My Quick SEO Tips - Barry Reynolds

[reynoldsdigital]

The directories I would advice are:

Joeant.com - £30, but free if you sign up as an editor ; )
BOTW - £99 a year, probably 4th best. Also 1 month free with sponsorship, no contract.
Dmoz - Free & The best, hard to get in to and takes a while. Make sure your site is water tight and choose the correct category. Look at other entries and do something similar.
Business.com - £200 a year, multi links and probaly 3rd best directory
Yahoo Directory - £200 a year, 2nd bezt directory.
www.hotvsnot.com - Free with reciprical link - worth it!

For cheaper options under £5
www.adda4u.com
www.flesko.co.uk
www.adirect2z.com
http://submiturls.biz/

Also look for industry specific directories, exchange links with similar sites that aren't direct competiton.

If you enjoy writing, write something and ask blog in your industry if they would put it on their site in exchange for a link.

And finally, my favourite software which offer the basic package for FREE! This is excellent and good enough if you just run one website. I have bought teh whole package because it is so good and achieves excellent results

[URL="http://www.link-assistant.com/"]http://www.link-assistant.com/[/URL] - SEO Spyglass in particular.

Remember though, no matter how many links you have, if the site hasn't been optimised correctly it won't do much good. Get the site done first using website auditor from the above suite then look to build your links.

Enjoy!

 

[craigc0302]

The directories I would advice are:

Joeant.com - £30, but free if you sign up as an editor ; )
BOTW - £99 a year, probably 4th best. Also 1 month free with sponsorship, no contract.
Dmoz - Free & The best, hard to get in to and takes a while. Make sure your site is water tight and choose the correct category. Look at other entries and do something similar.
Business.com - £200 a year, multi links and probaly 3rd best directory
Yahoo Directory - £200 a year, 2nd bezt directory.
www.hotvsnot.com - Free with reciprical link - worth it!

For cheaper options under £5
www.adda4u.com
www.flesko.co.uk
www.adirect2z.com
http://submiturls.biz/

Also look for industry specific directories, exchange links with similar sites that aren't direct competiton.

If you enjoy writing, write something and ask blog in your industry if they would put it on their site in exchange for a link.

And finally, my favourite software which offer the basic package for FREE! This is excellent and good enough if you just run one website. I have bought teh whole package because it is so good and achieves excellent results

[URL]http://www.link-assistant.com/[/URL] - SEO Spyglass in particular.

Remember though, no matter how many links you have, if the site hasn't been optimised correctly it won't do much good. Get the site done first using website auditor from the above suite then look to build your links.

Enjoy!

nice statement is your speaking to folk who have no idea about seo

 

[Simply Clicks]

Barry,

1. Do all the (paid) directories you mention pass PageRank?
2. What proportion of their pages are indexed by Google?

My own view is that Google has shifted indexing resources away from directories. It makes it harder to justify the paid approach.

 

Yahoo directory is worth a punt depending at what level of business you are at.IMHO

Earl

 

[I, Brian]

Is the opening post an advert, link drop, or simply confused?

Either way, this is classic "web designer doesn't appear to have a clue about SEO" thread.

Most of the reputable directories listed pass no link value - did you realise that?

Also, what makes the junk directories listed so worth recommending?

And if you're clued up with Wordpress and SEO, then you absolutely would not need to recommend a piece of software which claims to get everyone ranked top for their best keywords, because being a web designer and clued up on SEO you'd know how to tweak Wordpress to deliver what you need.

This thread is the sort of random noise that confuses the unwary, undermines SEO forums, and leaves a general bad taste in the mouth.

But, hey, just my opinion.

 

[Ian Feingold]

I Brian, couldn't agree more...that's why the SEO side of my business is taking up far more of my time than it should!

 

[sjr4x4]

Is the opening post an advert, link drop, or simply confused?

Either way, this is classic "web designer doesn't appear to have a clue about SEO" thread.

lol so sat on the fence as usual

 

[reynoldsdigital]

Thanks for the replies,

Don't really agree. The directories do pass link value and the sites I have linked with them have jumped up google several pages, one now resting in position two for London, above major players in that industry. People will always have an opinion and throw around their views without much substance to back it up, depends on who you want to listen to.

