Value of Link Directories?

Hello all, I'm currently working on an optimization project for a client and am curious on your opinions on the value of link directories for SEO? Some of these can be rather costly, and I am trying to keep my costs as minimal as possible (thus I am building links via social/viral sites & article submission at the moment)

What are your thoughts?

Thanks,

Fravely

In my opinion directories do not have a ton of value. Getting in DMOZ and yahoo is a good thing because these sites have standards and strict rules.

Google likes links because they are considered a vote from one site to another. Because links from directories can be another form of buying links they have limited value... if any at all.

Aside from link value consider this....I added my site to quite a few directories many months ago. I paid for some and many were free. This has not brought me any traffic. That is a good measure of the value of those links. Zippo.

I suggest you focus your efforts on other things.

Must say I stay clear of buying links myself. I don't think they carry a lot of weight and there is the issue of the Google penalty

I felt the same way about directories. But after evaluating most of my competition (all with TOP SPOTS on Google), I found that most of them had multiple directory listings.

I'm sure this isn't the only reason they have top spots, but directories seem to be a common link between many well-ranked sites...

hi,

I also agree with Panasall that directories do not have a ton of value. You can go for few directories like DMOZ and yahoo,etc.

Before buying link choose the best directory for your site's submission services. Do not think too much about their PageRanks when taking your decision. Rally around these important selection factors instead:

1. Find out if the directory is indexed by the topmost search engines. If it has not been cached by search engines for a long period of time, there is definitely no point in submitting your links on it.

2. Established, popular directories can bring in traffic and also the kind of back links that'll actually foster your site's optimisation process.

3. When you submit your site into categories, make sure that the directory in question offers a unique category structure that helps in better organisation of info. This will help you in locating relevant information in quick time.

4. If a directory uses the 'rel=no follow' attribute for your link, search engines will actually never follow that link to your site. Therefore, such a directory will be of absolutely no help in your optimisation campaign. Even redirects are usually not considered for back links by search engines.

5. Always check the outbound links on the directory's pages. This will give you a good insight into how helpful such a submission would be for your site.

Tally these relevant points with the directories chosen by you and you will have a clearer picture of what will or will not work for your web business.

But I will not suggest anyone to buy link from directory.

Cheers

Dennis John

Directories has less value but still can help depending on its quality.
I think blog commenting helps if the blog is related to your site. I notice google love links from blog.

When you say other things here, do you refer to article submission & viral marketing?

Thanks

I suggest you think of it in a different way. Instead of thinking "how can I get a link to me on as many pages as possible" start thinking "how can I make my site truly unique. How can I make it stand out from the competition." If you tackle that problem first it will be easier to get natural links into your site. The links that are of real solid value. If I was a mountain climber and you had something very unique to say about mountain climbing that impressed me, I would link to your site saying "Hey check out how super this thing is! Super Super Mountain Climbing Info"

Links like that are exactly what google is looking for an they are the links they would like to measure when calculating the value of your pages.

Anyone can add a link to a directory. Google knows this and they therefore do not give it much weight. The more article submissions gets filled with junk the more it will need to be ignored.

Make your pages useful and unique. It is google goal to present great pages at the top of their serps. Focus on making great pages then send the word out that you have great pages. The rest would fall into place naturally.