Is this link a follow or no follow one? Is it worth it to pay to be listed? http://westfaironline.com/businessdirectory/john-meyer-consulting/

[DianeDP]

Is this link a follow or no follow one? Is it worth it to pay to be listed?

[StreamlineMetrics]

It looks like it does not have a nofollow tag on the link, so that's good news. And the site looks pretty credible and that page is indexed in Google so I think it is a pretty solid link. Since I am not sure how much you are paying for the listing, I can't say whether or not it's worth the cost.

[Paul_Tovey]

Great answer Streamline,

Out of interest, HOW do you test if a link from a directory is credible?

There's plenty of directories out there, but I have no idea which ones are respected and if any of them are blacklisted etc.

[StreamlineMetrics]

Usually within the first few seconds of viewing a website, I can get a feeling whether a site is credible or not just based upon the look and feel of it. This particular one looks like a "real" website that has quality content rather than a lot of directories which are just straight up spam and don't have useful content.

To validate if my first instincts are correct (or not, I've been wrong before!), I also glance at my toolbars which show the Google PageRank of the page, PR of the domain, Alexa ranking, Domain Authority and Page Authority. In this case, this site passes the "5 second spam or not" test for these metrics.

I'm not from NY, but it appears this particular site is a hub for local news and businesses and it appears to be legitimate. Most cities have similar sites which contain business directories and are usually good places to get your business listed, not just for the inbound link but also for exposure to your target audience if you're a local business.

[bradkrussell]

Hi Diane,

First of all, to easily see followed/nofollowed links I suggest you download a tool like the MozBar. It's available for both Chrome and FF - http://www.seomoz.org/seo-toolbar. Only takes a second and it's very helpful! (There's other tools out there also).

Secondly, this is a followed link

Thirdly, the domain is of pretty high authority. However, buying links from directories is a less practised (and recommended) approach to SEO. If the directory is in your niche and is relevant to your site, go ahead (if the costs are within reason). If you're interested in purchasing directory links I'd only invest in the really top quality directories such as BOTW and business.com.

For a full list of directories, SEOmoz has their own recommendations - http://www.seomoz.org/directories. Again, only list your site on there if it's relevant and adds worth. I suggest start with just a few niche directories.

Thanks,

Brad