I do use wordpress SEO plugins but the software I recommend far outweighs any of the tools on offer. Rather than throw out not very useful comments on software you obviously have never tried, why not download it, give it a go then report back.

 

[BusinessIdeas]

This looks like it might get interesting

 

[Onvizi]

Hi everyone - I'm relatively new to this forum (well, about 20 mins old new). So far i have landed on a thread with people getting upset at a guy selling fake goods on his website (fair enough if true) and now here.

Are we all a little tense because of the World Cup?

Anyhow - back to the subject in hand......

Wordpress is also my vehicle of choice for reasons that i wont bore you with on this particular thread. Some of the plugins are superb, particularly the paid ones - however, i agree and disagree with the comments posted above.

Yes - directory listings do not seem to have the same value they once had - i rarely bother with them unless there is good reason.

BUT - WP plugins aren't a complete solution either. I've used SE Nuke and Traffic Geyser (as part of Mean Marketing Machine) and had combinations of great results and average ones (although MMM is by far the better), but sometimes you just can't beat building links manually (tedious and boring as it may be).

That said, i'm a nosey so and so, so i will see what SEO Powersuite has to offer. I have to say I'm not holding out much hope - the sales copy has been seen a million times before, but i have been wrong before.

Jon

 

[zigojacko]

Thanks for the replies,

Don't really agree. The directories do pass link value and the sites I have linked with them have jumped up google several pages, one now resting in position two for London, above major players in that industry. People will always have an opinion and throw around their views without much substance to back it up, depends on who you want to listen to.

I do use wordpress SEO plugins but the software I recommend far outweighs any of the tools on offer. Rather than throw out not very useful comments on software you obviously have never tried, why not download it, give it a go then report back.

What is the purpose of your thread? They aren't "quick SEO tips" at all, not really.

Business owners could perceive that as 'spend the best part of £600 on these paid directories and this will catapult you to the first page of Google'. You've pretty much just proved in one thread that you don't really know much about SEO and how to initiate an effective SEO strategy.

You should have posted this on Digital Point or Warrior forums where there are hundreds of idiotic members that would lap this up and give you a pat on the back.

SEO isn't about tools, it isn't about automated software and on another point, that SEO Power Suite software from Link Assistant is a pile of rubbish, the usual automated gunk which will fleece hundreds of pounds out of you every so many months to keep your subscription up to date.

C'mon man, are you really serious with this thread? You're a web designer, why not stick to what you know best and not confuse people with misleading information on SEO.

 

[daveashe]

Ok, now since i've tested directories i think i can qualify to comment on this.

Directory submission to small directories won't get you any result whatsoever from my testing of the directory maximizer service.

Also, look at the pagerank of the page you get your links on - if it has no pagerank you can forget it.

Google has publicly stated that buying links is a no-no, read what you will into this.

The best place to start is your site, is it structured properly, have you researched your keywords properly with exact matches (not broad) using the google external keyword tool? Then put these keywords in the titles of your pages, within the h1 tag, body text in a natural way as possible.

The structure of your website plays a huge part, as does the uniqueness and readability of your content.

This is a brief synopsis, but on-page can go a long way before you even start adding links, it is the quickest way to go up in ranking without spending £600 on links. Further to this, you must not just focus on one thing - not just directories, not just articles, not just forum signatures, not just blog commenting, not just social media, not just social bookmarking, you get the picture

 

[reynoldsdigital]

[FONT=arial,sans-serif]zigojacko[/FONT]

If the aim of your reply is to insult your doing a good job. What people take is up to them, they are workable tips. Constructive comments to people who don't know would have been more helpful than a rant about what not to do. They are starter tips, yes there is a lot more but to get people started onto the road this helps. And you don't really know who I am or who is reading this so putting childish insults serves no one.

 

[reynoldsdigital]

[FONT=verdana,geneva,lucida,arial]daveashe[/FONT], I agree with that. Submitting to a 1000 small directories can be of some help but the effort vs reward isn't worth it. The bit ones I've listed are well worth it but getting links from a wide range is well worth it. The SEO Spyglass, part of the powersuite can find pretty much everylink from your competitors. Great way to find out what they are doing and take the best. The web auditor is also excellent for on page optimisation and also to se what your competitors are doing.

