Competitors and Directory Links
-
Hi guys, wanted to get some input and thoughts here. I'm analyzing many competitor links for a specific client (even other clients actually as well) and come across a pretty heavy directory backlink profiles.
has anyone here had success with directory listings? Seem many of the competitors backlinks are coming from directories.
What say you?
-
Hi Ryan.
Glad to hear someone talking sense! In researching sites' linking patterns I have also often come across sites that are linked to that should really have no logical relationship back to the site in question, yet the link still counts. Sometimes these are from blog sites that seo companies have set up themselves, that have little content, and not terribly interesting content either, yet this still seems to work in 2011, which is baffling.
I agree that one day this will all be devalued, but you wonder when.
-
@Doctone, you are absolutely correct. The results we see show directory links are a factor and work. I also see a lot of links from high DA/PA asian blogs and other sites providing followed links to sites and topics they have no logical relationship towards.
These type of links have existed for a long time, and do offer benefits to the sites on the receiving end.
With the above noted, it seems clear that if it is obvious to us, then they are also obvious to Google. It's only a matter of time until these links are penalized in the form of another Panda-type update. I would suggest not crossing the line and instead focusing on adding value to your users, adding better content users will want to naturally link to, and then you will be standing tall after your competitors get hit with the update that kills these links.
-
Hi there
I recently approached 6 different seo companies to give me a proposal to improve our rankings. Some were "cheaper", some were very expensive and well know here in the Uk. Guess what? They all still suggest adding directory links as part of a linking strategy, in fact one of them would have added 100 per month!
Looking at our competition I sadly have conclude that they are correct. We all hold google in high esteem and think it's extremely clever (and probably we're all probably a bit afraid of google, as none of us want to be penalised), but from my reasonably extensive own research using seo site explorer, I have to conclude that using directory links still really works, provided said directories are in good health, if you know what I mean, but you can easily tell by using a PR tool as well as the siteexplorer numbers.
-
With respect to blogs, you can use those comments along with forum posts for link value. However, you should check after the first time you use this method. Many blogs have their comments set up to automatically apply the nofollow attribute.
For link directories, I would recommend using the free directories. ODP is great but takes a very long time to get into. Many other directories wish to exchange links which isn't the best idea for many sites. The links shouldn't hurt but I would suggest not paying for a listing in the directory unless you have a high value site and the directory is of high value as well such as Yahoo's.
-
I think you're already on the right track. I use the Keyword Difficulty Tool and get a list of top ranking sites. Then I put those sites into Open Site Explorer and analyze their link profiles to get prospective link opportunities.
-
Good response guys, thanks
@ Dave: What research do you use to look into the directories? It seems most of these directories where you may submit one too may submit to many others. I've always stayed away from directories to make the link portfolio as organic as possible but coming across an incredible amount of backlink porfolios with directory links.
@Becampaz: Yes, I see blog comments do serve well in some of these backlink ports.
-
Directory Links most certainly still work. If you use this strategy make it a part of your overall link-building campaign but not the be all and end all. Also check the value and relevance of the directories as they may be subject to scrutiny by Google in the future. Good research here will serve you well. Make sure the page you're listing will potentially go on is strong and not loaded with other links as the power gets diluted with the number of links per page.
I like to call it building a diversified link portfolio using many tactics to guard against any major hiccups with a change in the algorithms of the Search Engines. Check out the webinars under the Learn SEO tab and the SEOMoz blog under the Community tab for great detailed info on tactics.
-
Well, lately all competitor sites that i have been looking seems to get the majority of their links from mainly two sources: Directories and Blog Comments.
They rank well (position 1 to 5) for medium (sometimes high) competitive keywords, so I would say that this works and is something easy to execute. However, this is not probably the best way to achieve an high authority for your site.
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
-
301 Externally Linked, But Non-Producing Pages, To Productive Pages Needing Links?
I'm working on a site that has some non-productive pages without much of an upside potential, but that are linked-to externally. The site also has some productive pages, light in external links, in a somewhat related topic. What do you think of 301ing the non-productive pages with links to the productive pages without links in order to give them more external link love? Would it make much of a difference? Thanks... Darcy
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | 945010 -
Internal links and URL shortners
Hi guys, what are your thoughts using bit.ly links as internal links on blog posts of a website? Some posts have 4/5 bit.ly links going to other pages of our website (noindexed pages). I have nofollowed them so no seo value is lost, also the links are going to noindexed pages so no need to pass seo value directly. However what are your thoughts on how Google will see internal links which have essential become re-direct links? They are bit.ly links going to result pages basically. Am I also to assume the tracking for internal links would also be better using google analytics functionality? is bit.ly accurate for tracking clicks? Any advice much appreciated, I just wanted to double check this.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | pauledwards0 -
Do banners pass link juice
Hello there, If we place an animated gif banner on a website will this pass link juice in the same way as if we just had a link? Obviously the website would need to be "Follow" Thanks Robert
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | roberthseo0 -
Wikipedia links - any value?
Hello everyone. We recently posted some of our research to Wikipedia as references in the "External Links" section. Our research is rigorous and has been referenced by a number of universities and libraries (an example: https://www.harborcompliance.com/information/company-suffixes.php). Anyway, I'm wondering if these Wikipedia links have any value beyond of course adding to the Wiki page's information. Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Harbor_Compliance0 -
How to minimalise links in your footer
Hi guys, I'm working on the website to improve the internal linking structure. We have thousand of pages, and on every single page we have the same footer with the same links. For this reason I would like to change the footer in only relevant links for the user, but also for the robots. So for the user I leave in the general main links Home / Contact / Promotions and customise a part of the links to specific links about the section they are looking at. Now my idea was to add to the General Main links a Nofollow, so I direct the robots in a better structure about how to read the website. I have been reading a lot about internal linkbuilding- like http://www.seomoz.org/blog/smarter-internal-linking-whiteboard-friday and http://www.seomoz.org/learn-seo/internal-link http://www.searchenginejournal.com/information-architecture-rocket-science-simplified/22503/ and a lot more, too much to display all. but my question would be, is it smart to internally start using NOFOLLOW's on links. because I do found also some negative comments on this approach http://www.dashboardjunkie.com/noindex-nofollow-canonical-and-disallow I hope to get some feedback from the community to make up my mind.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Letty0 -
Are Navigation links different to static links
We are trying to reduce the number of links on our homepage. We could remove some fly out navigation links, We rank 1st on Google for some of these links. Would removing these hurt our SEO. The links are accessible 1 level down if we remove the homepage.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Archers0 -
Widget Links Still Acceptable?
I own a funny video site that is getting about 1-4 of it's videos embedded on various sites daily. In todays form, is widget link still acceptable? This would show up under the video embed. Example: Funny Dog Video From Site Brand Or is it best nowadays to just have Video Provided By Site Brand
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | superlordme0 -
First link importance in the content
Hi, have you guys an opinion on this point, mentioned by Matt Cutts in 2010 : Matt made a point to mention that users are more likely to click on the first link in an article as opposed to a link at the bottom of the article. He said put your most important links at the top of the article. I believe it was Matt hinting to SEOs about this. http://searchengineland.com/key-takeaways-from-googles-matt-cutts-talk-at-pubcon-55457 I've asked this in private and Michael Cottam told me he read a study a year ago that indicated that the link juice passed to other pages diminished the further down the page you go. But he can't find it anymore ! Do you remember this study and have the link ? What is your opinion on Matt's point ?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | baptisteplace0