SEO Link Building Strategies: Free Link Directories, Do They Still Work For SEO?
Are free directories still a good way of building links to your website? There are hundreds of websites out there that have a high page rank, but are they all going to give you a link for free if you spend time submitting to them? On February 20th I applied to 100 directories manually with all of the necessary data. Where there was an option to leave a reciprocal link on my website, I did, just to see if it would aid the process of getting my link approved.
So after 7 days, I can confirm that most of the work was a waste of time.
Firstly, there are warning signs on sites, where the site says there are 1,600 active links, and 100,000 pending, it's pretty obvious that only paid links would get a look in, or it's a graphic (not a live status) designed to get people to part company with their money to get a link.
Strategy and Warning Signs:
Depending on your budget, local businesses can get away with adding maybe 6, larger corporations and organisations, a lot more. The reason for carrying out this test was to check if free links worked, they don't. The directories I used do accept payment for links, and will give you them for a small fee. If your website is critical to building or maintaining your business and you're not already at the top of the search engines, put aside $200-$300 to submit to these directories. Standard process of checking what you have submitted to, when you paid, how much you paid, the PR and that the link is live need to be kept in a spreadsheet. These links are for life, it's worth checking them in the in future in case they remove you to maintain their own 'link juice' and PR.
Quicker Submissions:
Go to a directory and you will be given some empty fields to fill in. Set up a word or note document so you can draft some descriptions.
Please note that this is a fraction of any SEO process. Smaller local businesses stand to gain more from this respectively than any other size of business.
Are free directories still a good way of building links to your website? There are hundreds of websites out there that have a high page rank, but are they all going to give you a link for free if you spend time submitting to them? On February 20th I applied to 100 directories manually with all of the necessary data. Where there was an option to leave a reciprocal link on my website, I did, just to see if it would aid the process of getting my link approved.
So after 7 days, I can confirm that most of the work was a waste of time.
Firstly, there are warning signs on sites, where the site says there are 1,600 active links, and 100,000 pending, it's pretty obvious that only paid links would get a look in, or it's a graphic (not a live status) designed to get people to part company with their money to get a link.
Strategy and Warning Signs:
- Not all directories are unique, it's easy to spot templates that have been re-used. I do have a list on my site of mirrored directories.
- Even if you get an email confirming the listing, check them by looking for your listing in the website search bar. Some have automated responders after a period of time that are not correct.
- Pick a category that relates to your niche market.
- Where the directory is edited by humans, this will have far more value as it's being managed to create quality resource for visitors.
- Only sign up to directories that have strict guidelines for submissions. You do not want to link to a site that is related to gambling and x-rated material.
- Check the links to get to your category within the website (not the search bar). If you get a 404 page not found, leave the website as it's of poor quality.
- Don't expect to get any visitors from a standard directory. You are more likely to receive business and leads from a local directory. There are usually business listings off the back of local newspaper websites.
- The more links on the category page you are going for, the less value your link will pass to your website.
Depending on your budget, local businesses can get away with adding maybe 6, larger corporations and organisations, a lot more. The reason for carrying out this test was to check if free links worked, they don't. The directories I used do accept payment for links, and will give you them for a small fee. If your website is critical to building or maintaining your business and you're not already at the top of the search engines, put aside $200-$300 to submit to these directories. Standard process of checking what you have submitted to, when you paid, how much you paid, the PR and that the link is live need to be kept in a spreadsheet. These links are for life, it's worth checking them in the in future in case they remove you to maintain their own 'link juice' and PR.
Quicker Submissions:
Go to a directory and you will be given some empty fields to fill in. Set up a word or note document so you can draft some descriptions.
- Title
- Description (200 or 500 characters)
- Meta Description (160 characters)
- Keywords (pick between 4 and 8 related to what you're trying to rank for)
- Have an email address that you don't mind getting filled up with email verifications and marketing subscription emails.
Please note that this is a fraction of any SEO process. Smaller local businesses stand to gain more from this respectively than any other size of business.
Brendan M Smith Freelance SEO Consultant.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brendan_M_Smith
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