Directories are Paid links right ?
-
How are directories ok for buying links ? How can the funds be claimed to be used to review your submission when everyone knows you are basically buying a link ?
What experiences have you had god and bad with directories ?
Is it a free for all any directory will do or should you be more selective in your approach. If so what are the signs to look out for on a top quality directory.
-
I'd do 5-10
-
It just seems a real grey area.
I think you may have hit the nail on the head there...;)
-
exactly the reason I bring this up is recently on open site explorer in the industries I am working its time and time again directories. They are passing on good authority also so its a difficult situation.
Why should my clients not get the listings and their rivals benefit from them. Its just seems like an injustice.
-
Google clearly understands this deal was primarily designed to bypass their policy and views these directories as paid links. Use of these sites can lead to penalties.
This may be an often asked question, however here goes; If Google penalises sites for paid links, paid directories, etc what is there to stop competitors buying links to a site to get you penalised. How can Google tell the difference? Or is more likely that they will stop any linkjuice passing from these sites which is not quite the same as a penalty. You would still have the linkjuice of your legitimate links**. Indeed as effect from these paid directories is little in any case, loss of their linkjuice might have little or no effect.**
-
thanks Gareth I will take a look. When you say moderation are you saying 10 - 20 top quality directories .
-
BOTW is is good one I agree it just seems Ryan there is a constant walking on egg shells with Google. It reaches a point where you feel like you can't add your site to anything ?
The thing that gets me is all the sites we research all have directory listings that would be classed as outright paid links. So it reaches a point where I think if its ok for those guys so why should we do it ?
So you can't buy directory links because of them being against the guidelines and you can't pay for site reviews as this is seen as a way around the guidelines ? So what sort of directories can you do ? It just seems a real grey area.
-
Everything in moderation I say. I would only get a few of the top ones. I created a list and looked at the domain authorities if you are interested:
-
I've had bad experiences using directory submission where it actually caused the website to get its rank lowered. However, as mentioned, Yahoo, BOTW, and DMOZ directories are known to be good.
-
Some directories offer a clear deal: pay us and we will list you. That deal is a violation of Google's terms. Google offers a site so users can report any violations: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/paidlinks?hl=en
Some directories offer a less-clear deal: pay us to review your site. If we approve your site you are listed, and if we don't approve your site then your money is refunded. Google clearly understands this deal was primarily designed to bypass their policy and views these directories as paid links. Use of these sites can lead to penalties.
There are a few high-quality directories which have legitimate standards and charge a fee for a site review. If you pass, you are listed and if you do not pass, you are not listed. The fee is gone either way as it was for a review of your site, not a listing. Sites such as Yahoo Directory and BOTW are the two most prominent directories of this nature that come to mind. There are many niche directories that offer a similar process.
In short, paying for directory links is a bad idea. If a client has funds and is starting a site then I can see the value of listings in Yahoo and BOTW initially. Niche directories can offer value. Otherwise, the only way I would suggest paying money to be in a directory is if you felt the actual traffic you would receive from the link was worthwhile. If your client sells wines and you were gaining a listing in a wine directory that was actually used by people interested in purchasing wines, then that listing could pay for itself.
Another point would be certain groups such as the BBB may offer a value for being a member. The BBB badge on a site is a trust symbol which has been proven effective to increase conversions.
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
-
Selling Paid Directories
Hello Mozzers! Like most, we have greatly reduced the number of paid directories in which we enroll our clients. We do, however, still utilize a few. For those of you still using select paid directories, what approach do you take in marketing these sites to your clients? Thanks in advance for your input!
Link Building | | FrankSweeney0 -
Does This Link Have Value?
Hi Mozzers, A client paid to publish a white paper, thinking that the link to the web site is beneficial. The link does redirect back to the web site, but is in a format that I've never seen: http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001YdyyLrzOQJxM87SJZkJYVbQKSdCmFpwqg1fuX3yqVqpGboUjdSaHv9IdW5HsQpgmvwOrg5N4T3DNHYV8e1UVe_YCua_XQCFykoSJvu1HzDyb-3x-aFcPU-ER-vwWxq4- Does this link have any value?
Link Building | | waynekolenchuk0 -
Link quality
Hi, Having read dozens of your blogs and found them highly informative, i have to ask a question. I am kicking oout our SEO company and have taken over the SEO myself with some excellent results. Our SEO providers tell me that links from any site (irrelevent of their DA) are good, providing they are comming from a relevant source. We are in the security industry and according to MOZ, we have a DA of 52. If i can get a link to our site from another company in our industry but they have a DA of 10, is this really beneficial for me? Info i have read in Moz blogs suggest it is n ot a good idea. Please help. many thanks Daddy Smurf
Link Building | | DaddySmurf0 -
Disavow links
I am working on an account that has had several seo companies
Link Building | | JasperSEO
over the past year so around every corner I discover something new. One the
things I have found are that majority of links to the site is coming from an
outside blog but digging deeper I found that the blog is actually on the same
server as clients. Should I disavow links from that blog or should I leave it
alone?0 -
Paid Directories and On-page Keyword SEO
I have a new website and I am getting ready to submit to a few paid directories to get my links started. I wanted to optimize my domain name/keywords for those directories and also for my on page SEO. My domain contains my keywords. For example "www.horsebuggy.net Questions: #1 Should I target the horsebuggy.net in my on-page SEO or just target horse buggy? #2 When I submit to a paid directory which should I choose for my company name. (I currently have a DBA for each term....for ex.. horse buggy and horsebuggy.net . Thank you, Boo
Link Building | | Boodreaux0 -
Link footprints
Hi! I have question about link footprints. What should be taken into consideration? Is it real issue when your backlinks have heavy footprint? Thanks for answer..
Link Building | | asystematic1 -
Links below the snippet
Hello, Does anybody know how can i obtain links under the snippet (see the example in the image attached) ? Thank you in advance! Cosmin zXhsG
Link Building | | cosmin_bicoiu0 -
What to do with some good links I have?
I have some pretty strong links from relevant sources linking to the homepage of a site I deal with. The links are usually from a PR3-5 pages and display specific result about the linking site. Sometimes they come from badges. We offer several services, so sometimes the page is about one service and next time about the other. Currently all of my pages link to the homepage. Would it not be better to link to the specific product page related to the page I have? Also I can do a canonical to the service pages? Which would be best?
Link Building | | Svetoslav0