20 replies to this topic

[fastreplies]

qwerty

Your first example is correct. (Second looks the same as first at least to me)

Bad link would look more like this:
http:// some directory domain / list.php?url=your domain tld
and basically will say to SE crawlers that this Site linked to your directory as where in your first example it says that directory is voted for your site by placing the link to your site.

fastreplies

[Jill]

and basically will say to SE crawlers that this Site linked to your directory as where in your first example it says that directory is voted for your site by

Huh?

[SEO_Gal]

I think the term "seo-friendly" is misused as most of the terms in search engine marketing are misused. Some directory scripts like phpLD include mod rewrites so the URLs will be search engine friendly. phpLD refers to this "feature" as being "seo friendly" ("Mod Rewrite for SEO Friendly Pages").

When looking at directories for link building, don't get stuck on terms the owner of the site uses to entice people to add their websites in the directory. Instead, review the directory for quality content and links. If you don't like the content that is included in the directory, then that's a good indication that you should stear clear.

[dvduval]

Just addressing a few things posted earlier in the thread and add a few points:

1. To be SEO friendly is something users of directory software have found to be an important feature. They want to have urls that reflect the content, as well as meta tags, and other features that make for a page that is easily read by search engines.
2. Without doubt, there are many directories out there that are not very well maintained. For that matter, there are lots of forums, blogs, and other websites that are not very well maintained either, and many are just trying to seek "SEO" benefits. The problem of people not maintaining good websites is not limited to directories.
3. Directory links are not discounted (though surely maintained sites have their links discounted). Here is a quote from google engineers just last month: "There's always the chance that we'll discount directory links in the future. What we were seeing was quite a few novice people would see the "directory" recommendation and go out and just try to submit to a ton of directories, even if some of the directories were lower-quality or even fly-by-night directories that weren't great for users. Right now we haven't changed how we're weighting directory links"
4. Regional and Niche directories are becoming a lot more popular now. Often they are part of an existing site, and receiving traffic from these directories is usually more beneficial because the visitors are interested in the topic.

There will always be a reason for human beings to want to organize links, and search engines will always use links as a method for seeing how the web is connected together. Directories will surely continue to play a roll on the web. And just like there are good blogs, and bad blogs, and good forums, and bad forums, the same will hold true for directories.

[Jill]

Spoken like the owner of a directory.

[dvduval]

Spoken like the owner of a directory.

Exactly, with over 100,000 sites using phpLD now, and having started this in about 2002, I do know a thing or two about directories (what works and what doesn't, what google staff is saying about them, the role they play in seo, different types of directories, etc)