Question about directories and incoming links

[riverbirch]

Hi,

When I fist started my site, about a year ago, I submitted my site to a bunch of free directories (DMOZ, Search Site etc.) There seemed to be many which were paid inclusion. I haven't and probably won't submit those as I myself have never even used a directory to find something, I just use search. Are the paid directories worth it?

Also after about a year I now have, according to Market Leap, around 2100 incoming links (mostly from syndicating some content). Does anyone know if this is considered average? Does posting in a forum add to those links, not that that's the reason for the post.

Thank in advance
www.gardenlistings.com

[craigmn3]

Paid Inclusion to GOOD directories is a good idea, because they offer good quality incoming links which still seems to be relevant

Avoid link farms, link baiting and any other tactics which might be viewed as black hat.


as to the forum directories, they do provide incoming links the quality of which is determined by the quality (and perhaps relativity) of the forum

[bj]

Most of the directory scripts have a "nofollow" attribute available as an option for free links, but not every directory admin turns it on (I don't, for instance, on my webgeek directory.) So some directories may be okay to submit to for free and still give you a good link, and I think we all would rather submit to those first. How do you find them, without having to look at source code for zillions of directories?

VileSilencer SEO Directory

VileSilencer has done the work for you.

[cvos]

I'm a big fan of quality directories, both free and paid. These are excellent resources that can increase the ranking weight & authority of your site.

Don't bother submitting to any site that automatically accepts your link.

here is an example of a good targeted directory:
www. realestateabc.com


here is an example of a low quality directory:
www. indiafolder.com/directory

[Webnauts]

I would recommend you these high quality directories:

http://www.webxperience.org/
http://www.webotopia.org/

[TrafficProducer]

Paid inclusion vs. PPC.

Is one way to think about it.

If a Paid inclusion cost $30.00 a year and returns 30 clicks to your site in that year then is a better Return On Investment than 30 PPC clicks a $1.50 each= $45.00 over the same year.

[chrisJumbo]

We haven't used paid inclusion, yet. There are a lot of high-quality free ones. However, with the free sites, you don't know when your link will be added.

With the paid ones, depending on the cost, your site is usually listed in 7 days or less.

This is the site I have found helpful www.info-sales.co.uk

[andyf]

Paid links are better if you are getting high PR backlink and proper category but always check for " nofollow " tag sometime you may be fooled even you pay for submission.

[riverbirch]

thanks for the feedback!

[hrpr45]

On URLTrends you have over 2090 incoming links and 30 outgoing links - this should be getting you a PR of 6+, but you only have a PR of 3.

I have about 430 incoming and 27 outgoing and a PR of 4 . I think this is due to the quality of links, I have taken care to acquire links from good sites with high PR.

2000 links is considered good but only if the links are from good sites, I would say your links must be from sites with 0 - 1 PR or you would have a much higher PR.

[riverbirch]

I was a pr of 4 until I updated my site the look of my site last month. I've actually have been adding alot of articles over the past couple of months too. All my articles are original. When I first started I submitted to free directories (about 30) which probably have low pr but most of my links are from syndicating some articles and content.

www.gardenlistings.com

[vmontero]

Great tips and suggestions here!

On this topic, is a reciprocal link with a directory better than a one-way inbound link? If a directory that provides free listings also gives you the option to do a reciprocal, should you choose to get a free inbound or to do a reciprocal as well? I imagine it helps actually getting you listed but wondering if it has any bearing on the weighting of the link.

Thanks.

[hrpr45]

Look at it like Google would. A reciprocal link is an exchange of links, and not created because the site with the higher PR liked your site and content - so it really is of little value.

Now a link from a site with say PR-6 linking to you, with no link back, would indicate that the higher ranking site found your site worth linking to - this is what Google values, as it is more likely to provide better search results to its users based on this hierarchy. This is one of Google's goals.

I find if I put myself in the place of Google when doing SEO, it is simply a matter of looking at all logically and also from a Google users perspective

[bj]

is a reciprocal link with a directory better than a one-way inbound link?

No. You've got that exactly backwards. One way links are the gold standard.

I won't even submit to any directory that requires a reciprocal link.

[vmontero]

Makes sense. Thanks for for the advice!

[prathap75]

Why would anyone give a one-way link to your site ?? Your site needs to be highly informative and a lot of highly relevant and quality content.
Before going for one-way, make sure the site where you are planning to give the link back is highly optimized and has relevant content and lot of good articles.
We are still in the building stages of one such directory - http://www.friskall.com/

[hrpr45]

Well that is the whole idea behind Googles plan...

Create sites with lots of good, original content...

People will link to you. Look for online mags etc that like to link to noteworthy sites.

[damarzee]

When it comes to link exchanges, you can know that Google may give you a page rank boost by linking to highly rated websites, however, i have always only considered that to be a perk. The best result of good link placement is a steady stream of traffic that is coming to you from multiple websites....regardless of your PR.

Granted, some exchanges might not produce many results, and you can usually get an idea of your possible results when you take a look at how they list their links. When your link ends up at the bottom of a list of 500 other links on the page....save yourself some time and review another site for link exchange.

Several years ago, my primary website, Designing Online, started to look at linking differently and we decided that this was a valuable resource. We decided to treat our link partners as real partners and give them true value for their link. Eventually the amount of requests rose so high we had to start charging so that both our time was compensated and the low quality requests would simply go away.

Gradually we improved the features, benefits and functionality of our link exchange program, and now today, we are proud of the service we provide. I'm not looking to place an ad here, however, i just want to point out that there are high quality sites to exchange links with and this traffic and possible popularity will make a difference for your website.

One key thing to always keep in mind is that quality is so much more important than quantity...so it won't really help you to link to 1000 websites that have no similarities to your own. Visitors to those websites will not be interested in your link. Link to quality sites with similar interests.

In a nutshell, quality links will never hurt you.

[danners02]

new free directory: online services directory

[janeth]

Originally Posted by TrafficProducer

Paid inclusion vs. PPC.

Is one way to think about it.

If a Paid inclusion cost $30.00 a year and returns 30 clicks to your site in that year then is a better Return On Investment than 30 PPC clicks a $1.50 each= $45.00 over the same year.

That would depend on the conversion. I would rather pay $5.00 a click if everyone of them converted into a customer. (-:

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by janeth

I would rather pay $5.00 a click if everyone of them converted into a customer. (-:

Me too. :)

[ctabuk]

I am a little surprised that the subject of practical SEO has not entered the thread.

These are the basics of a successful Directory Campaign.

1 - Make sure that you are in the right section of the Directory.

2 - Use your site submission details to reflect your search terms and long tailed HTML pages are indexed as landing pages. Simply submitting 'willy nilly' is not going to help your SERP.

Apart from that - good advice -
One last point though - Do not forget to link out as much as linking in.