Has the relative value of directory links increased?

I've been reading about how Google has been downgrading the value of various types of links. This includes links from forum posts, blog comments, articles, reciprocated links, classified ads, stumbles,and other similar links.

In fact many of these kinds of links now have nofollow tags automatically added to them, thereby reducing their value even more.

So if all these other kinds of links have less value than they used to, it seems to me that the relative value of directory links may have increased. Does anyone have any thoughts about this?

 

well said. I agree

 

Considering the fact that there are more and more directories I'm not sure about that. My opinion is that the value of one directory link is decreasing in time. But who knows.....For sure who know that is not sharing the facts

 

Not all directories are treated as directories by google, there are some which google loves and these have maintained the standard of the word directory while the other crap ones are trying to decrease the level of web directories.

 

I agree. I think it also may deal with the approval practices.
If you make sure each link is quality, that its in the right category, and follows all the rules. It will pay off much more.

If you get lazy and just approve any old thing not checking that it is in the right category, this can cause much harm.

I believe in strong niche directory's and have only seen positive things from my experience.

Thanks,
-Tim

 

I believe that the average value of all links is falling, and will continue to do so whilst millions of pages are added to search engine indexes every day.

 

Not increased, not decreased.
It's remaining same

 

Totally agreed, Submitting directories is one of the best ways to get powerful backlinks.

 

To a degree your right Obelia, but as Google get's better with their algrorythms these search results should benefit those directories who do it correctly. I may be wrong but I like to look on the bright side of life.

 

This regards the RELATIVE value. Google has devalued many other types of links, plus the nofollow tag is being used with increasing frequency. But most directory links are dofollow and SEO friendly. I believe that their RELATIVE value has increased.

 

Most directory and other types are worthless, and Google is basically punishing the crap sites out there. Site links have in the last 5 or so years increased to crazy prices - quite obvious that was on the cards, and decent targeted advertising is tough to come by at a reasonable price.

Okay, put it this way - if you owned a top specialist website that gets 1 million users a month, would you just let every Tom, Dick or Harry have free links, of course you wouldn't and neither would I, so it's pointless wasting time trying to get where the big dogs are - it won't happen with some little directory.

This is what every site is up against every single day, and it gets worse each week that goes by:

Millions of pages on the web

Approximately 24 million web pages added to the web per month, plus the millions of sites listed years before that. This doesn't include the hundreds of thousands of web based businesses and doesn't include the many thousands of offline businesses either. And everyone thinks they will stand out using a directory script hmmmm.


Link Swaps don't work on a large scale

Okay, this basically fails did you know that. It fails because the only ones doing it are the desperate, and everyone knows why. I'm not giving you a free link because I can charge you £100, £300, £50 etc for it - that's why, plus as I know you're desperate and you will soon realise after the many hours, days, months of painful begging and getting refused, that you'll end up paying me anyway, even if all I can get off you is £10 per month. Even if you can get 50k worth of links (and I've done this btw), it's still not enough to stand out or make much money as more established sites have 1 million plus links, and they've beaten you, me already, before we even start trying to match them. Match them with 1 million links, yeah I'd actually like to see that, and if anyone does that they can have half my business!

Also to get 1 million links requires so much more than sending off a bunch of emails or incorporating some viral sign-up idea. Seriously it does.


Site SEO won't cut it either

To do this properly and do it the justice it needs, you need to be absolutely loaded with cash. The major corps spend £20k a month on this alone, I swear to you that they don't mess about. And changing a tag or putting in your top keywords isn't really proper SEO anyway, neither is thinking that working hundreds of directories with titles and descriptions won't do it either.

This costs serious time and money to stay at the top 2 positions. There are sites I've seen owned by top companies that haven't been pushed down the serps in like 3 years! So it's obvious they aren't using webmaster techniques here right, and there's something else going on that webmasters just don't know. If it were that easy to beat them, we'd all be millionaires sitting on a beach probably sipping crates of Moet, but we aren't.


I'll be honest with you guys, I nearly jacked in my directory last year after 4 years! If I hadn't got in the press, I would have done and had to kiss goodbye to £5'000 and thousands of hours work. But I would have done it as I know exactly who I'm up against and the risks involved, I know who my competition is and the guy ended up on Dragons Den, and he was a millionaire before going on the show - Dragons didn't know that, but I did.

