Can adding a directory harm my site?

[GlenB]

Hi. I've recently started working for a large portal site which is currently suffering from a Google penalty. Strangely enough the site does not yet have a directory on it, so I have suggested that they add one. My only question is: does Google look upon directories favourably?

Thanks.

[cnvi]

its all about usability. Create a directory full of categories irrelevant to your website's business and you won't get any juice from it. Add thousands of irrelevant sites to an irrelevant directory and you might get penalized.

Create a directory full of useful resources directly related to your own business and positive results aren't too far around the corner. Make sure its properly categorized directly related to the website's business model.

One suggestion however, don't use the word "links" in the directory path. Make sure the path is unique and useful. A keyword or two doesn't hurt either such as verycoolmotorcycleparts/cycleresources/index.html

[GlenB]

Thanks for your reply.

The aim will be to only have very relevant sites on the directory, so it sounds like it could be a positive thing to add to the site. Given that ours is a very well known domain, I suspect that the owners could be tempted to charge for a directory listing - is this likely to be frowned upon by Google?

[cnvi]

exit links that help your end user learn more about the product or service on your site is CONTENT.

Charging for a listing is fine but I would suggest you use the nofollow attribute for any paid links.

[glengara]

"Strangely enough the site does not yet have a directory on it"

Not quite sure why that should be seen as strange, have you identified the cause of the penalty yet?

[Rosalind]

Just don't add websites without due diligence, and you should be okay. The main way a directory could harm your website is through linking out to websites that Google has identified as bad neighbourhoods. If the places you link to are on-topic, have good content and aren't excessively interlinked, then this shouldn't be an issue.

Of course, Google's exact stance on directories is a matter of some debate at the moment, thanks to the whole issue of certain directories which have been seen to be blatantly selling PR, so YMMV.

[GlenB]

"Strangely enough the site does not yet have a directory on it"

Not quite sure why that should be seen as strange, have you identified the cause of the penalty yet?

You're right, it's not that strange, although as a large portal it does seem a common-sense thing to add, given the linking advantages.

Penalty is suspected to be the result of revenge from a dumped SEO company (unlikely) or from 'some spammy things we did' (very likely.) It's costing them/us a fortune now so hopefully they've learnt their lesson ;)

[glengara]

Personally I'd try to mitigate the damage before embarking on something that might compound it...

[GlenB]

Well they have decided to move servers internationally so there is going to be a fair bit of interuption anyway. Waiting for a penalty to be lifted is fairly discouraging; who knows how long it could be? But of course, I see your point.

[CainIV]

How is adding a directory going to deal with a Google penalty? If anything, I would think it might further confuse the situation by adding yet another factor to have to weight into the mix.

[cnvi]

I have a dozen websites.. they all have directories on them (relevant quality sites, editor based, slow natural growth). they are all indexed by google. my rankings are fine and have never experienced "penalization".

Stop being paranoid about directories.

Search engines dont want you using full duplex products that produce directories to irrelevant sites in high volume. This is all explained in Google's search engine 125 patent published two years ago.