Directory Subdomain: Bad or Good?

[irvingw]

We are thinking about setting up directory on a subdomain (local.sample.com) with content supplied by DirectoryM. Despite assurances by DM that they are Panda proof, I am uneasy releasing 100's of 1000's of pages at once to the search engines with content that is somewhat limited in value. Even if DM can somehow make these directory pages look a little unique then what they already have out on the internet, I am still scared how a potential spammy subdomain will impact the master domain. The upside to DM is that they can add 1000's of new weekly visitors and they will add 1000's of links to our pages to our master domain to their existing directory sites. What approach would you take here? Is there any risk in trying this out or are my fears unfounded? Would mass linking to the subdomain from the master site impact the master site?

[brycebertola]

I think that the number of links you're gaining might cause a problem, not to mention the quality of those links. Google assumes a natural pattern in link acquisition, so when you suddenly jump from 5 links per week to 500, that triggers a red flag because it doesn't appear natural.

How many hours are you spending on this link directory? Perhaps you could take the same amount of time to write a well-researched guest post, or some other type of op-ed piece.

That type of content is much more likely to earn the type of high quality targeted links you're looking for, without junking up your link profile.