Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Blog

Backlinks is another way of saying "links into a page".

When you check backlinks in Google (link:www.whateversite.com,) it only shows a small sampling of your total backlinks. Many links that do not show up when you use the "link:" function in Google still count for your relevancy scoring. In addition, there is a time delay between when links are created and when they will show up in search results.

To get a more accurate picture of links, you will also want to check backlinks using Yahoo! or MSN. Yahoo! typically shows many more backlinks than Google. The code to check Yahoo! backlinks to a site is "linkdomain:www.site.com."

Popularity: 40%

Some directories have recently been removed from Google's cache, while others are not crawled very deeply. Additionally, some of them have not had their cache dates updated in a great deal of time. Google might be trying to slow the growth of directories by not counting the links from many of them. Make sure you check the cache before paying for a listing.

Some of the directories will have a greater effect on relevancy in MSN or Yahoo! than they do on Google, so even if a directory is not counted by Google, the link price might still be cheap for its effects on other search relevancy algorithms.

Many directory owners are building multiple related directories. Some search algorithms such as Google Hilltop are likely to automatically filter out some of the relevancy score from a second directory if it is easily identifiable as being related to the first directory.

The one-time listing fees make directories exceptionally appealing, but expect that many directories will eventually be ignored by some of the search engines. In my perspective, that cost is factored into the listing prices. I average out the link costs for links from a number of sites. If I can spend $1,000 and get a dozen or two dozen well-trusted links, then that is going to be a good buy for launching a site.
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Popularity: 13%

Most directories are not of amazingly high quality, listing many lousy websites. Martinibuster, a link building guru, often emphasizes avoiding being heavily located in known SEO circles.

For example, common SEO strategies for a new site might be to list a site in a bunch of directories, write a press release or two, trade links with many low-quality sites, get a few links from signature files from SEO forums, and submit a few articles to various article banks.

If your link profile matches that of most SEO websites, then it may be harder to rank than if you can come up with creative ways to get links from places that few other SEOs are listed.
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Popularity: 11%

The value of a single directory link is usually not very great. Directories add value after you list in many of them, especially if you are listing in high-quality ones next to other sites that are in your same vertical.

If you have a keyword-rich domain name, it will help you get descriptive inbound links from directories. Most sites on the web only have links from a few dozen sites. By listing your site in a half dozen to a dozen quality directories and also getting links from other relevant quality sites, you can quickly build up a great linking campaign at minimal cost.

Popularity: 13%

Some people buy a directory script, create a ton of categories, and then only add links if people buy them. The problem with this is that many categories will not have unique content. Many of these same directories will list any business that wants to pay for a link.

If there is no unique content, or if the content is all sponsored links, the site does not add value, and search engines may not want to index it. When looking at a directory, ask yourself, if you were a search engineer, would you want to count links from that site? Would you want to allow that site to influence your search relevancy algorithms?

You can view how many pages Google knows about from a directory by searching Google for "site:www.directory.com".
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Popularity: 11%

Some sites that pose as directories do not provide static text links and/or their pages do not get indexed. Many of these databases will never provide any direct traffic or link popularity. Additionally, many directories require reciprocal linking and use their sites to promote aggressive high-margin products. If you link into sites that primarily promote off-topic high-margin items, then you are sharing the business risk that site owner is taking.

If you choose to spend money on directory submission, you should ensure that the directory provides direct traffic or link popularity. You can do this by checking to make sure their directory pages have some PageRank on them and are in Google's cache. Search Google for "cache:www.directory.com/page.php," and check the links of listed sites. When you scroll over a link in the directory, the status bar at the bottom should indicate the domain that the link is pointing to and not some sort of redirect. You also can right click on the link to copy link location and then paste that to the address bar.
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Popularity: 13%

Some directories require reciprocal links to be listed in them. I do not recommend swapping links with most of these types of directories. Directories are intended to list sites. Sites are not intended to list directories. If you like something, then feel free to link to it, if not, then don't. Some vertical niche directories are of high enough quality to deserve links, but most are not.

Link popularity is a currency, and if you are lacking money (as I was when I started on the web), you may need to reciprocate a few links off the start, but if you get too aggressive with link trades, you will be digging yourself a hole by making your link profile unnatural, and you can waste many hours of time.

The exceptions to this rule are that I am usually willing to reciprocate links with the following directories:

• Extremely powerful sites that I do not believe are going to get penalized. Generally this type of site still should be on the same topic as your site.
• Directories that are well-focused and are defined as an industry hub in my topic. The SEO Consultants Directory, for example, would not be a bad directory for SEO sites to link to.

Popularity: 13%

Oftentimes a site will fit many different categories. When choosing a category to submit to in a directory, I look at a few different ideas.

• Is my site likely to be accepted if I submit to this category? I tend to be more conservative when submitting to a free directory than if I am submitting to a paid directory.
• Are there reasons that this organization, or other sites outside of this organization, are going to place extra emphasis on (or otherwise link into) this category?
• How many links are listed in this category?
• Where does this category fit in the directory structure?
• How related is my site to the sites listed in this category?

Popularity: 10%

Over time popular bloggers build up hundreds or thousands of subscribers. These subscribers are people interested in the field or topics that blogger writes about. Each time those bloggers write a new post those readers get notified of the new content in their RSS readers.

Imagine that"¦

• everytime you had an idea to share, that 5,000 people who trust your opinions see it.
• most of those 5,000 also write blogs in your field or related fields.
• some of those bloggers frequently mention your site
• some of those bloggers also have thousands of subscribers.

Blogs are all about spreading ideas (via in content links) and accumulating attention. Where people go search engines follow. If many people link to your blog posts that also boosts your search engine rankings for the other parts of your site.

If you write a frequently updated blog the media is more likely to believe you are a topical expert than if you are just a merchant selling goods in your industry.

Popularity: 18%