Directories bending the rules
Written by admin on May 8, 2008 – 5:41 am -We have received numerous complaints in the past about services and directories forcing users to place banners or links on their sites to be considered for a particular service. Directories claim you have a ‘higher’ chance of being listed if you place a banner on your site pointing to them. some state that’s the only requirement, you get listed for free if you link back to them.
Even though Google heavily relies on links to determine the ranking of web pages, they have cranked up the tempo on link exchange schemes and are penalizing site owners for being part of such activities (the extreme). Which raises a red flag on the penalty directories were slapped with not long ago for the paid link submission issue. Could this be another snowball in motion slowly gaining momentum only to slam directories once again?
Most directories online today require users to link back to them in order to be eligible for inclusion in their listings. Could this be a loophole to link exchange schemes that Google will bust soon?
designer.am is one of the many directories we have received complaints about. They are accused of forcing designers to link back to their site in order to be considered for inclusion. Several users sent us emails sent to them by designer.am which contain the following;
…However, we encourage you to try registering in our directory again, after you upgrade your web site and/or post our link or banner on your web site. The web site suggested will have more chances to be accepted and added to the Directory, especially if our link or banner is posted on your web site\’s Home Page…. - designer.am (Design Directory)
Should this be considered as a technique that’s trying to bypass Google’s rules, is this yet another link exchange scheme technique, or should it be accepted? Is it not reciprocal linking? Can submitting to hundreds of directories potentially ruin your sites reputation and rankings if Google takes actions against these directories? We would list most of these directories, but I’m sure we all know about them anyway. I think it’s time these directories cleaned up their act and get on the honest business band wagon already!
Tags: directories, google, link exchange
Posted in Backlinks, Sink, Website Review |
May 12th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Good morning…
This is an nteresting and well thought out topic primer.
I myself run several directories, none of which do I require a link back for inclusion.
Adding a link back to a directory is a cost effective way to get indexed considering many directories are now charging anywhere from $10 to $300 for inclusion, depending on the quality of the directory itself. It also acts as a buffer, serving to help maintain a link database of “serious” sites rather than fly by night sites that may be gone as quickly as they came. Have you looked at dmoz lately? It’s a disaster!
The directory schema is also a bit different from a typical website in funtionality. A legitimate directory flies right through Google’s radar as being completely acceptable. The difference is that directories are an organized way of offering these links and are (in most cases), completely free to the front end user.
IMHO, this is an acceptable practice and serves both parties. Link exchanging is still a viable SEO practice. The thing of it is, you have to do it wisely. Gone are the days of doing a link exchange with 2000 websites overnight and jumping in pagerank and serp. You have to exchange links with sites that are within your niche, creating a strong two-way bond for both sites in the Google universe. Quality not quantity will pay off in the long run.
Cheers
May 25th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
if you look at http://www.trulia.com you will see that their scheme works well, their widgets gain them dofollows while they give out nofollows and rank for just about any city + real estate.