Future of General/Paid Directories

Here's a SitePoint ad looking to hire a link builder. Numbers 2 and 16 should give you a hint of where the future is for general and paid directories. I think directory owners know this, given the fire sale of directories recently here and at SitePoint. And please, let's not hear the usual "I don't offer paid links, I offer paid reviews." Right.

Looking to hire an experienced and ethical link builder for a variety of projects in differing industries.

I'd like to make it very clear that I have zero interest in non-ethical techniques so by way of clarifying my intention, here's a list of rules that should be adhered to:

1. Links must be from on-topic or complementary websites
2. Links must be from a Min PR2+ web page - no directories unless niche
3. No more than 40 links must on each web page where link is placed
4. Links should contain the target keyphrase in the anchor text
5. Links should contain the target keyphrase as a title tag (if possible)
6. Links should be followed by a short description of the target website also containing related keywords.
7. Links should point to deep, relevant pages of the website and not just the home page
8. Links acquistion should be staggered over time to avoid any penalties
9. One way links preferred - reciprocal links considered
10. Links should not be from framed pages
11. Links must not be through via javascript, through a redirect script, NO rel=nofollow tag links - direct links only - no unethical tactics.
12. Links MUST NOT be from bad neighbourhoods (porn, warez or other such websites)
13. Links from Blog comments, Forum threads, Free For All (FFA), News Groups, Link Farms, Guestbooks etc are NOT acceptable
14. Links should not be on a links page excluded by a robots tag and the link must not have rel=nofollow
15. All links need to be in place for a minimum of 12 months (link checks will be automated)
16. All links should be free and not paid
17. All Links should not be on a site penalised or banned by Google
18. English language websites only
19. Links from websites that already link to the target website will not be counted
20. One link per domain, all from different c-class IP blocks/IP addresses.
21. Links must not be from Commercial Web Rings, Link Exchange Programs, etc
22. Manual submissions only - no automated submissions.

 

That is only one person though and the reason the person may be requesting free directories only and not paid is because they want just that.

Requesting free directories only doesn't suggest anything deeper.

 

So does this mean that number 13 gives us a hint of where the future is for blogs and forums?

 

- That is one persons opinion and I know nothing about them, so why give them so much weight?

This person seems very focused on PR so they probably are 'dinosuars' anyways.

These two together lead me to believe the person is possibly a beginner. We do know for sure that search engines don't like recip links but he wants them. But we don't know for sure that you can't aquire multiple links quickly but he doesn't want those?

Again this is most probably a myth but this person believes it.

Bottom line is that I don't think this person is a knowledgable authority, so I don't give them much credit.

Matt Cutts himself is the one that said this is acceptable, so I am not sure why you don't want to believe it. I understand your belief that it is a play-on-words but it really is justifiable.

 

About sums it up, i think we will see many alternate views as we move forward, none really wrong nor right, but looking for that sweet spot, which in reality is an ever moving target.

 

Whoever posted that on sitepoint has no idea how the internet is supposed to work.
They are only concerned about some little green bar that will make them feel all warm and snuggly inside, and yet not provide any benefit to their website.
Instead, they should spend the money on improving the website, and not paying someone to get links.

 

Not really, he didn't say that swapping words is acceptable, he said swapping practices is acceptable.

There are plenty of wrong views around, not many right ones. I like to think I am somewhre in the middle trying to get closer to the right one.

 

I suppose i could have worded it better, "In the owners eyes they do no wrong" as no one likes to be wrong.

It will interesting at least moving forward to see some some moves people make, in regards the free paid stuff Im not sure if some really know the full costs to put together and run a directory as a business, but it is not cheap.

 

Why not? Why can't People charge for a reviews?

 

Because the guy on sitepoint says so?

 

People can call what they do whatever they want, we for one wont be charging for a review, we will review a site for free ( as part of the quality process ) but will charge to list / advertise your business in our directory as a featured listing, general listings will be free.

 

I wonder if he would be able to afford it?

 

This guy sounds like a total muppet, his requirements are totally out of the question. You do not get links for free using the right anchor text, it just doesn't happen. I wish him good luck because he will need it.

