a quick question:
Would you consider a directory as this one whitehat or blackhat SEO? http://mixyellowpages.com/cncat_add.php
You can add link to 50 web directories.
- No reciprocal link.
- 100% approved within 48 hours.
- Do follow link.
- Get one way link from quality sites.
- Pay only $ 15 No monthly fee.
Our SEO-agency is using these kinds of directories, so I just wanted to make sure, that this is a) Whitehat-SEO and b) will not harm our rankings.
Thanks,
David -
Hi David,
Directories are a difficult one. The recent Penguin updates (and to some degree, Panda) have pretty much destroyed the generic directories. However, the benefits of local directories and citations are still there! (http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/10322/The-Ultimate-List-50-Local-Business-Directories.aspx)
With regards to the particular directory that you're querying. The quality is low, even for directory standards. You're probably doing more harm than good by mass submitting to 50 directories that are linking out to all sorts of drop-shipping / foreign / low quality sites.
Matt Cutts also made a video explaining how Google treats Paid Directories. There are a few good directories that request a review fee that may be worth it - BOTW, Business.com, Yahoo, but the rest are just paid links.
What your agency are doing isn't the darkest of black-hat SEO, but it's definitely low quality, lazy and against Google guidelines. 50 directories probably won't harm your site. However if the majority of your backlink profile is made up of directories, it definitely won't be doing your site any favours.
tl;dr
- Local Directories - Good
- Genuine Review Fee Based Directories - Possible Benefits
- Mass Submissions / Paid Directories - Bad
If you'd like to read more, I wrote a post about my thoughts on directories back in September that I feel still rings true!
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
-
Central Index Directories
Hi all, I'm based in the UK and i'm looking to submit to a several directories under the central index umbrella, for example to these directories: http://findit.chad.co.uk/ http://directory.nottinghampost.com http://directory.burtonmail.co.uk/ I've filled my profile out and have submitted to one of the above directories, however when I sign in to one of the other directories it asks me to re-fill out all my details. Is there not a way i can submit to several of these directories by signing in without confirming my telephone number for each one ? Many Thanks in advance Paco
Link Building | | paco87230 -
Directory Submission
Is it worth of submitting our company website in directories mentioned on http://www.directorycritic.com/free-directory-list.html?sort=pr&pg=
Link Building | | Obbserv0 -
Does Yext Directory Listings Help with Links?
Question: Does Yext Directory Listings Help with Links? They have 53 directories and I am trying to find out if this service is going to help building our links?
Link Building | | Tim_Jacquet0 -
What are the best RSS feed directories
Other than technorati and alltop what are the best RSS directories to use and submit feeds to?
Link Building | | PeterAlexLeigh0 -
What is the purpose of submitting your blog articles to directories?
I was wondering what the purpose of submitting your blog articles to directories are. Doesn't it require enough "points" or "+1's" for it to become a "do-follow" link? People on the forum talk about automating directory submission, can anyone recommend a good software for this? I've been hearing that Google Penalizes you for article submission because it looks like spam?
Link Building | | kevinyu10290 -
Web directories
is it any point anymore to build links from web directories. Does google consider web directories anymore? Thank you awesome Mozzers! Vijay
Link Building | | vijayvasu0 -
How do paid directories like thomasnet.com do so well in the serps? Aren't the Panda updates supposed to be moving us away from this?
With all of the updates/changes to Google's algo, I assumed that paid listings & links like those on thomasnet.com would have less merit. Is this an incorrect assumption?
Link Building | | PropelMike0 -
Directory List -
Hi Mozzers, please write here the directories the strong directories you know please, make a fresh-list here. thanks
Link Building | | leadsprofi1