Once, SEO companies were begging some directories to offer them a review fee discount. To help the client, of course. Now, they are begging the same directories to remove those spammy links they themselves submitted years ago. Again, to help the client, of course. I am wondering... haven't they thought for a moment few years ago they're doing it all wrong? You know... good SEO = no SEO at all. But SEO is an industry as well and naive webmasters dream about miracles when they pay some spammer to "rank them #1" for any keyword they want. No one on this earth (unless you have tens of thousands to bribe big names to mention you "naturally" here and there) won't make your website more valuable than it is. -
As is often the case, the panic that resulted -- and always results -- from things said by Matt Cutts, of Google, has done far more harm to the web directory industry than anything that Google has actually done. Some of t his panic, of course, was brought about the "SEO firms" which intentionally misrepresented Google's positions on the subject, while much of it was simply ignorance. Links from a good web directory are nothing more or less than a link from any other good website, and the same is true of those from bad directories, of which there are many. I think that if we quit trying to game Google and simply do the things that will make our websites better, or more useful to whoever our target audience might be, we'll be okay with Google, as well; and this is true whether our website is a directory or site selling shoes.
Of course, this is the right way to go. How on Earth this video has only 10k views while there are probably 10 times more SEOs - I don't know, if I owned a SEO company, supposedly I should be very familiar with Google's official statements regarding various link-building techniques. You just need to seek the information because it's available for everyone, but you should be the first to know about it... if you really care. Can webmasters understand what he's saying in that video? Google has nothing against established, spam free, real human edited, high editorial discretion directories. For me, it's an honor to get accepted in a high quality web directory, or be mentioned somewhere. I get everyday at least 5-6 spam e-mails from "seo gurus" containing texts like "Dear Friend! you don't rank #1 in google for some relevant to your niche terms but we can help you!" - yeah, right! At some point Cutts got an e-mail in which he was informed that Google is not ranking well and some seo company can help them rank better. )) (I love that part with "Dear friend!"...) Most SEO companies will promise you the the Holy Grail.... We Guarantee First Page Ranking - No one on earth can guarantee this. We Submit your Site to Hundreds of Search Engines - no need to, search engines discover your website automatically sooner or later. We have Great Connections. We know somebody working at Google! - yeah, right. I believe in Unicorns as well. We are Google Algorithm Experts - The also contain hundreds of factors... do you think someone really has access to it? We have Secret Formula for SEO Success - yeah, SEO = witchcraft! What most SEO companies actually do? Article sites listing - The most will spin the hell out of an article and blast it to hundreds of obscure article directories. Social bookmarking sites listing - this should come naturally by creating valuable content and engaging your visitors to do it Social networking profile creation with website link - this is pure spam Premium directories listing - make sure they know what a "premium directory is". http://www.webdirectoryreviews.org/ is a good start. The guy behind that website does a lot of research and objectively reviews each web directory. Web 2.0 properties - Spam Classifieds listing - ??? Approved press release listing + Writing - http://www.seroundtable.com/google-press-release-links-16136.html Ezine article writing + Listing - if they'll use exact anchors they'll violate Google TOS Tumblr listing + Content writing - Spam Article Prism - pure spam Blog Review - this could be useful as long as the links are nofollowed, in terms of brand awareness and targeted visitors. Link Wheel - link scheme So webmasters are paying for... nothing. Most of them don't even know what all those "techniques" mean, however, in a desperate effort to rank well they do pay. Than, eventually, they get penalized at some point, and the same SEO companies will charge them again to send out spam like: My name is XXXX YYYYYYY and I work for ZZZZZZZ SEO Company. We are a digital agency that is currently responsible for the SEO of domain.com. Whilst recently reviewing all the links pointing to the domain.com website, we have noticed that you currently have link/s on your website anotherdomain.com. While they greatly appreciate all your support, their marketing team has put through a request to see if it is possible to remove the link/s below, as they no longer appear to comply with the guidelines set out by the various search engines. SEO, as people perceive it, doesn't exist. It's a myth. This article explains what is the most a SEO company really can do for you: http://www.theclinegroup.com/2014/01/16/seo-does-not-exist/ Heads up people, think a bit...
I think low grade SEO customers create the environment for this, A lot of inexperienced site owners that inquire at my company about seo think they can give someone a few hundred dollars and be at the top of google next week. I tell them that is not how it works and most times they look at me like I am stupid or I am trying to fleece them. These are the same people that buy “get rich schemes” “Millionaire in 30 days” $50 logos, “need help on my GoDaddy website”. Much of that class of people will never learn they will always have a low paying jobs forever searching for a get rich quick scheme = Worthless and toxic clients, waste of time. They want a lot and more for nothing. I usually tell people- Internet searches are streams of money, wherever there is a stream of money there is competition. The more money the more competition. You do not just toss someone a few hundred dollars and take over a multimillion dollar stream of money. Life is not that easy.
Bottom line, Google is not the reason our directory is successful and it certainly is not going to be responsible for its downfall either. We continue to see steady growth and the number of quality websites being submitted is greater than the number asking to be removed. Ultimately, those requesting removal have already taken a hit for whatever number of reasons and will likely never rebound in SERP's with Google. Instead they will spend years chasing straws trying to fix whatever it was they think they did wrong. I think it's a bold strategy that Google has employed here. Let the SEO's and confused and bewildered website owners systematically dismantle their network of links themselves. It serves no useful purpose for the site owner, but works out great for Google who does not have to waste resources attempting to negate these links and websites on their own.
If you backlink comes from directory webpage with very low OBL like <10 and that page has PR 4 while Directory homepage has PR 6 than expect a great improvement in your SERP.
I think we should stop seeing web directories only from SEO perspective. Their initial purpose wasn't that. They should organize resources. Seeing directories like "I pay $xx for another backlink" and no editorial discretion caused the industry to fall.
I still feel like Directories do not provide you with enough real visitors to warrant some of the prices they charge.
I agree. The main reason for that is most people (directory owners included) have been thinking of directories as moderated human-edited link farms providing link juice - some have even had great editorial processes. (IMO) the only way directories can survive the long run is if they focus on connecting customers to listed websites (that's can be traffic for some websites or actual paying customers for others)... think something like Angie's list.
Ask yourselves this... when is the last time you used a directory to find something, if ever. that is all, Nigel
For example, when I go to a new city I often look for dance studios and other events related to dancing, and niche directories often have much more information than I can find on Google or Google Maps. Sometimes I use Google to find a directory, and then I use the directory.
Today It really depends. There are a lot of specialized items I need to find that center around automobiles. I use a directory for that.
In my humble opinion, directories can be useful as long as they comply with three requirements: - They are local (e.g. you have a business in Broward county, Florida, and you sign up in directories covering both Broward county and Florida) - They are specific to the subject-matter of your website (e.g. you sell shoes and you sign up in directories which list shoe manufacturing companies) - They are not link farms (understood as huge databases of links which include listings of dubious websites) Anything beyond that would do more harm than good. My 0.02...