I thought I would conduct a test to see if directory submissions really make that much difference (seeing as I had some stick about saying it does on another forum) So I thought I would take something that I rank really badly for and see what happens.. (not much point trying something I already rank well for! ) This is my UK Advertising site and on 16th March it ranked waaaaay down at #359 on google.co.uk for that term. I submitted to 30 assorted (now 40) directories and today it ranks #305! That's a whopping 54 places in only 7 DAYS! (that's one week for those that don't know ) OR nearly 6 pages! how great is that? and possibly googlebot will not have even spidered all 30 lisings yet. So directories seem to be an incredibly effective method of serp's improvement, or you think it may just be a case of the ranking was so poor in the first place that anything would have helped? Judging from these early results my TOP recommendation has to be directory submission. James.
Too right it works, especially if you use high quality directories, I think you are just seeing the tip of the ice berg, I have got many a website in the top 3 on G for big competitive phrases using directories, what other ways are there to get links to a commercial site legitemately? I'll tell you non, zero, zilchio, buying links is a no no, link baiting is just a big myth, the only people who get links for free are people who are practically famous (web superstars), when you do real life SEO and you are in the field and you have to get such a persons brand new MP4 player site to rank on G directory submssions are the only option, if I set up on this brand new site that doesn't rank a blog and write a really interesting article about a state of the art brand new MP4 player is anybody going to read it? Is anybody going to links to it for free? I seriously doubt it, directory submissions are the only way.
Question: are these links one way or reciprocal? I went a little crazy the last couple of days and submitted my site to ~200 directories (some of them very poor)...I also put up links to them at my site. Am I going to make the google gods angry with this? Perhaps I should limit my outgoing links to the websites that have good PR and have approved me? I don't want to risk getting my domain penalized. It's confusing to know what the best strategy is...(I should also point out this is a new domain). Thanks.
If I am going to link to a directory from my own site I check the directory through and through, you need to make sure that the sites you are linking to are quality, if a directory is linking to lots of bad neighborhood sites then I wouldn't link to it, here are a few tips, check the mens health category, if the directory is linking to loads of viagra sites then forget it, if it is linking to loads of online gambling sites you might also wnat to forget linking to it, getting links from these directories is fine (more votes) but don't link to them unless you are 100% positive that the person running the directory has good editorial integrity and strict submission guidelines which are adhered to.
Thanks Dave E...I guess I really didn't realize that. I was going for quantity over quality and it appears now it might bite me on the arse. Well, I'll know for next time I'm sandboxed anyway so I'll just wait and see what happens.
Check all of the directories you are linking to and any which look dodgy remove, it's not the type of thing you get banned over but there are all sorts of minor Google penalties which can be incured and easily rectified if you fix the problem. If you are sandboxed get a Yahoo! Directory listing and as many other high quality directory listings as possible, submit to 30 free directories every night from either http://info.vilesilencer.com or www.directorycritic.com and you will be out of there before you know it, just don't link back to the directories, make sure you have good content and there are plenty of directories that will be happy to list your site for free, I would remove the links to the directories and start over using free ones and high quality paid ones if budget will allow.
I've heard of several instances of directory submission as the primary tool for non-competitive keywords working well. It's great to see some confirmation here.
Directories gives site owners an opportunity to be link, thats one of the reason why exist. Imagine if www.julian.com is a blog site and you have a blog site and you want to get link by julian, but julian doesn't want to link to you. Your other option is to get link by a web directory and if your site meets the requirement, most than likely you will get link in a web directory. Unlike a personal or even a commercial website, those sites are hard to get link too even if you ask in an email nicely. The great thing about a web directories is that it is well categorize for easy searching and navigating, sure you might not get as much traffic or any at all, but the search engine will find your link. Search engines don't care what a site is, whether it be a directory or a personal blog site, all it cares about that it has contents. The descriptions you give to a directory is the content. The question is "are directories effective?" Proven time and time again, Yes it is indeed.
thanks for doing this test mate. that is another evidence for people to submit to high rank or low rank directory. Cheers
Does pr or rank play important role or is it how well pages of directory are indexed and the bots activities on the sites ?
I would also like to share my experience. I know a site was beyond 500th rank. Now its on first page. The owner only did directory submission, article submission as link building campaign
It works but, you have to be careful where you exactly you submit your website to, some directories can have a negative effect. But for the most part, yea they do help allot, especially when your site is in its infancy.
so is submission to a link-farm directory the only case when it can have negative impact? Anymore real-life experiences of negative directory submissions? Interested...