The Affect of SEO being Listed in Directories
It has been published for quite some time now that those who desire to increase rankings, should not be isolating their campaigns to a directory only, or significant directory listing campaign. Well, there are advantages and disadvantages of being listed on any site, regardless how good it may seem. It was Search Engine Optimization (SEO) forums themselves that started the directory craze, meaning; directory listings where an easy link to help achieve high rankings within the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP's), hence they told every webmaster to go get lots of directory listings. Google (only) changed their algorithm to help repel the manipulation of their results by devalueing sites that consisted mainly of directory only listings, converting to backlinks.
Now not discrediting SEO forums themselves, though many only often provide short term solutions, not the long term result that most are actually searching. Directory listings are actually not a bad thing, as it places your site upon another page that could convert to a sale / visit. At the end of the day, this is what its all about. What most SEO forums forgot to mention, is that they're actually talking about those directories that exist for nothing more than Pay Per Click (PPC) ads, or those that are paid only directories, and provide no totally free method to be listed. Saying "totally free", I mean that they don't require any reciprocal or partner link.
What is correct, is to say that backlinks from only directories and nothing else, could see your site with a filter against it until such time that more links have been obtained from sites other than directories. The directory issue that Google implemented, is nothing different from the recent filter placed on sites that consist of mainly reciprocal link campaigns. These sites have disappeared from the top rankings as such, until such time as they obtain more natural links. Neither of these issues are a permanent one, and that is what SEO forums seem to forget to mention also.
Ok then, so the solution to the so called problem with directory listings. There is no real problem being listed in a quality directory. Take note of that, "quality directory". This does take some commonsense only, in that if a directory looks unprofessional, then chances are it probably is. If it is riddled with ads, then chances are the directory doesn't really care about the quality of listings, but more about making a quick buck. Look at the sites listed within the directory. Check out the sites on the page you want to be listed. A simple test is, would you link to that site? If you say yes to all the sites on the page you want to be listed, then chances are that your site is going to be ok.
A simple method to ensure that you don't end up in any Google filters in regards to directory listings, is that for every directory listing you obtain successfully, obtain another non-directory, non-reciprocal link. This will always keep a balance of link types, so your site doesn't fall into any primary category over the long term.
So, having your site listed in directories is not actually a bad thing. It is mere marketing, and that is it. Use commonsense, use the quick test above to whether you should list your site or not. There really isn't that much too it. SEO forums tend to focus only on what Google wants, and forget the rest. Yahoo and MSN can supply just as much traffic for a given term as Google. If you maintain a balance within your link types, then you will actually do quite well in all engines. No secret, just good old commonsense.