 

Wow, what a list. Who could build a reputable link profile under those circumstances. I hate to tell him, but I would break a few of those rules my first day at work. I am obviously not the man for the job. HAHA!

Just a note to every website I find on this board and in the future. You will be receiving my please link to me email soon as that is the best way to build links, lol.

 

I am tired of reading and listening to all people who think like that. He wants to climb up the SERPs with what?
If you have a site with useful daily updated content then SEs will notice you and you will be rewarded
If your site is crappy the best thing you will achieve is a big fat penalty from google, leaving you watching the first results pages from your desk only.

Link building is good, but the best thing is to have great content on whatever niche you chose and let others link to it naturally.

What happened to " I am trying to do something useful in my life?".
I can understand that some people need some first page SERPs in order to attract advertisers or make a fast sale at a price that the site doesn't worth, but I am tired of finding useless sites when I want to make a search also....

For example I recently made a Formula 1 site. It's new and I daily add fresh unique content to it. I am doing pretty good already but there is a reason why formula1.com (The official FIA site) comes up first in nearly all related keywords. It's been there for ages.

Key here is not to spam the whole internet in order to achieve better SERPs but to try and offer something useful to my visitors. And this will take time. I have time and I love what I am doing QBCs don't.

 

dsakella i agree with what you mentioned, its important to be enjoying the whole thing and provide good content.

I have a site (non directory related) that does well, ranks on first page for various keyword phrases (which is a first for me) but it was the content that i concentrated on, it has what the people are interested in for this particular subject, it doesn't have seo friendly url's, google keeps coming back to it everyday, im going to be adding a whole lot more to it through a gradual process.

The links of course help but i learned a lesson of enjoying what im doing, i keep reminding myself not to become a student of google science, its barmy to try and keep up. I just try and stay fresh with what is current in online promotion and i have my personal choices of what i think is a myth, theres quite a lot of them too.

I recently read somewhere of another Hat Bluehat, so we have Whitehat, Blackhat, what next green, orange, pink? its comical, not mistaking that i understand blackhat refers to shady, and that exists i know, but so much non proof of many things and less and less enjoyment of working online if people allow it to take over them.

 

pipes I also agree with you on this.

I think the problem is that many people have stopped doing what they like on the internet and they are just after money.
If you don't love what you do success will be very difficult if not impossible.
For me it goes like this:
1. What niches do I like?
2. From the niches I like, which ones can I support?
3. Then I choose one of them and start working on it.

Some people don't understand that if YOU are interested in something then MANY others are also interested in this. If you start providing something useful about it then you will get traffic and money, but above all you will get a reward of succeeding in something you love.
If you are after money you are always going to be a loser.
(ie, singers make a lot of money, but what can I do about it if I can't even sing "gingle bells" right? Should I start spamming the internet about my exceptional voice, or "best singer of the world", or "a new pop star"?..... I certainly don't think so).

Bottomline is that everyone should work on what he can do. Not all people are the same, nor have the same abilities and qualities.
If people just start doing so on internet then we would all enjoy a better internet and wouldn't be having a discussion like this.

 

Thats true, up until recently i had lost touch with why i was running certain sites of mine, it is easy to fall into the trap of forgetting why your doing something and getting involved in things that are not really helping the overall.

You have a simple and fine approach, which when you think about it is an approach that literally anyone can use. It seems that trying too hard to perfect everything seems often to turn the whole thing upside down.

Ive read so many times over the years where people have suceeded in something and they say they were not even trying, it just happend because they were just doing what they liked and did their best at it.

This is something i will tell myself regularly now, because its easy to get sidetracked and distracted, il check myself often and do what i can to make sure im doing what i do for the right reasons.

 

That and it was from his own words. I was asking him.

So, let me get this straight. Are you trying to express that you got a really awesome directory? Such an awesome one where you'll receive lots of traffic and be such a higher quality than most that you won't need to charge for a review?

Your right. Most penalized directories are pretty poor. I believe most are using your typical setup. My 2 der cents.