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?
-
Thanks again Ryan. Thomasnet does well in the serps, but they do so on the backs of those that pay to be in their directory. That being said, I fully understand your explanation and appreciate your clarification for me.
-
Mike, the one point to clarify is whether you feel that Thomasnet.com is performing well? or whether the sites which pay Thomasnet.com for links are performing well?
If Thomasnet.com is not paying for any links themselves, then there is no reason for them not to perform well.
My understanding is that Google would penalize the BUYER of any links by removing the value of any paid links. There is much speculation about whether Google takes any additional steps. They could penalize the seller and they could further penalize the buyer, but I am not aware of any confirmation to either point.
-
Hey Ryan, thanks for the reply. They do offer free listings on their site, but not free links. Perhaps I was a bit fuzzy on my question. Thomas does very well on many keywords from their listings. The majority of thomasnet's content are the listings of companies that pay to be on the thomasnet website. Thomasnet has a rather high domain authority of 77. If thomasnet content consists mainly of paid listings with paid links and my understanding is that these are not good for SEO, why would thomasnet perform well?
-
Paid links do not pass link juice. What is causing you to believe otherwise in this case?
Also, I took a quick look at the site and noticed a Free Links link in the footer. I didn't investigate it but they may offer both paid and unpaid listings.
-
Yes, I do understand how linking works. My questions is about the links on their directory which are paid links. Any company in their directory with a link to their website is a paid link. Shouldn't paid links be valued lower than non-paid organic links?
-
Thomasnet is a large site with a nice, but not overwhelming number of links.
Also, a lot of their competition is in naive markets where they compete against much smaller sites. Although Thomasnet is not a major "powerhouse" they do have a nice number of links and that gives them enough authority to be a strong competitor in the naive and smaller markets.
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
-
How many Directory Web sites still active?
After a long period, near about 6 years I want to know what kind of Web Directories still active? Is that kind of Directory links help SERP for gaining Ranks?
Link Building | | nopain8100 -
Best of the Web directory
Does http://botw.org/ (Best of the Web directory) have any SEO value these days? Would you recommend listing on there?
Link Building | | roberthseo0 -
Links from Directory Websites with NoFollow Tag
In reviewing our root domain links, I noticed that many of the directories (like Yellow Pages, Insider Pages, Merchant Circle, etc) that there are no follow codes included in the link to our website. Is this a common practice for these directories? Also, I wanted to confirm that this would not help in our link building strategies with any relevant "link juice." Below is a copy and pasted (with some extra characters that shouldn't have copy and pasted), but the key note here is the no follow tag that was included in this link to our site. Visit Website Thanks as always MOZ Community - cheers!
Link Building | | Leithmarketing0 -
Business directory and rel=canonical
If a business directory is using the rel=canonical tag on the first page of results for each section, is there any value from having a link on page 2 or 3 of these sections?
Link Building | | Silkstream0 -
How does a good link portfolio look like ?
I have been reading a lot about bad links and unnatural links on these forums, but i m not sure how a good back link portfolio looks like, can some point me to the right direction ? maybe with some examples, what is the one most important factor for a good quality link ? thanks
Link Building | | orion680 -
Prweb.com & prnewswire.com do they still work?
Howdy Guys, Does anybody still use prweb.com or prnewswire.com? I'm thinking of signing up but just want someone else's views on the sites? Thanks, Scott
Link Building | | ScottBaxterWW0 -
Links to my website don't show up on OSE
Hello folks, I made some links to my website: www.mediavatar.com.br , but on OSE it doesn't appear. Such as: http://www.meusdownloads.com.br/p.jsp?ppID=0128 Why this above link does not appear on OSE? Probabbly its a newbie question, but my knowledge about link building is not that much. Thanks.
Link Building | | augustos0 -
How Long for Google Directory and Search.com to update with Current Dmoz.org Data?
So I recently had a site added to dmoz.org and I'm wondering if anyone knows when Google Directory & Search.com update their site with new Dmoz.org data? They both use dmoz.org for their directory listings. Regards,
Link Building | | qlkasdjfw0