Blog Responses vs. Directory Submissions
There was an excellent post on Matt Cutts forum (which I’m having trouble finding) which explained the correct format for “natural” backlinks
WRONG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anchor Text Link
description of the link above.description of the link above.description of the link above.description of the link above.description of the link above.description of the link above.description of the link above.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RIGHT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
description of the link above.description of the link above.description of the link above.description of the link above Anchor Text Link description of the link above.description of the link above.description of the link above.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Directories list it the first way. Leaving responses on blogs and sites like Yahoo Answers in the correct format = right.
I’m not saying that directories wont help you at all, I’m saying that if you submit to 100 directories, in 6 months, you will get maybe 20 backlinks which will be worth one blog post response. Leaving blog responses has a clearcut advantage over directories…
- Link to your site is up right away
- Can place your link in the correct format
- People will actually see your link - you get [B]targeted[/B] traffic
- Spiders will almost always spider a blog post (since its pinged to tons of places)
- You learn more about your niche by reading the blog post
- Where you place you link is completely up to you (no page 6)
If you want to submit your site to directories, it isn’t worth your time. Your better off outsourcing it. Link or Link
I’d say the average directory submission (with a bot) is 2 minutes
- Find a directory
- Go to directory
- Find Correct Category
- Go To Correct Category
- Submit link
- Bot-Fills in most information
- You fill in the rest of the information
- Submit
- Wait 6 months
2 minutes x 150 directories = 300 minutes = 5 Hours
Are you saying that you’re time is worth $3/hour?
Another guideline - You can’t use the same anchor text for each link (unnatural) and having the same description on each page is also unnatural. So lets see what you get when you submit to a PR3 page on page 1 of your category (which is hard to find).
- Its 2 subfolders down. Juice down.
- You share space with 9 (min) other links - Juice down
- You have duplicate anchor text/description - unnatural - juice down
- Bad format - unnatural - juice down
- 6 months from now - you don’t know if the directory will exist
Post in response to Thirty Day Challenge Thread
I will try to find the post on how to properly link.
If you enjoyed this post, be sure to subscribe for updates or at least bookmark this below.
Filed under: Directories, SEO
An interesting observation. I think the bottom line is it’s wise not to put all your eggs in one link basket.
A mix or article submissions, directory submissions, blog posts, blog comments and even forum posts may be the way to go.
What I love about blogs is how quickly you get indexed. I’ve had posts indexed and in the SERPs in under 30 minutes.
I agree with John, this is really an interesting way to look at directories. I am not fond of spending my time submitting to them and here is a good reason why you shouldn’t. I think submitting to very target specific directories might be a good way to go, there are are just too many to worry about.
I do love the pinging features of blogs and have experienced really quick SERPs too. I’m not sure if it was as fast as 30 minutes though!
Interesting. But I am interested as to how to get blog posts. I can post on my blog but that is only 1 blog.
How do you get others to post or are you referring to comments?
I was referring to comments, although there are some blogs out there that will let you post on their blog.
I realize this article is a little dated, but I was just looking for some information on backlinks and anchors when I found this. Curiously enough, I’ve also been reading up on article banks and directories this evening and here you mention some facets of the directories I hadn’t thought of or just plain wasn’t aware of. Regardless, thank you for the information regarding the anchor. It’s certainly useful.