PS I don't work for them, just think its great software from the quick results you can get even from the free software

 

[FONT=arial,sans-serif]zigojacko[/FONT]

If the aim of your reply is to insult your doing a good job. What people take is up to them, they are workable tips. Constructive comments to people who don't know would have been more helpful than a rant about what not to do. They are starter tips, yes there is a lot more but to get people started onto the road this helps. And you don't really know who I am or who is reading this so putting childish insults serves no one.

Well 600 quid can do a small business quite a lot of good in the right SEO's hands.

But apart from a punt on the Yahoo directory ,The rest are about as much good as a wet kipper across the face ,and that includes wordpress for mainstream SEO.IMHO

Earl

 

[I, Brian]

People will always have an opinion and throw around their views without much substance to back it up, depends on who you want to listen to.

Sorry, but if you walk into a room full of SEO's recommending people get listed on expensive directories that pass no juice, cheap directories that are pretty worthless, and then recommend automated software, you are necessarily going to invite anything but positive comments.

Joeant was penalised by Google a few years back in a general directory cull - BOTW I don't think has passed any link juice for at least 6 years. The little directories you list look exactly like the sort that are here for a year then gone and therefore worthless as link sources.

If you've managed to rank a website, that's great, but the suggestions provided suggest either you were doing something else really well, or else what you were ranking for was pretty uncompetitive.

 

[reynoldsdigital]

Ok I Brian, enlighten me with your top 10 tips.

 

[daveashe]

What about building your own network of High-PR aged domains on separate geographical locations / ip's with real content and links to your websites within this content?

 

[bdw]

What is the purpose of your thread? They aren't "quick SEO tips" at all, not really.

The purpose of the thread is fairly obvious to me

.

 

[Spock]

Correct me if I'm wrong but IMO if you are going to submit to any directories make sure it is to niche ones related to your field, that have been around for a while, are human edited to keep out the spam and are well indexed. This should give you a slight help. Deeplink options are a bonus.

Submitting to general directories is worthless (though I have done it in the past when starting out!).

 

[stender]

It's a shame but you can't help being suspicious whenever anyone recommends something on here, or is that just me?

IMHO there are plenty of decent free sites and do follow forums which will do the job without paying large sums.
Also use yahoo's site explorer, see who's linking to the competition and see if you can get a link too.

<ABUSE>

 

[bdw]

It's a shame but you can't help being suspicious whenever anyone recommends something on here, or is that just me?

No Stender it's not just you. There are those whose posts are thinly veiled adverts and others who offer advice of very little real value in order to get some exposure and to increase their post count. I think the moderators have a problem with this. It can't be easy.

.

 

[Steve_gts]

I must admit I haven't seen any real benefit from directories for several years now, although if I spot the odd one showing up in competitors backlinks I'll usually add a few sites, if it's free or v cheap at least.

But what does anyone think about the mix of links? I always pay just a few quid (or dollars usually), to have someone do a block of 200 directory submissions for me, because I always feel that it helps keep my backlink profile nice and varied and a bit more natural looking. Does anyone else think this is a good reason to keep using directories?

 

[QVA - Emma]

Agreed some directories are pants....but putting aside the SEO value of links for one second (sort of!), what about the actual click throughs and visits you get from the likes of FreeIndex and Hotfrog?

I personally wouldn't be without them and some of my clients also, relevant targeted traffic which results in leads.

What do you think?

Emma

 

[bdw]

But what does anyone think about the mix of links? I always pay just a few quid (or dollars usually), to have someone do a block of 200 directory submissions for me, because I always feel that it helps keep my backlink profile nice and varied and a bit more natural looking. Does anyone else think this is a good reason to keep using directories?

In November 2008 (as an experiment) I paid a company in India to get me 500 directory links for a website. The result was no change in traffic and a deluge of spammy emails from the useless directories they had used. I would neither do it again or recommend it to anyone. I would probably have been better using the £75 it cost me to submit to one or two paid directories.

.

 

[sjr4x4]

Agreed some directories are pants....but putting aside the SEO value of links for one second (sort of!), what about the actual click throughs and visits you get from the likes of FreeIndex and Hotfrog?

