Google Approves Directory Submission

[eric1981]

Check out this post:

[googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com ]

However, mass submission and submission to bad quality directories are advised against, though not forbidden.

This is interesting approval.

Your thoughts?

[tedster]

In a nutshell:

Directory entries are often mentioned as another way to promote young sites in the Google index. There are great, topical directories that add value to the Internet. But there are not many of them in proportion to those of lower quality. If you decide to submit your site to a directory, make sure it's on topic, moderated, and well structured.

I've always understood this to be Google's attitude and it plays out in practice, too.

[eric1981]

thanks tedster, for the nutshell.

i think the more complicated work in directory submission is to find quality and relevant directories to submit to.

[dvduval]

And I like to make the assumption that even the "little guy" can make a quality directory and be successful if they:

Moderate the anchor text of titles

Moderate the description and even rewrite them after review of the site

Add quality links to the site, and don't just depend on submitters

Carefully place links in the correct categories, and don't let submitters put everything in the top categories

When people submit payment for "review" of their site, that does not been you should not reject some listing.

The above is a baseline. However, there are so many things you can do with categorized information. A forum is categorized information, as is a blog. A directory is the same... it is categorized information. There are plenty of opportunities for innovation.

Also, trying to make a directory of the entire internet is somewhat pointless. But making a local or niche directory is very much en vogue now.

[buckworks]

Another one for the list:

• A quality directory does periodic checks for link rot, and deletes old listings that have become unsuitable.

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

Finding a link directory with decent pagerank that pushes pagerank deep into it's index is a chore. PR0 pages don't tend to register on the incoming link radar these days (or it takes thousands of them to move the meter even slightly). When you've found that you are confronted with the reciprocal link required (or waved for a yearly fee) issue.

Solid free link directories are not a dime a dozen and those are what you're looking for. If they drive traffic, even better, but I know of only one that does this... not even DMOZ sends much traffic.

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

The last paragraph...

Finally, consider making linking to your site easier for less tech savvy users. Similar to the way we do it on YouTube, offering bookmarking services for social sites like Twitter or Facebook can help spread the word about the great content on your site and draw users' attention.

In reading that, and measuring the potential meaning against the recent Mayday ranking changes, I suspect there is a new type of link in play. A social link. A fleeting mention with no permanent link but gather enough of these, from NON automated accounts and from different people, and they carry the same weight as links.

Buzz is built on this, it would make sense that pagerank incorporates it too. Being mentioned by someone new does indeed carry value but since the future effect of such mentions is hard to place a value on I'm guessing the act itself carries a value. A value that is rated on the same scale as long term textual links for example. No wonder nofollow doesn't work like it used to, a nofollow link counted as a site mention carries measurable value? The hard part on Google's end would be to compile lists of trusted social accounts but even that is easy these days.

Or... it might just mean what it sounds like it means. /shrug

[eric1981]

Also, trying to make a directory of the entire internet is somewhat pointless. But making a local or niche directory is very much en vogue now.

totally agree

not only pointless but also technically impossible - millions of new sites emerge every day

internet widely expands our sights, yet makes us more niche and focused. maybe that's the way it is:the more you see, the more focused you'll be

[Robert Charlton]

I suspect there is a new type of link in play. A social link. A fleeting mention with no permanent link but gather enough of these, from NON automated accounts and from different people, and they carry the same weight as links.

Interesting thoughts. In the local search area, it's being widely acknowledged that unlinked "citations" in a trusted local directory, are a factor in map and 7-pack rankings, though not in organic. (See more about local citations in David Mihm's 2010 Local Search Ranking Factors discussion... [davidmihm.com...] )

Local citations, though, need to mention the company name, location, etc, and to be listed in a trusted source... like a local directory of known quality. For a social mention in non-local organic to be useful as something like a citation, I assume that, at the least, the company name and a product or service would need to be mentioned together in a relevant and trusted setting, so Google can extract the semantic information from its data and have some faith in it.

Whether these social mentions carry the "same weight as links", at least individually, is debatable. I'd argue that, if they exist, they don't carry the same weight. Cumulatively though they may be an important factor that could affecting branding, eg, which is then somehow folded into organic.

Buzz is built on this, it would make sense that pagerank incorporates it too. Being mentioned by someone new does indeed carry value but since the future effect of such mentions is hard to place a value on I'm guessing the act itself carries a value.

Many aspects of the Google algo are trying to come up with a computerized weighting for web equivalents of human perception and behavior... and it makes sense that Google would want to do this with "buzz" too. If there is an algorithmic measure of buzz, it ought to behave like buzz, perhaps being time sensitive and rising and falling with the noise level. There'd be a question, I'd think, about how to sort out long term reputation from short term buzz.

it would make sense that pagerank incorporates it too.

I wouldn't say that "PageRank" incorporates this. PageRank is its own well-defined, patented and trademarked entity... but it would make sense to say that the Google "algorithm" might incorporate social and buzz factors. Keep in mind that social mentions are easily spammed, so Google is probably looking for ways to build social reputations and to use them to assign weight to the social citations. This is more easily done in a personalized search context than in just plain vanilla search.

The question of nofollow links brings up a lot of side issues... and I don't think that nofollowed links are simply being followed and they're not telling us. It's possible though, that, in the proper form and context, which would need to go just beyond keyword anchor text, nofollow citations might also be a factor in this kind of hypothetical social algorithm.

There have been discussions on WebmasterWorld about how effective social traffic is. Whether or not there is a direct algorithmic factor, social buzz, at the least, leads to traffic which might lead to long lasting links which can carry weight or trust.

[HuskyPup]

But making a local or niche directory is very much en vogue now.

Hmmm...been doing that for 12 years now with a trade niche directory, the biggest problem I have found is getting companies/people to submit their sites since, for some inexplicable reason, many seem to think it not worth their while even though we are #1 for so many trade terms and products.