Hi there, I was going through the thread about what people were making from directory services etc and saw a few 'experienced' directory owners making comments. Edit: OK .. I checked a few further sites and it seems to be a glitch currently .. not sure whether the thread has any interest level whatsoever or if the questions are pertinent if Google has not slapped directory owners? Before I go further I believe the 'nofollow' rules may have had a massive affect, in your opinion is this correct? when I checked the Page rank of a directory which I considered was ahead of the rest with ideas and I notice their PageRank is now -1 ???? Website: Page Rank: -1 / 10 Alexa Ranking: Indexed Pages: 2,710 Back Links: 1,640 now therein probably lies the problem for the future of a Directory service Google has slapped this site heavily unless there was a mistake? I for one still believe that there is a major use for a directory service however it has to be attached to a business model which is part of a niche service (imo) If I may ask what are directory owners doing to negate the affects of 'nofollow' and whether many of you have stayed the path of being a directory owner, please? This thread is in no ways argumentative, my interest is the impact of the nofollow rule and what the future holds, please? Edit: OK .. I checked a few further sites and it seems to be a glitch currently .. not sure whether the thread has any interest level whatsoever or if the questions are pertinent if Google has not slapped directory owners?
Directories shouldn't use nofollow on links. Nofollow was created to prevent spamming - IE on content generated by a web user, not the site owner. A good example of this is wikipedia links, blog comments etc. Directories are human edited, and if a site really passes a review it should be rewarded with a followed backlink.
Thanks Mikey, however what do we do where Google perceives the link to be paid for and they request that paid for links are made 'nofollow'? If a directory is charging for links do they not, by Google's terms, have to put a 'nofollow' on the link? It seems to be quite a difficult area for Directory services, I would think?
Yes you are right. If they are selling links nofollow should be used. If the payment is for the time and effort spent reviewing a submission they don't need to use nofollow.
Thanks Mikey how do you put that point across to Google though? it truly seems a test of time to see what the outcome will be for directory owners
Proove that you are reviewing sites. This will be seen through the quality of listed sites, and other policies such as no refund when rejected etc.
Thanks Mikey, your posts have been most informative May I ask, how are the Bid Directory sites surviving then, please?
Thanks Mikey it will make it more interesting to see how Directory services reinvent themselves appreciate you taking your time to discuss things