Directories for backlinks

[PeterAllen91]

Hello,

I was wondering whether directories are a good source of creating quality back links?

Thanks

[KLLC]

Hi Peter Allen,

Answer By Marie Haynes from http://www.seomoz.org/q/are-links-from-directories-good-or-bad

When I'm deciding on submitting to directories I ask myself one of the questions from the quality guidelines: would I be doing this if search engines didn't exist?

I submit my sites to local directories that make sense for the site and could drive traffic.  I completely avoid directories that are made for SEO purposes.

I'm also careful not to overdo it.  Anything done in excess can cause Google to look on your link building with suspicion.  I also avoid using keyword anchor text and prefer to link from directories using my URL.

A recent unnatural links recovery client of mine got their warning mostly because of directory links.  The quality guidelines, under "link schemes" tells us to avoid "Low-quality directory or bookmark site links".  The question is, however, what is "low quality"?  If you feel that you are ranking because of links from directories created just for SEO purposes I would guess that this ranking will eventually die and could even be penalized.

I have a theory that Google created the disavow tool to help them find all of the low quality pages and devalue them, or even worse, penalize sites that have used them.  My thought is that if a large number of sites choose to disavow www.exampledirectory.com then Google takes a look at that site and determines whether it is a site made just to boost the PR of other sites.  If so, then they likely deindex it.  A few months ago Google deindexed a pile of directories, but there are LOTS of them out there that, in my opinion will soon be gone.

Personally, I wouldn't risk a client's site on this tactic unless they had full knowledge of the potential risk involved.

[RankMover]

wouldnt have put it better myself. Directory submissions are still worth the effort IMO as long as they are relevant and as KLLC put it , the directory is not built for seo purposes only.

[ICON_Malta]

Well said KLLC!

Directories with NO editorial policies at all might be dodgy since everyone would be able to list his/her site their.

There are some good relevant online directories - before posting your site on directories ask whether you will benefit from traffic coming through this directory (remember that SEO is about quality traffic not just increased traffic). Also, ask yourself whether it is TOO easy to get a link from that site - if yes then you might want to be extra careful.

[KevinBudzynski]

Yes, KLLC is right. A good rule of thumb, when it comes to directories, is how easy is it to get into the directory? If it's easy, it's mostly likely considered spammy...

[KeriMorgret]

Hi! A suggestion for next time is to link to the article with the original discussion. This was formatted such that most of the people thought that you were the one who wrote this, rather than Marie.