The Future For Directories

There is no difference in being penalised because of being listed in paid or free directory. However, paid listing will get you more exposure and free listings have less chance of being classified under "buying links" (imo).

 

Same here too that people still run away from the reality that people pays for a link not a review. Impressing Google will not change that fact. They pay for a link whether or not to accept it is anybodies discretion. Either way directories are a good source of back link paid or free.

 

• I have submitted to thousands of directories, both paid and free.

• I have never one time in my life gone to a directory to find links to websites; I always use Google for that.

• Is that a seeming contradiction? No, because (like most other directory submitters) I submit to directories for the PR benefit and the moderate amount of traffic they provide. And directories do provide some traffic. For example, 2yi.net sent me 475 unique visitors last year.

• Now where is that directory traffic coming from? I think it is not coming from people surfing directories to find good websites. I think the directory traffic is coming from SERPs (search engine results pages). For example I just did a Google search for one of my important keywords. In addition to my own listing, five of Google’s top ten listings were directory listings of my website! That is a good traffic source, when half of Google's first page contains directory listings of my site for that keyword.

• Conclusion? For me, directories will always be a valid source of both PR and traffic.

• So the future of directories still seems positive, at least for those owners with the business savvy to sense the way the winds are blowing and to flow with the needed changes.

 

What a great thread with some useful points raised, well done Business Services you raise some very relevant points, most going clean over the heads of the majority here.

 

Thanks Dog

I am still waiting to see the free sites that have been issued with a penalty

I think people should look at how a directory can be contextually based, they unlock that it will not matter if it is free or paid. The trouble is 90% of directories are run by off the shelf software. Like I said many posts back a site needs to be designed with flexibility in mind.

Jim keeps harping on about PR and directories, however like I have said there are many factors to defining the strength of a link, homepage PR is only a small part. One that is getting more irrelevant every day.

 

Very few sites could survive without good SERPs and SEO. I think you missed my point.

My comment relates more to how your directory is used by others. If PR was not a factor, how many directories would no longer get submissions?

Are you providing a resource for people to find valuable information, i.e. a screened and topical listing of quality sites and other useful information, or are you only providing a place for webmasters to get backlinks and chase PR?

The original links page of most sites were all about sharing information. It was more useful to have a link on a site that had many visitors; which was at one time driven by word of mouth of being a useful resource, not how many links that site could buy, beg, trade, or steal.

I know SERPs and SEO will never go away. PR maybe, but not the other two. My question related to how well directories would do if the links they contained were for purely information and not SERPs, SEO and PR. Would people still get any value from submitting? Would anyone want to pay to advertise on your directory? Would anyone use your site to find information?

I have two FREE niche directories. On one site, some months, my logs are showing 80% of my traffic clicks through to one or more listed sites. SERPs, SEO and PR will never compete with pure targeted traffic. People who submit to that directory are seeing a value for their time and people looking for information find it. That, IMO, is what makes a valuable directory; not the juice it can pass - that should be a bonus, not the goal.

 

Ok back on track with you iwe can agree then it's not a paid or free thing that is the issue rather more being flexible in design and offering far more than just a link and or contextually based as you have stated, and would be in general agreement here with most people willing to make the changes needed.

 

Actually PR make no sense now. ITs nothing and even if you are still looking for a PR keep in mind that PR updates 1 time per 3-4months. So when you see PR of a page its not a real one that page currently having.
So as a backlinks number means nothing.
For now all you should know is to make everything relevant, otherwise you would be ignored by Google.

 

Two thoughts in reply:

• I emphasized both PR and traffic.

• I couldn't care less about the directory's "home page PR". I'm only concerned about the PR of the directory page to which I am submitting.

 

That's exactly the position I will also take ... when Google removes PR from their system and fires all those high-paid engineers working on the algorithms. Until then I'll continue to make it a minor focus.

 

Makes sense Jim and I don't know why many are still in denial that Page Rank is still one of the best source of promotion.

 

Some habits die hard i suppose

In the end its a "very small part of the algo" (ego) as you have plainly seen that a
PR0 site can get higher in any search term then PR5-6 ect ect in the serps.

thx
malcolm

 

Yes Jim, but web directories stand for editorial integrity. Just because the put their money doesn't really mean they will get approved.

I agree about having their money invested for a backlink, although as long as there's rejections the web directory should do well. I don't really care how Google plays their future game with us, what I do know is that I will take care of my web directory and furthermore build and make it a well, established one.

I think web directories are great for internet users and webmasters, in order to provide them a good resource of informative listings there shouldn't be many empty categories, and that is my goal. Build a good collection of listings, add content and optimize your web directory for users.

- Meti

 

How many have that editorial integrity, Meti ? Most if not all will accept any site as long its being paid. I even tried a number of times submitting crap sites that I don't even own just for the heck of it and approval was instant.

 

Excellent point popotalk, I know for a fact there are lots of web directories (ok, we're being overtaken) by other spammy web directories; that is one of the reason, we are where we stand.

I bet the editor was just hitting the approval button for each listing without even visiting the page, unfortunately there are still lots of web directories that work this way, hopefully we'll see a change soon.

- Meti

 

Of course it can. We all know that. Lots of anecdotal illustrations of this are well known. But only by analyzing both web pages well can you discover why the hypothetical PR0 page gets a better SERPs rank than the higher PR page.

One example — for one of my favored keywords, there is a PR3 page just ahead of my PR5 page on Google's first page. And my PR5 page has many thousands of backlinks compared to just 3 backlinks for their PR3 page. So, one asks, how in the world can that lower-PR page possibly outrank my higher one? Simple, it has the keyword in the URL, and mine doesn't. Their page's beating me in the SERPs has zero to do with its lower PR. It is because of the ranking power-juice that comes from having the keyword in their URL.

So the lower-PR-beating-higher-PR mantra is meaningless unless one analyzes why the lower-PR page is beating the higher-PR one. Such analysis, I offer, will not be related to PR, but to other major factors, such as keywords in (or not in) the URL.

 

Just curious about a clarification, Jim. Does the PR3 page have the keyword in the URL, or do they have the keyword in their domain?

 

It's not in the domain name, but rather in the pathname portion of the URL, like this:

http://www (dot) sampledomain.com/keyword.html

 

Yeah editorial integrity. Good site descriptions and titles.