How many back links per day is too many?

[DerekDenholm]

I wanted to get the community thoughts on the specific question of: How many high quality directory submission back links per day is too many for a new website with zero back links ? or is there never too many when it comes to high domain authority back links ?

[RyanKent]

How many back links per day is too many?

Too many for what exactly? The only limit to how many links you can earn in a day are based upon your budget and creativity.

**How many high quality directory submission back links per day is too many for a new website with zero back links ? **

How do you define "high quality directory"? There are very few directories which comply with Google Guidelines and would not be viewed as manipulative. The primary general directories meeting this criteria are DMOZ, Business.com, Yahoo.com, botw.org, joeant.com. There will be a very few others along with some specific niche directories.

Additionally, there are a select few quality membership directories. For example, if you join the Better Business Bureau, you would be listed in their member directory. If you use McAfee for site security, you may be included in their directory.

or is there never too many when it comes to high domain authority back links ?

Domain authority can only be used to determine a link's quality if you are proceeding under the assumption the site involved is not penalized for manipulative links and the majority of sites linking in are likewise not penalized. DA, like most SEO metrics, can be manipulated.

In summary, if you are receiving links from quality, legitimate sources, then you are free to earn as many links as you desire. Google likely has a threshhold where if a new site earns a large number of links in a short time frame it will set off an alert causing the site to be reviewed, but if the links are of a quality nature then there is no problem. There are major companies opening new sites all the time and those sites receive massive amounts of links in short periods of time.

[DerekDenholm]

We tend to use the majority of the the directories listed on seomoz directory page as like you stated they are the only ones that really meet the "criteria".

[RyanKent]

Unless that list has been thoroughly scrubbed, I would not recommend using it. I do not see anything on that list to say these directories are "recommended" or even have been reviewed to ensure they comply with Google Guidelines.

Either way I believe you are completely wasting your time. Google clearly understands the difference between an "earned" link and a directory link. Here is a simple rule of thumb for any link:

• How much direct traffic do you expect to receive from legitimate users who are seeking your product or services from the directory link? If the answer is zero I would suggest you are wasting your time and are more likely to damage your site then to help it.

If you have Google Analytics installed on your site, or the linking site does, then Google is clearly aware of how valuable the link is (i.e. how often it is clicked by a legitimate user). Of course, there are methods of manipulating that data and Google also has methods of detecting manipulation.

If there is a single lesson Google has tried to communicate this year it is...stop "building" links and start earning them. If a website owner asks their SEO what have they done to improve the site this month and the response is "we submitted your site to 3-5 directories each day" I would highly recommend that site owner find a new SEO provider.

[EGOL]

Lots of webmasters are paying big money to have trashy links removed.  If you think that it is hard to build them, try to get them removed from a spammy directory.

Read about the Penguin update if you don't already know about it.

[DerekDenholm]

This post is deleted!

[RyanKent]

I consider those the only GENERAL directories worth submitting to, yes.

As an experiment with my site, I will be joining those and a few other directories and tracking all traffic received from each directory. After 1 year I intend to post an update with all traffic received and then make a determination.

To clarify, some niche directories are fantastic. Perhaps you have a site which sells wine and you find a nice wine directory which is visited by many wine enthusiasts. That could be an excellent find.

Directories were great in 1994-5 when search engines did not exist. Since that time, directories have steadily lost ground. The question is....when was the last time you went to a directory to find a site?

In order for a directory to flourish in today's world, they need to publish quality content. If a wine directory publishes content on wine tasting, how to locate a quality winery, etc. then visitors are more likely to find the site due to that content. Perhaps they hold contests, solicit ratings and feedback from visitors, etc. thereby generating more visitors. That kind of site can be quite helpful.

[KevinBudzynski]

In the industrial sector, directories are still being used with much success (companies like ThomasNet, MacRAES and Globalspec still create high quality leads). However, over the last 5 years or so (like Ryan's wine example) they are becoming more of informational portals that also has a directory component to it.