Best of the Web - still worth paying?

[BrightIdeas]

Is this still worth paying for? Or, has it become devalued??

Been paying monthly fees for this for a while and wondered if it's still worth it.

 

[ScottB]

BOTW.org is still a pretty good link - probably one of the better directory links you can get. IMO stump up the $300 for the one time fee and forget about it - it'll still be a solid link in 5 years time. What's the monthly fee you're paying? I thought it was either annual or a one time fee.

If you're not that concerned about SEO though then I wouldn't bother.

Scott

 

[Curious]

You can sponsor a category by the month, means you can put in your own custom company name..

If you're not sure, why not stop paying for a month and check out the results?

Personally I've got some and I'm quite happy with them.

 

[BrightIdeas]

I pay $65.90 per month, didn't realise there was a one time fee option.

Will perhaps look into the sponsoring own category option too. What's the benefit of this?

 

[JohnnyCash]

Will perhaps look into the sponsoring own category option too. What's the benefit of this?

You'll be on a page that has far less outgoing links. You'll also be on a page that is nearer to the homepage (number of clicks) and generally has more pagerank.

BOTW won't admit this one but they're also significantly more generous with the anchor texts they'll let you have if you're a monthly payer rather than a one off payment...

 

[BrightIdeas]

Actually, having just checked, it appears that I do 'sponsor' a category!

Where is there a facility to add anchor text? I can't seem to find this.

 

[JohnnyCash]

You would have chose the anchor text when you submitted it. If you're paying monthly then they'll probably change it if you email and ask.

 

[Curious]

You would have chose the anchor text when you submitted it. If you're paying monthly then they'll probably change it if you email and ask.

Yep just drop them an email and they'll change it over for you. They usually get it done within 24 hours or so.

 

[Codefixer]

BOTW won't admit this one but they're also significantly more generous with the anchor texts they'll let you have if you're a monthly payer rather than a one off payment...

I noticed this when submitting a site recently. Some of what appeared to be standard listings had keywords in their anchor text and linked to inner pages. I guess paying more than just a standard listing gives you more clout.

 

[MASSEY]

Isn't this the same sort of directory as the yahoo one? I might give this best of the web a try and see if it is actually an seo booster link, if i see no results it will bug me though as i hate wasting money on internet ****.

 

[Codefixer]

Well if it doesn't atleast you'll have satisfied your curiousity and won't spend it again.

Sometimes IMHO not every link needs to be a keyword anchor text link from a good site. Some links just increase the authority and trust of a site though might not boost the rankings.

 

[shpangle]

If BOTW is a paid for link I can't imagine it is liked very much by search engines...search engines are not stupid

Mick

 

[Spock]

If BOTW is a paid for link I can't imagine it is liked very much by search engines...search engines are not stupid

Mick

But then Google say (or at least used to) that the Yahoo directory is a good place to list your site, but that's paid too. It just leaves us all confused :|

 

[aidan1980]

If BOTW is a paid for link I can't imagine it is liked very much by search engines...search engines are not stupid

Mick

no no no, you aren't paying for the link, same as you dont for yahoo directory. You are paying for your site to be reviewed to see if it qualifies, not for the actual link

 

[shpangle]

no no no, you aren't paying for the link, same as you dont for yahoo directory. You are paying for your site to be reviewed to see if it qualifies, not for the actual link

hahaha! Nice one - can't pull the wool over my eyes and I dare say it can't be pulled over search engines either. You have got to be quite bad not to get in.

 

[Curious]

It doesn't matter, same as most directories, you're paying for the review, not the link. Read the small print on em!

 

[aidan1980]

hahaha! Nice one - can't pull the wool over my eyes and I dare say it can't be pulled over search engines either. You have got to be quite bad not to get in.

ok whatever, dont believe me then

 

[shpangle]

It doesn't matter, same as most directories, you're paying for the review, not the link. Read the small print on em!

Yes quite aware of the small print (I run a directory myself). I just don't believe (in my opinion) that BOTW is worth the money and that search engines shouldn't really pay much attention to the websites listed in it.

All my opinion of course and what do I know I am just a jewellery designer

Mick

 

[JohnnyCash]

Yes quite aware of the small print (I run a directory myself). I just don't believe (in my opinion) that BOTW is worth the money and that search engines shouldn't really pay much attention to the websites listed in it.

All my opinion of course and what do I know I am just a jewellery designer

Mick

Whether they should pay any attention to it is a non issue though - it only matters whether they do pay attention to it. And for now the answer (for me) is definitely that they do.

The link being "worth the money" is extremely subjective. If you run a tech blog were you can pick up hundreds of legit links a month by blogging about ipads then yeah its probably not worth the money. If you run a site in a high value niche that is hard to get backlinks for, a £300 permanent link in there (or whatever price is, they change all the time!) is good value.

 

[Curious]

Yes quite aware of the small print (I run a directory myself). I just don't believe (in my opinion) that BOTW is worth the money and that search engines shouldn't really pay much attention to the websites listed in it.

