Need help understanding link popularity stats

[honestman]

I have submitted my site to directories in order to create links. Is this effective for reaching my link popularity goals or is there another way that has nothing to do with submitting to regular directories and article directories?

I have found some businesses that sell inbound links for a reasonable price. This sounds good to me; however, I do have some concerns. I am wondering if these are just reciprocal links or if this is even worth while at all. Does anyone have any information on this?

Finally, along these lines, when I used some link checking software to see who was linked to my site and how many of them there were, I only saw sites I did not submit to, whether they were article directories or regular directories. In fact, most of them are various businesses sites. While it is possible that I could have overlooked them, is what I am seeing accurate and if my submissions are not there, what happened to them?

[sjachille]

Hi,
IMO you're certainly on the right path by submitting to directories. Most effective are those vertical portals that focus on a topic. I don't really like the idea of buying links.

Linking is not just an "I scratch your back if you scratch mine" sort of thing, look at it like building a network of related sites, generating business leads. It takes time and thought to figure out the business model that is most appropriate and best fits your business needs - and I find that works.

The fact that you see spontaneous links growing should make you only happy :)

[g1smd]

Beware of the quality of the directories that you submit to.

Many out there are just junk.

[bsaric]

I will skip submitting to "free seo directories". Old, national and niche directories can be good for links, but this "famous" lists of directories are full of spam directories :).

[honestman]

How do I know if a directory is good? Is it better to pay for submission to a few directors or submit to a lot of free directories?. When I submit to article directories how long are those articles posted?

[bsaric]

I check how old it is, how much & from where are BL.

[etechsupport]

Yes site age is important to a degree, but also make sure that particular directories should have variety of categories and sub categories with good listing over there and it should have good PR as well.

[jtouboul]

Be ware of paid directories that will list you for a fee. Very few are worth the money you'll spend based on my experience.

Some basic stuff to check:

How long ahve they've been around?
The depth of their listing?
How many "sponsored" vs. free?
Their PR?
Are they listed well on DMOZ, Google, Yahoo under keywords that make sense?

Ultimatelly the $$ and what you could do with this money to promote your site.

Good luck.

JT

[Marcia]

Their PR?And for Google, whether the pages are cached and/or indexed.

[Robert_Charlton]

How do I know if a directory is good?

This is not going to be a full answer. It's a long discussion.

I'd start, though, by looking at a directory's editorial quality and at its backlinks (use Yahoo SiteExplorer to check the links). If the "inlinks," as Yahoo calls them, are predominantly from SEO sites, web rings, casino sites, etc, chances are the directory isn't very good.

You can tell a lot by looking at the directory itself. Does it contain run-of-site advertising or text link advertising to questionable neighborhoods? Probably not a good sign.

How is the directory put together? Does the category structure make sense? Are listings in your area well classified? Are the titles stuffed with keywords, or are they well edited? How do the descriptions read? Are the categories spiderable?

If the directory charges for commercial site listings, does it also include good quality non-commercial listings for free.

Does the directory accept all content as is, or does it actually have editorial and site guidelines it maintains?

The question of whether and how a directory charges is another long discussion. I would be cautious of automatic inclusion for payment. On the other hand, some of the best directories have maintained their standards and raised their prices.

There aren't as many good directories out there as some would have you think... definitely not many good general purpose directories.