He's got higher search placement than me, as he has tons of cash to spend on SEO and he got one of his sites mentioned by the press and obviously the Dragons Den exposure did him a massive favour so.......... The guy owns a few portal sites and is seriously rich, but I beat him to the press with one site as I was faster than him and had a better site - so it can be done.

But he totally kicks my behind with his other websites - becasue he has the cash and I don't. So money really helps a lot.

But chasing a bunch of freebie link swaps or spamming directories ain't going to make you a millionaire. So much more is needed guys.


Value of directory links

Some are worth their weight in gold, but the majority are plain wothless. Even if their one-way, Google has so screwed everyone it's a life's effort to make anything from a website these days and is likely why so many jack it in.

It's been reported over 450'000 businesses started up last year, with just as many failures - and I wonder how many of those were affected by link devaluation including directory links. It must be a lot though.

If I select directory links, it's because of the traffic, not for PR or serp backlink value. I don't believe that a straight backlink does that much for me but at least I know people will click on it, and that if I keep it targeted, the traffic will be that too.

 

Are you bored or something?

 

100% on the money

 

Value of directory link has decreased and everyone would agree with it. But I wouldn't agree with people saying directories have become worthless. There are enough 'good' directories out there and links from them is worth the money or time spent.

 

I wouldn't agree, only yesterday I had a beauty therapist ask if she was to get listed could I give her a banner and she wasn't bothered about paying extra either. Shame we don't do banners, although I might change my mind. Only waste of time directories are devalued because seo's are figuring out they are a waste of space.

 

General directories won't help you. You'll spend $100's and get bugger all in return and I will never, ever fall into that trap. People talk about Link Value like it's some scientific discovery or massive secret, it's not as every bugger knows what it is and that's the manipulation of the Search engines with the intent to gain or remain in the top slots/positions.

But you can do that using PPC guys! Okay, it might cost some cash, but it will save you so much time not messing about begging worthless links. Ahh, now that's an idea isn't it.

You know what, I spent just £50 last year with 2 directories and my fantastic result from that was a big fat juicy Nothing. Oh and one of those engines was Mirago, so there's the proof that General engines don't work for the traffic. I got maybe 20/30 clickthroughs from both - and that's disgraceful, plus the link value from Mirago didn't do crap for me, so it's obvious this doesn't work and everyone's barking up the wrong tree.

I remember a story about Mirago a few years back. When they first started out, they tried to get backing, they went to banks, investors etc - and everyone laughed at them. Then Mirago got rich by selling links, and the companies that laughed, were offering them partnerships, deals etc - then word got out that Mirago wasn't delivering, and it's true that all these old engines won't deliever - and these are well-known. People are spending elsewhere and using other methods to get traffic, they don't use general directories to search anymore - it once worked, but not any more and the only reason for their existence now is to extract submit fees from those who somehow don't know any better.

The search engines have devalued these directories so much, it's pointless listing with them. Many of them make it so any link placed doesn't count anyway, and yet these are links that are paid for. I used Yell.com about twice last year people - that's maybe 20 searches only, and Yell are the market leader! People aren't renewing their directory adverts.

I'm still shocked by the cost for advertising on Yell eg: £8'000 for anything decent, and even that's very untargeted, with little ROI. Yahoo, £10k for a week advertising, MSN £1500 for a minimum textlink, NTL - £3'000 for 1 months link.

The directory industry is almost dead, everythings specialist now, and that's what searchers want - fast information. Fast and ROI is the only things you should be working on, and it's the searcher you want to keep happy first and is where your time should be invested - not the other way round by chasing the money.

 

Probably just as bored as you. Keep running you're worthless site and one day you'll quit, then perhaps you might actually do something worthwhile on the web, besides ripping off submit fees and winding others up with dumb comments about boredom and crap.

Your directory is empty anyway, so you're the last person to be lecturing on any forum. Which makes it even worse that you charge others for listings when there's nothing to search.

How do you sleep at night

 

feel free to pass my contact details on

 

Do your homework. I sleep just fine.

@Downunder, are you likely to target the UK demographic? If you do I'd be happy to refer you.