All my opinion of course and what do I know I am just a jewellery designer

Mick

As noted, whether they should or not is beside the point - I've seen positive results from a link so whether they should count, or not, I'm taking a link that works and when anyone asks it's fine because I'm only paying for a review. If it stops passing juice then I'll just stop renewing.

Only my view, but I'm only a contracts manager

 

[shpangle]

As noted, whether they should or not is beside the point - I've seen positive results from a link so whether they should count, or not, I'm taking a link that works and when anyone asks it's fine because I'm only paying for a review. If it stops passing juice then I'll just stop renewing.

Only my view, but I'm only a contracts manager

Just out of interest because I am curious to know but how do you quantify the benefits of such a link? So far the answers to this thread have been a little vague - is BOTW a great resource used by many people or do people assume they are getting lots of 'juice' from it (which I find hard to believe since the very little juice available on a specific page is shared out amongst lots of links).

Thanks

Mick

 

[gemd89]

On a seperate note i upgraded on this forum and went to page 2 on google, my upgrade ran out 2 weeks ago and ive now dropped to page 4 so some links are worth paying for. I would say most of my competitiors above me in google have a link in BOTW.

Gemma

 

[Curious]

Just out of interest because I am curious to know but how do you quantify the benefits of such a link? So far the answers to this thread have been a little vague - is BOTW a great resource used by many people or do people assume they are getting lots of 'juice' from it (which I find hard to believe since the very little juice available on a specific page is shared out amongst lots of links).

Thanks

Mick

I simply look at it in terms of I got a link for a site that was having no other work done to it, the site jumped in the rankings. Removed the link and it dropped again - it could be pure coincidence, but the increase wasn't a one off.

With regard juice being watered down, personally I think it's the same as all directories, take your time to research the site and pick a placement carefully.

Cheers, Barny.

 

[marketingquotes]

I pay $65.90 per month, didn't realise there was a one time fee option.

There are actually a couple of options, we did the monthly payment - and this gives you a link at the top of the page (which is more for actual people on the website itself and adds no benefit to SEO.

A one off payment is fine.

Is it still worth it, well different SEO companies give different answers, some say yes and some say no. Some SEO companies say that directories are good, some say that they are overlooked now as you can pay for 100 listings a day - so they carry no real weight.

We are on BOTW - so if you can afford it, it will not do any harm

Regards,

Marketing Quotes Support

 

[Spock]

On a seperate note i upgraded on this forum and went to page 2 on google, my upgrade ran out 2 weeks ago and ive now dropped to page 4 so some links are worth paying for.

Gemma

Well if this is true why on earth haven't you upgraded again :|:|:|

 

[gemd89]

Well if this is true why on earth haven't you upgraded again :|:|:|

Not happy with the Paid 'review my website section' I wanted free members to be able to respond. Admin wouldnt answer as to why they wouldnt allow the feature.

Gemma

 

[ScottB]

They won't allow it because if it was free for anyone to use it would become a place for spammers to go and drop their links and everyone else would get so bored with the spam they wouldn't help anyone - hey presto - useless forum!

 

[JohnnyCash]

They won't allow it because if it was free for anyone to use it would become a place for spammers to go and drop their links and everyone else would get so bored with the spam they wouldn't help anyone - hey presto - useless forum!

Not if free members could reply to other peoples site reviews, but not start their own.

 

[gemd89]

They won't allow it because if it was free for anyone to use it would become a place for spammers to go and drop their links and everyone else would get so bored with the spam they wouldn't help anyone - hey presto - useless forum!

No you misunderstand. I only want paid members to be able to ask for reviews, but to be able to get feedback and replies from free and paid members. I posted in there once and got around 4 replies, one of my review posts didnt get thrown off the main forums where anyone can reply and i got around 11 pages of replies...

Gemma

 

[Spock]

Surely the point is you say you moved up 2 pages by becoming a premium member and that's more important than a site review?

 

[nicsonian]

This has been an interesting thread and I think I'm going to purchase a link BOTW.

Don't want to hijack the post, but what other directories are there that you can buy a link from legitimately and that are worth the long term investment i.e. "Where you are buying the review and not just the link" and that will still be popular in 5 years?

 

[aidan1980]

This has been an interesting thread and I think I'm going to purchase a link BOTW.

Don't want to hijack the post, but what other directories are there that you can buy a link from legitimately and that are worth the long term investment i.e. "Where you are buying the review and not just the link" and that will still be popular in 5 years?

joeant, goguides are 2 that spring to mind and dont cost the earth. although the nimrods at joeant rejected my submission

 

[hevs]

I am confused as to what botw site to use there seems to be a .org and a .uk.org which one should i use I have uk website on conveyorsalso a holiday rental property in murcia spain would it be better to put the spainish one on a different site and the uk conveyors one on which of the site?

I would appreciate any advice or does it automatically get listed on all sites. Also there seems to be a blog botw site.

 

[TechDon]

Absolutly not! In my opinion there are services out there which let you create as many articles as you would like for that price with one way links for up to 5 websites. There are probably even better services than this out there, although this is one I reccommend. I think you could spend your money better elsewhere or even on AdWords. Creating a few good articles with good quality links could easily land you on or closer to the first page of Google for certain search terms.