I keep seeing all this talk about getting as many one way links as possible for good search engine placement, and many websites of directories dedicated just so you can submit your site for the one way link. My question is - does it matter if you get a one way link from some directory site that hundreds/thousands of links that others are also using, or is it better to not use those and try to make deals with individual content sites, or just be selective on what directories you submit your site to? In other words, will it really help for me to put my sites into hundreds of directories, just for the one way link? Thanks, Jessica
The best way to think IMO about things like this is the only thing you have to loose is time..it won't hurt your site and may help your site out. I have gotten to PR3 from just submitting to directories, and number one for the keywords I was after in Google and MSN (Y hates all my sites for some reason). Honestly it depends on who you are competing with and what you are looking to do. There are a few directories (like Dmoz, MSN, Y, etc.) that are considered authorities, and getting into them will help your serps dramatically.
Thanks iBold. That's a good way to look at it, and it doesn't take too much time to enter a url into a few directories every now and then. I had just wanted to make sure that it wouldn't end up hurting anything. Thanks again, Jessica
I honestly do not believe that getting into those directories will increase your search rankings "dramaticly". 2 of them you can buy your way in so search engines take that into account. And everyone submits to Dmoz so same thing there. I still submit to these sites but dont expect "dramtic" results. If you want that then go after RELEVANT one way links form quality sites that dont tip off the search engines that you are buying or exchanging links.
Submitting to directories is one of the basics that all new sites need to do for a natural looking campaign. What sort of new site only has high quality links? None. Also you should work on building relevant links (one-way and reciprocal).
All one way links are definately not all equal. Usually you can judge the usefulness of any website (directories included) and make a decision about whether you would like to see your link there or not. Higher quality websites are not going to just give away valuable real estate on their webpages to you ...but directories are a big exception here. There are several high quality directories out there that will help you out and 1000s of crappy sites that will never do a thing for you. Some are free... some are paid. The key is to become smarter about where you submit so you are not wasting your time (and maybe money) submitting to cruddy sites that are never going to do anything for you (either through SERP rankings or targeted traffic from the directory). While it's true you can submit to every directory on the internet and it won't hurt you a more targeted approach and a keen eye will help you to maximize your "linking ROI".
How can all links be equal....? Don't you see the algos? One way links from directories is a great way to get popularity. Links from relevent directories with keywords in text of link gives a boost. Now the trend is -- keywords in text link....both internal and external. Keep on getting links from directories, I do it and get postions for long time. I have a database of manually searched DMOZ like FREE directories (now for sale) See my sign or click here. .
IMO all the links have their own weight... A link from pr6 will be not good if they have 100's of outbounds and if a pr4 site has only 10 then I would go for that... Manish
Thanks everyone. I appreciate all the input. I have been looking around am starting to submit to certain directories. Thanks again, Jessica