Directory Maximizer - yes or no?

hi all

ive been considering using Directory Maximizer to submit 2 company sites to directories. The companies are creative design companies. Is this a good idea for SEO? Just wanted to get some feedback on it from people with more experience than me

no

can i ask why? (not challenging your answer, but just so i know.)

In my experience they do what they say they do... fine.

The problem is: that kind of link is almost exclusively worthless. Quantity counts for little, QUALITY is what makes the difference.

Would I rather have 5000 directory submissions or 2 good links? I'd 100% go for 2 good links any day.

I'd go for both, you can build directory backlinks so stupidly cheaply nowadays that although the worth is very low so is the cost.

Quick Question:

280 submissions (approx $39) or one of your articles?

(not a challenge, just wondering where you would rate them? + providing a poss alternative for OP???)

If you can't afford to do both then you shouldn't be worrying about link building.

Directory links, if nothing else, add a huge amount of variety to your backlink profile which makes it harder for your competitors to sniff out where your better quality links are coming from.

One of my articles obviously gives you more relevance than a directory link (as it's in relevant content), you get less links on the page, so more juice passed, you have more control over the anchor text and the PR of the linking page is much higher than your run of the mill directory.

The key thing that I would stress to everyone is don't be a one trick pony, don't rely on a single source or type of link as the only sort to go for.. have some variety as it looks more natural, if one source gets hit then you don't lose all your juice and it makes it harder for competitors to footprint your profile.

You make sense, not only from a competitive point of view. A solid link profile should have a link quality variation - for every great quality link it would be expected that you'd have several lower quality (or even completely useless) links.

I have used Directory Maximizer in the past and IMHO they do a good job of doing just what they offer to do for you but...

As said above you do NOT want to rely on just directory submissions for your linking as these just will not cut it on there own.

I know a lot of people say directories hold no weight for linking these days but I honestly think they do still hold some weight as I have some sites that rank well with just directory submissions (personal little sites for testing which I cant be asked to do link building on as they are just personal non-profit sites).

But I cant stress enough that directory submissions alone will not be enough for competing sites!

Thankyou and to everyone else who posted

The reason why im doing it really is a) for local seo and b) to try to rank in google places - people say inclusion in other directories is a good thing.

can i ask a related quick question?? Ive found some pr 5 + industry specific directories to add to. a few of them require a reciprocal link. ive seen sites do this, and i know reciprocal linking is supposed to 'cancel out' the effects of a link from an seo perspective, but if the value of these links is low anyway, and the main reason to do it is just for google to see the business is listed in other places and to give it more rep in google places, and from a visibility perspective for actual people too, will it hurt to do this and give them a reciprocal link?

basically what im asking is does reciprocal linking *damage* or reduce seo, if its to one of these pr 5 +, top-of-the-SERPs directories, not just a massive link farm? or will it just cancel the effect of the link if any?

God NO

You never know what sites you are getting to link to you in this way!

Please don't do it.

Read Googles Free SEO Guide for beginners

Cheers,
Joe

IMHO I dont think reciprocal linking damages any site as long as its done to look natural the same as any linking.

I wouldn't go out linking with farms or sites that ain't relevant but if you have found a directory that's relevant to your site I would give it a shot and if it dont work you can always remove your link to them.

Remember you may have found a PR5 site/directory but that's only the home page, not the internal page where your link will be placed! Also its not just PR that makes a link worth having.

I still use directories (normally only one way links) and IMO if its a relevant directory giving a link to you that you have to in return link back to its not going to do any damage.

But as I said, this is something you have to try and test to see what works best for your site and niche. You should try to find much better links then directories as they will not work on their own (even if they are just for your niche).

Do not link to anything that provides OBLs without editorial review

Im really sorry for sounding like an idiot KernelPanic but i dont actually understand what an OBL is or 'without editorial review' - could you please clarify?? And why should i not link to them - will it damage my SEO, or simply just not improve it??

Nah man, no worries. An OBL is an out bound link. Remember, Google ranks websites on the power of links! They feel that if a webmaster provides a link from his site to yours then that webmaster is vouching for that site. A vote of confidence. Just like in the real world, if you need a lawn care service, you might ask your neighbor to recommend one. When your neighbor tells you of a service to use, he is vouching for them. If your neighbor recommends a service that really sucks, you will probably lose trust in him and not ask him any more. Same with a link to a really crappy site. If you recommend a site (through a link) that sucks you will lose trust yourself.

An editorial review is a real opinion of a web site. You can place a link on my site to yours, but I want to first review it to see that it's a good web site. When I say yes, I have given an editorial review. I am a trusted person, giving an honest opinion of a web site by placing a link to it.

Sorry I am late for a meeting, no time to review what I just typed, hope it makes sense or someone comes along to correct any ommissions.

In particular, avoid links to web spammers or "bad neighborhoods" on the web, as your own ranking may be affected adversely by those links.