Directories that require a link exchange.

Use'em or Lose'em?

[Andy217]

From what I've read, one of the first steps after launching a new website is to seek out directories that you can add your URL to.

My question is: Is it beneficial to swap reciprocal links with a directory? Most of the ones that I can find these days require it.

What kinds of things do you look for?

Thanks for any insight/comments...

[trinorthlighting]

Ok, I can go with 98%.

We see a lot of DMOZ clones that could exit out of googles index still.

[Webwork]

"Basic rules of civility - such as give and take, share and share alike, a little bit you, a little bit me, quid pro quo, give and ye shall receive, etc. - ought not be tossed aside in deference to the foibles of today's search engine algorithms or fear of the same. Webecclesiastes Chapter 2.01

"Diversity of traffic is a good thing. Therefore you should link and reciprocate links to your hearts content (and let the search engines find another way to map and rank knowledge.)" Webecclesiastes Chapter 2.02

[DomainDrivers]

pageoneresults,

With such a complete sideswipe of the value of reciprocation, how do you account for the good search results of our and cnvi's clients?

I know for a fact that most of our own clients do not use any other link building methods. That is their choice, not ours.

Oh - and this apples to both old domain and new domain clients, so the age of the links is not a factor.

[pageoneresults]

With such a complete sideswipe of the value of reciprocation.

Oh, I'm not sideswiping reciprocation. What I am doing is providing my personal opinion on certain methods that are used for reciprocation. Many treat it as a commodity item which it is not. At least not for some of us. ;)

You know how I reciprocate? I look at statistics and if I see someone who linked to one of my properties, I follow the link, see what's up and if I like the resource, I'm going to provide a link back to them. And, I'm not going to tell them. Snicker, snicker, snicker. I'll even bury the link on a page within some real content too. Snicker, snicker, snicker. Surrounded by relevant text and totally on theme. Imagine that?

[DomainDrivers]

pageoneresults,

You can certainly do reciprocation any way you like. The "snicker" items you mentioned are your own perogatives. That's how you choose to spend your time.

If your statement "Many treat it as a commodity item which it is not. At least not for some of us. ;)" was some kind of slam, then it bounced off. Sorry.

My job is to get relevant links to client sites, and to get as many as possible. It has nothing to do with "commodity service". It has everything to do with being as thorough as possible. I have seen virtually no advantage whatsoever to leaving anything of value on the table in this business.

Two very different approaches. I refuse to apologize for mine or stand around and have it disparaged. I've been doing it very successfully for far too long now. As I said, it bounces off.

[edited by: DomainDrivers at 8:46 pm (utc) on April 24, 2007]

[whatson]

Sure, before the engines then link exchanging was a proven marketing method, it also facilitated the search engine spiders indexing the web.

But lets face it, now everyone knows [assumes], more links = higher positions.
Which means everyone who is proactively seeking link exchanges, is just really trying to increase their rankings. Which is fine, as long as:

links are relevant/related
dont come from spammy "neighborhoods"
and you dont do more than about 50-100

If you dont do excessive link exchange then you should not have to worry about getting penalized. 50ish links should get you a PR5 or maybe a 6, which should be enough to compete with your major keyterms. The rest will come down to good optimization and content.

[kaz]

The problem with the worthwile ones is that the time you sift thru the other 99% junk they are no longer worthwhile.

[incrediBILL]

Whether the directory asks for reciprocals or requires them is irrelevant.

Common courtesy dictates you give them a link regardless, otherwise you're just a big leech trying to get something for nothing, which is pathetic.

[DomainDrivers]

whatson said:

***************
links are relevant/related
dont come from spammy "neighborhoods"
and you dont do more than about 50-100

If you dont do excessive link exchange then you should not have to worry about getting penalized. 50ish links should get you a PR5 or maybe a 6, which should be enough to compete with your major keyterms. The rest will come down to good optimization and content.

*********************

whatson,

I was with you up to the 50-100 statement. I am directly aware of hundreds, (possibly thousands) of high ranking sites (#1 G positions) that have far more than 50-100 reciprocated links. Even thousands of them, in some cases. Ususally acquired over a long period of time.

Again, it is called thoroughness, not spam.

If a site does vet for
- links are relevant/related
- dont come from spammy "neighborhoods"

Then the chance of penalty is zilch...regardless of quantity.

[Conard]

Just imagine for a moment that there are no search engines.

How is anyone going to find a directory in order to find your link to get to your great site and products if no one links to it?

I don't have a problem linking to niche directories so other people can find them.

[centime]

Search has evolved

support your local ,, directory :)

[Syndications]

No Reciprocal Links and No Paid Links

You should be able to get at least 100 free links on sites with a Google PR of 6 or higher without paying for them and without giving reciprocal links.

Any quality SEO firm can show you how.

If it's not free, it's not for me.

And may I just point out that it is possible to garner a Google Page Rank 7, place #4 on a Google search out of 256,000,000 Results for a 2 word Keyphrase, with a Home page that does NOT contain the Keyphrase and a Web site which has only 20 inbound links. If your SEO expert doesn't know how this is possible, he is no expert.

[glengara]

I think we may need to distinguish between reciprocal and exchanged links, while the former CAN be accidental the latter cannot.

So while Adam Lasnik can state that reciprocal links in moderation are Tickety-boo, he might well not say the same about exchanged links...

[centime]

I suggestion would be to restrict your reciprocals to directories that are tightly focused on your particular niche

No one really knows how google handles this stuff, plus its an automated algo, so even there, you can have un anticipated outcomes,

Ergo only link to sites that you trust an are usefull to your own uses,

Don't do too many cos once there are more than 20 links on a page, it does get kinda sill.

Also, before you link, do a quick check to see that the directory is listed in google, yahoo, and msn

[pageoneresults]

Also, before you link, do a quick check to see that the directory is listed in google, yahoo, and msn.

How come?

[SincerelySandy]

it is possible to garner a Google Page Rank 7, place #4 on a Google search out of 256,000,000 Results for a 2 word Keyphrase, with a Home page that does NOT contain the Keyphrase and a Web site which has only 20 inbound links

The number of results that are returned for any given search query is not at all an indicator of how difficult it is to rank well for that query. There are so many search terms that produce less than 500,000 results but are so much harder to get good positions for than terms that produce 500,000,000 results.
Really... it means nothing, yet so many people make comments such as "I'm in the #1 spot for a phrase that produces 500,000,000 results" like it's a badge of honor.

[centime]

A directory that is not well indexed in Google , Yahoo or MSn might be a directory in trouble with the SE's

If the directory is new, its not such an issue

[incrediBILL]

I have submitted much in directories but they are almost require for link exchange. Does anyone has the list of directories (Free submission without link exchange require)?

You want a list where you get something for nothing?

There is no free lunch and links are cheap.

[dvduval]

There are new directories every day. I have been able to increase pagerank and rankings for keywords submitting to directories on a regular basis.

[edited by: martinibuster at 2:38 am (utc) on April 27, 2007]
[edit reason] Removed specifics. [/edit]

[lfgoal]

"There is no free lunch and links are cheap."

Actually, there is a free lunch. It just tastes bad. And sometimes it causes you to barf.