Should I block Directory - Possible Google Panda Issue

[hairresources]

I have a directory on my site that lists about 800+ widget stores around the world. Each listing contains addresses, contacts and list of services for each widget store. Content on all pages is very similar and in the majority of cases the listing pages do not have any written content other that that described above.

The listings are broken down by categories (specific country, state, city) and I have already blocked(Via robots) all of these category listing pages as they only contain links (No content at all) to the specific widget store.

My question: could the 800+ widget store listing pages be a reason why my serps dropped drastically since the first google panda update? Considering that the pages have very little and somewhat similar content.

Would you recommend that I block this directory?

[edited by: goodroi at 3:58 pm (utc) on Apr 21, 2012]
[edit reason] Please no specific keywords or urls :) [/edit]

[Pjman]

I would block any directory that is repetitive and looks like any internal or external duplicate content.

If you can, add "noindex" meta tags to those pages and then after a full crawl, block it in robots.txt. I find this gains traction quicker.

You're going to need a Panda re-run to see if it helps at all. Some people seem to think that even if you block it, it still counts towards quality. But, according to Google; blocking the directory from being indexed will help your Panda issues.

[brinked]

pjman, thats interesting. I have always been one to think blocking directories would not help with panda. Can you link me to where google says you can recover by blocking the duplicate directories?

[Pjman]

@brinked

I wouldn't say removing duplicate directories will directly cause your recovery. But, if that is your main quality issue, it should help in recovery.

MC had discussions on NOINDEX prior to Panda:

[mattcutts.com...]

He recommended it several times after Panda. So I tend to lean towards NOINDEX/Block pages. Don't count towards quality.

Otherwise, Amazon (If google still plays fair) would have a rankings mess; check their robots.txt. It's only a few billion pages.

[Planet13]

@ Pjman:

I would block any directory that is repetitive and looks like any internal or external duplicate content.

Can I ask where the bar is set for having a directory that does NOT look like it contains any internal or external duplicate content?

I know that yelp does well because of all the unique user reviews.

But I still see lots of "phone book" style directories that offer little more than address and phone number rank quite well.

So if you could, I would love to hear what your thoughts are on what the minimum amount / type of content would be required to rank well.

(I ask this because my site was hit by the March 23rd Panda, and I have a directory that I still need to "build out." I wonder if this directory caused the Panda slap.)

[Pjman]

@Planet13

Sorry to hear about your Panda slap brother. I got hit by Panda 1 and then again by Panda 2.2. In January I went all Ninja on Panda and have started to see some recovery. My stuff with high bounce rates and lower time on page got crushed. So I have been focusing on that.

My real sense is that the minimum amount of content is relative to the niche. Take a look at your competition, what are they ranking with. In my niche, at least, that has held true. When I see what my higher ranked competitors are doing and mimic them, I make some headway. My mindset is to find out what works and add mounds of content in that format. So far, so good.

[hairresources]

Just curious- if I were to block the entire directory of 800+ pages (the site would then have about 500 pages to index) what sort of time frame/results should one expect for any google serp adjustments?

Is it possible when you block a large number of pages to a site that the rankings would drop further? Or do these sort of changes take months to see any type of results.

Just trying to anticipate.

[Pjman]

I would say 8 weeks minimum. Especially these days. It seems like the rankings are stuck in molasses.