Are directories a waste of time? Is that link building method worthless?
Let's see...
I recently read a post from a blogger who slammed directories and went as far as to say that submitting to directories is for dumb-dumb's.
I've said this before and I will say it again, DON'T FALL FOR HYPE! The best thing you can do in your Internet Marketing efforts and especially for Search Engine Optimization is to test and analyze what is working and what is not.
I did! And here is what I found.
I have two sites, Site 1and Site 2, and for both sites I used the EXACT same link building strategies EXCEPT on Site 2 I did not submit to directories and guess what? In this last Page Rank update from Google, site 1 went from PR0 to PR2 and Site 2 PR0 to PR1 and the only difference between them was about 800 backlinks from directory submissions.
It is true that Directory backlinks are not the best backlinks, but they are still a vital part of an overall link building strategy. When your site is new you need all the backlinks you can get, until you have a high PR site link building needs to be aggressive and diverse. So, while the clueless are sitting around bitching about what doesn't work, I am building links!
Remember the Time Formula for Link Building:
40% - Article Marketing
25% - Reciprocal Link Exchange
25% - Social Bookmark Links/Forum Sig links/Blog comment links
10% - Directories
Also, this blogger went on to say that the only directories that matter are DMOZ, Yahoo Directory, Best of the Web and Business.com
Okay, let's see...
DMOZ - Yes a very powerful backlink, and you should always submit to them and they are FREE, BUT approval time is about 1year IF they let you in.
Yahoo Directory - $299.00 per year! NON-REFUNDABLE and NO guarantee of approval.
Best of the Web - $99.95 per year! NON-REFUNDABLE and NO guarantee of approval.
Business.com - $299.00! NON-REFUNDABLE and NO guarantee of approval. (BTW, go to work.com and write a guide, work.com is the sister site of business.com, the guides rank high in G and if your guide is really popular and good it could end up featured on the business.com front page and then you get that $299 backlink for free!)
Now, I don't know about you, but I don't have THAT kind of money to spend on link building. Most of us, Affiliate Marketers are a one man/woman show, some working around day jobs, sitting at our computers and trying to grow an affiliate marketing business. We are not Donald Trump or Shoemoney.
How feasable are these costs if you have 2, 3 or more niche sites? Get Real!
Now, there are good and bad directories and yes Google did blast several bad directories in the past for creating directories for the sole purpose of manipulating SERPS. BUT, this does NOT mean that you stop submitting to directories all together, just be a little more selective of the ones you submit to.
The True Meaning of a Directory:
Main purpose of directories is to help people find something on the web, and they are supposed to be built for humans and not search engine manipulation. The main value to a webmaster to add their url is for traffic.
What Makes a Not so Good Directory:
- They blatantly advertise and promote that adding your link will boost your page rank and SEO and not the actual listings for visitors reference.
- They require a reciprocal link, many will suggest, but the good ones usually do not require.
- Bid for link placement. You have to bid for a higher placement of your link. Run for your life!
- They offer multiple links with your choice of anchor text, obviously this reeks of search engine manipulation and not a directory for humans. Run faster!
Also good directories do not allow adult and porn sites and they ask for your email address to have you verify your submission, this means they are vigilant about and monitor for spam.
Here are Some Good Directories:
- World Website Directory - PR4
- Elite Web - PR4
- My Green Corner - PR3
- Search Sight - PR5
- Exact Seek - PR4
- Can Links - PR5
- Free Website Directory - PR2
- DMegs - PR5 (this ones requires reciprocal, but it is a quality directory, and it shows up on page 1 without quotes in Google for website directories with 64,000,000 competing sites, this means that Google has not penalized it and so I'll take the recip.)
- My Design Award - PR6 - This is not really a directory but is a site where you submit your sites and other members vote for best designs, gives a powerful permanent backlink.
Here is a hyperlinked list of 850 directories you can check out. Also, Directory Submitter Service is a really cheap human service that submits for your.
Also, Bad Neighborhood Checker is a tool that checks backlinks and alerts if any of them are coming from penalized sites and other bad neighborhoods, which Google strongly advises against.
Now don't panic if you see the Blog Spam warning, these come up a lot when you link to and have links from blogs and it does not mean it is a bad neighborhood. Also warnings, like sexuality and gambling anchors may be flagged BUT look at the source of those, for example, Ezine Articles gets flagged as possibly bad because of Articles about Sex and Gambling, but we all know that Google certainly does NOT consider Ezine Articles a bad neighborhood!
Build Links! Build Links! Just build links everyday!
There will always be rumors and hype in the world of Internet and Affiliate Marketing. It is important to follow correct guides and it's just as important to keep testing and analyzing!
What do you guys think? What has been your experience with directories? What do you think about testing?
That was a nice read. Directories submission is usually a big part of my SEO strategy when I’m starting new projects. I’ve tested it with similar techniques you did with “site 1 and 2″ and it’s worth it to submit to directories. As you said, it’s part of a full SEO strategy and there are other things to do for proper link building. I don’t waste my time on directory submission, I pay someone to do it. There are a lot of people offering services on DIgitalPoint forum and I usually pay something like 15$ for 1000 submissions.
SEO Horrors last blog post..Top of the week
Follow Me on Twitter @: EuniceCoughlin
(10 comments)
Hmmm, thanks for this very informative article. I’ve been ignoring this link strategy since I was also feeling that directories were irrelevant these days but you’ve made some good points. I’m not sure about the percentage’s you’ve got for link building. Article marketing has been much more effective for me than directories.
Eunices last blog post..Aug 1, Internet Business Ideas
@Eunice
I totally agree, Article Marketing is great, that is why I have it under 40% of your time as opposed to 10% for directories.
