How the tortoise determines a good web directory
I read a lot of blogs and here and there I will read that link directories are so early 2000, they are “passé” or it is pointless to build links in link directories. O_O!!!! What?
Maybe I am just not one to turn down links, but if you can get a link from a directory, why not? Of course, not all link directories are created equal, and you should keep this in mind when building links via link directories for your off-site search engine marketing. I was reading about what factors you should consider when , and I see the value in discussing link directories as they are clearly not “dead”.
My process for deciding whether or not to submit my site to a certain directory:
- Look at the PR of the index page - then find the page where your site will be listed and check the PR of that page.
- How many links are in the directory, in the category where your site is listed and on individual pages?
- How did you find the directory in Google? Search for terms that the directory might be competing for. How did they rank? Now search for terms related to your keywords including the words “directory” or “index”. Did the directory appear in the results?
- Search “site:domainofdirectory.com” in Google. This will show the number of indexed pages. If the directory does not have many indexed pages, I would not bother with this directory.
- Search”link:domainofdirectory.com” to show you the number of links to the web directory.
- Click on a link to a site in the directory. Does the link lead to the actual URL of the site or are they doing some freaky site in frames thing (the domain will then be domainofdirectory.com/yourdomain.com and it will be your site but with some ad frames).
- Are the links nofollow? While you can benefit from high traffic nofollow link to your site, keep in mind if they want a reciprocal exchange that while you pass PR to them, they pass none to you. Are there any nofollow links to the categories… meaning the PR passes to you but there is not PR passing to the page where your site is linked.
- Are there a lot of spam results?
- What is the URL of the page where your site will be listed. “View Source” and what are the keywords, title, description? You want the page where your site will be listed to properly optimized.
- What about the Technorati rank of the directory?
That is a pretty long list, but why not go the extra effort in finding out the value of a link? I am not an automated kind of girl when it comes to search engine optimization and marketing. There is much more value in doing research and being methodical in my opinion, and need I remind your about the tortoise and the hare?
So in the end, while it is important that you do not rely on link directory submissions, these do make up a large piece of the link action that you can take advantage of when engaging in off-site SEO.
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Posted: July 22nd, 2007.
Comments: 16
Comments
Comment from
Time: July 22, 2007, 4:55 pm
Ya know I’ve rarely ever found any link directories that had any of kind of PR beyond their index page. Maybe I’m looking in the wrong places :/
Comment from Danielle
Time: July 22, 2007, 5:12 pm
Ooh there are tons of them - I am putting together a list of good ones for the near future. I have found some really great places to list blogs especially.
Comment from
Time: July 22, 2007, 5:24 pm
Whee…bring it on :D
Comment from Danielle
Time: July 22, 2007, 5:34 pm
Oh, don’t you worry, I’ll bring it (on). :)
I will give a nice list showing deep pagerank - and some are free!!! Whee!
Comment from
Time: July 22, 2007, 8:31 pm
I’m definitely going to follow your advice. I submitted my blog to a lot of directories so far, not sure how good it is… but as you said, why turning down a link ??
What do you think of directories where you have to pay a fee to be listed ? They seem to be growing but I don’t see myself paying to be listed… Just wondering.
Comment from Danielle
Time: July 22, 2007, 9:37 pm
These will usually have a higher PR, so in essence you are paying for PR. I bought one or two links for $1 each when I was in the seocontest, but I don’t see myself buying links ever again. I would not bother as there are more important things you can spend money on to promote your site/blog.
Comment from
Time: July 23, 2007, 12:03 am
I had this feeling as well…
I got a list of 1 000 blog directories (from bloggeries actually !) and I noticed a lot of them weren’t free… and they didn’t even have a good PR, nor that they were popular. Got me wonder…
Comment from Danielle
Time: July 23, 2007, 12:43 am
I think especially for a blog, there are so many easier ways to generate links to your blog that will actually bring you traffic. I like free/reciprocal directories, human edited directories, local/regional directories are great for local businesses.
But blogs are special because links are currency that bloggers trade amongst each other, or it just happens because of good content. It is really my belief that to get links for blogs the issue of linkbuilding should always be an afterthought compared to really focusing on the quality of your content.
I plan on submitting this blog to a bunch of the blog directories that I like. I will create a directory links here on my blog for reciprocal links. That can also serve as a resource for people looking for places to find links. That should a be project of mine.
Comment from
Time: July 23, 2007, 2:13 am
I have a directory on my blog that people could actually submit links to. I’ve never actually publicized it though ;P
Comment from Danielle
Time: July 23, 2007, 2:28 am
Oooh I am going to submit links to the Mike Directory! :D
Comment from
Time: July 23, 2007, 3:19 am
Hehe…I’m not even positive how it works :P
Comment from Danielle
Time: July 23, 2007, 9:59 pm
You should figure it out then I can submit links to your directory and you can send me an email full of spelling mistakes telling me very politely why you won’t accept my blog to your directory. Then I will send you an email back asking you to reconsider, and you, impressed by my dedication to get a link from your directory, will send me an again polite email letting me know where the link to my site can be found. :D
Comment from
Time: July 23, 2007, 10:05 pm
Hehehe…that sounds like a fabulous idea, except that you’re already listed in there :P
I suppose I could remove your entry just so you can try it out ;D
Comment from Danielle
Time: July 23, 2007, 10:07 pm
We should!!!
Or I could just submit the URL for my new Viagra/porn site. :P
Comment from
Time: July 23, 2007, 10:12 pm
Hehe…are you doing Pink Hat porn now? :-o
Okay, if you want to try it out I can go in and delete your link thingy. I think I have it setup though where it requires a reciprocal. We’ll have to figure out how that works. I imagine you can just point it to your links page and it will find the link :)
Pingback from Local Search Engine Marketing
Time: September 5, 2007, 11:22 pm
[…] As Paul suggests, submitting your site to local directories is very important. They will attract some attention and traffic to your site, depending on the care you use when selecting the web directories. […]
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