Search Engine Optimization

SEO Web Directories

A web directory is a listing of companies or other identifiable objects that are accessible through the Internet. Web directories of composed for directory listings which contain qualifying and descriptive information about each entry in the directory.

A directory listing is a set of information about a person, company or an object. A directory listing typically includes qualifying (category) and descriptive information.

Unlike search engines which automatically search, find and rank information within and about web pages, web directories may be validated by people or systems.

Niche web directories can be a fantastic source of relevant one way links. Some are free, some are paid and each industry has its own set of web directories that are authoritative and provide quality links. Selecting a quality directory from a sea of junk directories can be a daunting task, but there are a few key steps to take in identifying a solid directory.

Examine the other directory members - Before joining a directory, take a few moments and see who else they are linking to. Are you competitors there? Are the other sites credible? Are they offering links to anyone willing to fill out a form or pay a fee or is there an admissions process? The best directories are selective and edited by a person as opposed to being fully automated. If the directory is linking to an abundance of spam or affiliate sites, avoid it.

Understand the purpose of the listing - Directories serve 2 purposes, providing a backlink and driving traffic, generally speaking they will only do one or the other well, but on rare occasions you may encounter one that does both. Sites that are designed specifically to drive traffic may institute nofollows, meaning the links pass no ranking value. If your goal is to increase your ranking, be sure to select directories that do not use the nofollow tag. Instead of manually examining the code of each site, use a browser addition like Quirk.biz 's "Search Status." The application has an abundance of features, most importantly it has the option to highlight nofollow links in red. Unfortunately, this add on is only available for Fire Fox.

Properly format the listing - A directory listing consists of a URL, a description, and most importantly, anchor text. Anchor text is where the relevant keyword is added, the listing passes a majority of the ranking value for the keyword contained in the anchor text. It is also crucial that the anchor text be unique on the page. For example, if your target keyword is 'blue Nike sneakers' but your competitor is already listed for the same keyword, vary your anchor text by including the name of your business; your revised anchor text may read 'blue Nike sneakers by Joe's Shoe Shack.

Avoid adding more than 1 link to any single directory, as each subsequent link diminishes the value of the previous one; there are exceptions to this rule (blogs, social bookmarking sites, etcetera) but in a directory environment it can do more harm than good.

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