Follow Me on Twitter @: EuniceCoughlin
(10 comments)
Oops….I must check my dyslexia….thought you
recommended 50% for directories! My bad…. :-/
Eunices last blog post..Aug 1, Internet Business Ideas
@ Eunice
No Problem
@Alli
Congrats! There you have it the proof is always in the results!
I’ve used directory submissions as one part of my diverse strategy of obtaining links: the others include blog comments, forum posts (and forum siggy anchor text), listings with Related sites, article writing, UGC’s (yelp, city search, merchant circle, insider pages), free classified ads with followed links.
Net increase of 500 links at GWT/YSE in last 27 days. Several of them were directory additions.
Many are the remnants of a directory submission campaign back in Feb-March-April of this year. There are quite a few that will drag their feet in accepting you, but ultimately (with a PR 3 like mine) they let you in. (after all, its to their benefit to have relevant sites with high PR in their respective categories).
Bottom Line: BE PATIENT and the links will come. I’m not actively pursuing links at the present time, but the residuals keep pumping in, like oil royalties. (wish it was oil……LOL)
I do use directories. At least the ones I can find that are decent. I do not pay either for submissions. Generally you can slide into Yahoo once your site has been online for a bit. I have never paid to be included into the Yahoo directory, but all of my sites have been indexed.
WAHM Taras last blog post..5 Ways Not To Go Insane Working From Home
Links is links and the more of them the better off you’ll be. Of course, some links have a higher value than others, that’s a given. But if you pursue only the top quality links you’ll soon find yourself being beaten out by a less picky competitor.
Frank Cs last blog post..Samsung MyShot SCH-R430 Review
@Frank
You are totally right! Those who diversify their link building will always win over those that are too picky!
@prestamos
Social links, forum links and blog comments are all great links and should be a part of the overall link building strategy. I guess I left those out of the time formula, thanks for the heads up I will edit the post. Also, I have written a separate post on this at: 13 Ways to Link Building that Also Increase Traffic, but I spend about 1/2 the time on those of the blogroll 50%, I find the social bookmark, forum and blog comments are crucial in that you not only get the link juice but they are also a great source of traffic.
Hello Paul,
Yes but there is a risk, if Google knows that directory is selling links you can get slammed for buying links that pass page rank.
Directories are far from dead. However, to get the most bang for the buck, it’s important to pick out directories that are not sparse in the niche you’re trying to promote.
For example, if you’re trying to promote Web design and SEO services, most directories will be chock full of these kinds of listings. The theme of those pages is heavily slanted toward technology, which helps the relevancy of the backlink. Try promoting on directories for something like “food nutrition” and it’s a different story – there will be few to no pages in the directory for that theme, and getting a backlink from there will be less effective.
Thanks for the tips. I’m new to article submissions and after choosing and submitting to a few sites at random I’m glad I’ve now seen your tips on site selection. Fortunately I haven’t submitted to a ‘bad’ article site. The links in your article will be my next target. Many thanks.
@Chris
You are welcome!
Great article. I bookmarked it so I can get back to your directory list. I’m just getting into SEO and always heard from people I worked with that directory submitting was pretty valuable. But recently I’ve seen a ton of blogs online that really knock it. After reading your article I think it’s definitely worthwhile. I like your percentages graph. Thanks again!
Mike @ CSS Perks last blog post..Trust
@Mike
Thanks and welcome!
Hi JR,
Thanks for this helpful post on directories and link building strategies. Looks like there is one listed for GREEN which could be helpful for my latest “baby.”
Are you familiar with the directory site model as a money making website? I am considering a business directory, event, news, classifieds, coupons, type community site…based on small fees for the premium directory listings and advertising and some affiliate marketing promotion throught the site. It is very difficult to find Internet Marketing related material on this topic. Is that because it just doesn’t pay, is more work than the typical affiliate site (thin) or am I just missing something somewhere.
Always grateful for your input…
.-= Harmony @ New Green Gadget´s last blog ..Crank Flashlights – Wind up the Light =-.
@ Harmony
I know of these types of sites, but I have no personal knowledge as to its effects or success. I think it maybe a lot to manage for one person, with all the information, updating and promotion.
I know that there are several coupon sites that are very successful and one of which makes quite a bit of money as he dominates the SERPS and there is a lot of user generated content there from members interacting and adding coupons. I would imagine that the coupon niche is quite competitive and it might take some time to rank, but other than that, I don’t see it as not being viable. Here is a site that offers a data feed service to automatically update coupons and build a coupon site, it’s costly, but you might want to check it out: https://secure.formetocoupon.com/
As far as business directories, again competitive, and I suspect that you would have to become quite popular and authoritative in order to have good Google SERPS, as there are so many out there all ready as well as choosing your keywords wisely.
Your answers are much appreciated and the suggestions helpful. I will keep you posted
.-= Harmony @ New Green Gadget´s last blog ..Crank Flashlights – Wind up the Light =-.
Hi,
Thank’s for the informative site.
I’m building a wedding industry niche site (affiliate marketing, services etc.) and was wondering if you could please recommend where/how to obtain wedding vendor/services directories/listings that I can include on my web.
Thank you,
Lana.
nice post..yes link building with directory submission gives you more traffic and helps
to enhance your page rank..and to submit links to sites which has good PR..will help to get more traffic..
[...] Is Link Building with Directories Dead? [...]
[...] site, Site A, I built links with the usual techniques of reciprocals, social sites, some one-ways, directories, do-follow blog comments and articles. Site B got the same links as Site A, except without [...]