Web Directory News

As the title of the post says – “Is the directory industry dead?” Many webmasters think so. But I don’t go along with them – not because I am a directory owner – but because their views are simply immature. Going around webmasters forums and finding discussions on how web directories are root cause of wow for some sites has become very common these days. Most of those webmasters just blame directories without analyzing real causes behind their misery. With Google constantly updating their search algorithm, there might be hundreds of other causes for a site being penalized. The truth is, most of those complaining have only themselves to blame. In their pursuit for Page Rank and SERP glory, they might have bought paid links from blogs or other sites that might have flagged off the Google filter. Even if they have not done it and only used web directories – I am sure most of them hired those cheap submission services who claim to manually submit sites to hundreds and even thousands of directories. These services are the real culprit which has been highlighted by John Scott, renowned SEO consultant and CEO of V7N Inc. These cheap services use automated or semi-automated software which makes the submission low quality with wrong category selection, keyword stuffing on titles and pathetic descriptions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some examples of bad submissions that I get on one of my free directories –

Have a look at the title of the submission, description and category selection! Personally, I have no time to edit the information as I don’t earn any money from this free directory. Same goes for second submission -

I know these submissions have been done by services because I get different sites from same IP address with different owner’s name. I am sure most directory owners reject these submissions outright. But some directory owners are not careful enough to maintain higher editorial integrity and approve these. Now can anyone get benefit out of those directory listings? Don’t you know Google guidelines are against keyword stuffing? Are not you aware that too many links too soon might cause you trouble? So why complain?

For long webmaster and SEO consultants used web directories for easy source of high PR links. It was quite easy to get a PR3/4 link from directories for a small fee. Over time, Google has adapted to the situation by stripping directories of PR on category pages. This is very understandable policy by Google as it goes against its terms. Google and Matt Cutts have always maintained that they are not against web directories with editorial integrity. But it is against manipulation of its organic search results. What irks webmasters is that they have spent good amount to get listed on PR3/4 pages of directories and now those pages have no PR!

So I believe web directories are still very much alive and remain one of the important sources of link building process – especially to give initial boost to new sites. But the roles of directories have changed – no doubt about that. Previously, they were used for Page Rank and SERP. These days, the primary objective to submit to directories is to drive traffic. Many would laugh at this thought! Most would swear that directories do not send traffic. My view is totally different. Just think of it – your site is listed in the perfect category, with good title and relevant description to illustrate the site. Get listed in 2000 free directories. These huge amounts of links will come up on SERPs from time to time and send you traffic from search engines. Also, if one gets 5 direct visitors per year from each directory – it is a cool 10,000 visitors for the year. And over time, when your site gets older, directory links will also get older. Together, they will help you rank better even in organic search results.

But as I mentioned before – one has to have plan and implement it in order to derive benefit from web directories. One has to find some time to submit his or her own sites – so that the submission title, description and category selection is perfect. Rather than hiring a submission service for 500 directories at a go – one can do better by submitting to 10-20 directories per day. I know it is time killing and tedious – but one has to give some to get some – isn’t? Still if there is no time, then you should hire a submission service of repute with longstanding and impeccable track record. This will undoubtedly cost more than those cheap services, but ten you will not cry on webmaster forums complaining about directories.

I have some regular SEO clients who submit sites to my paid directories on regular basis. I have to say these submissions are a pleasure to review and edit as I don’t have to do a thing to approve those sites because the submissions are of highest quality. The sites are also of quality as true SEO professionals do not deal with crappy sites because they know those sites have no future.

Finally, I want to cite an example of my friend and how he benefits from directories. This friend of mine is a General physician and on my behest started a blog some seven or eight months back. He has absolutely no idea about SEO, web-mastering or website promotion. So I told him to visit webmaster forums and submit to all new directories that are announced everyday offering free listings. He has been doing this religiously and results are coming thick and fast. He got his blog updated to PR 3 on first update and it remains there till now. He is also getting around 4000 unique visitors per month and the flow of traffic is ever increasing. Forty percent of those visitors are coming from search engines.

This proves that – web directories are still very useful if used properly. :p

So far I have only been talking about free directories. What about paid directories? Well, here too – you are advised to do extensive research in order to prepare a list of directories and then select those which you can afford to. Be careful – don’t be fooled by PR of the home page. The methods I use to select directories are –

· Find niche directories dedicated to the subject of my site.

· Search Google which directories rank for my niche. Suppose I have a site dealing with spyware and adware. I’ll just type “ spyware or adware directory” and choose from the results. Directories ranking inside top 250 are supposed to give me more benefit than those which have high PR – but no SERP.

· Also check if the site is penalized by Google by typing “mydomain” on Google. If it is on first page – then there is no issue. If not pass by.

As a matter of fact, paid directories offer higher exposure for potential direct traffic as they have better resource to advertise and bring in traffic. If you are looking to boost your PR and SERP immediately as before, then web directories – whether free or paid are not your cup-of-tea. But if you are serious about your site and have long-term plans, then web directories may help you a great deal in the long-run. Just change your outlook rather than blame them for no fault of them.

Cheers :p