At last a voice of reason

As a directory owner, I'm used to be treated like a leper and not invited to parties, but it would be nice differentiate between over night script kiddie web directories and professionally developed and managed Business Directories?

Submitting to 300 web directories for £50 isn't going to generate you much of a return, other than sticking your head above the parapet of the Google God.

But people do get hung up on PR and link juice, worshipping the green bar of doom in the browser.

Some of the comments are harsh, but I agree with a lot of them, but maybe this thread should have been named "My Quick SEO/SEM tips"

Because if I sign up with any directory, I am actually looking for traffic as well as a decent link. Some of the freebie ones won't give you a clean link, but if it passes quality traffic, and one of those converts for your products and services, then who cares? It was worth the submission.

The reality is, professional directories can only survive by passing traffic. It may not work for everyone, it's down to indvidual business owners perceived value or the experience of the outsourced marketeer.

Yell, the favourite to get slated, actually does work for some people, maybe not as many as it used to, but if you spend x and you know it generates y, as long as y is more than x, who cares.

From the original list, I would agree with Joeant, BOTW, DMOZ and the Yahoo Directory. I've little interest in perceived link juice, but they most certainly pass traffic. Yahoo is currently borderline, but has done well in the past.

Like us or loathe us, the directories are a factor of SEO & SEM, but be realistic with what you want to achieve versus any hard earned marketing budget.

Do your research, decide who to sign up with, and if they still charge annually, don't renew your subscriptions if they're not delivering, simple.

Or if you want a quick temp fix, open an adwords account

 

[bdw]

From the original list, I would agree with Joeant, BOTW, DMOZ and the Yahoo Directory. I've little interest in perceived link juice, but they most certainly pass traffic. Yahoo is currently borderline, but has done well in the past.

I am not so sure. I appreciate that you run a directory yourself but directories send me next to no traffic at all. Why would anyone today use a directory when Google delivers a much greater selection of results?

I'll share some data with you.

I just ran a check of my own website traffic for the first six months of this year and the only directories to register are b2bindex and freeindex. They delivered me 13 and 10 visits each from a total of about 55K visits. All things considered directories deliver about 0.005% of my traffic or to look at it another way 99.995% of my traffic comes from sources other than directories.

 

[QVA - Emma]

I am not so sure. I appreciate that you run a directory yourself but directories send me next to no traffic at all. Why would anyone today use a directory when Google delivers a much greater selection of results?

I'll share some data with you.

I just ran a check of my own website traffic for the first six months of this year and the only directories to register are b2bindex and freeindex. They delivered me 13 and 10 visits each from a total of about 55K visits. All things considered directories deliver about 0.005% of my traffic or to look at it another way 99.995% of my traffic comes from sources other than directories.

See with FreeIndex you have to work at your ranking (to a certain extent) for your chosen category/ies which helps with getting a more targeted visitor to the site (of course SEO is targeted visitors too). In my experience they shouldn't be written off. If you get business from them (which of course you should be monitoring like a hawk!) then stick with it.

Do you agree?

Emma

 

[bdw]

No Emma, I don't really agree that anything other highly specialised directories are good for chasing traffic. That conclusion is based on my own traffic stats.

 

[sjr4x4]

I am not so sure. I appreciate that you run a directory yourself but directories send me next to no traffic at all. Why would anyone today use a directory when Google delivers a much greater selection of results?

Thats where you miss the point. Other than big boys with branding, who is going to try and compete with google?

About 85% of our traffic comes from Big G.

Silly example, tap Stratford Tax Office into google. Or do your own homework with keyword spy.

So you have no idea what our url is, who cares? As long we show up in your google search, our work here is done.

Like I say, I'm not here to convince you, it works for some, not for others. But don't discount directories as part of marketing/SEO/SEM campaign.

Directory knocking is old sport, and I normally end up out numbered, but its friday, and the sun is shining

 

[bdw]

Thats where you miss the point. Other than big boys with branding, who is going to try and compete with google?

I have to base my opinion on my website analytics Steve and these suggest that directories do not offer any competition. The truth of the matter is that in the UK even the big boys with branding (like Bing who are advertising on national TV) cannot even compete with Google.

If you are making money from your directory good on you but as I said above directories deliver virtually no traffic to me. I also appreciate that you provide a service for trades and other small businesses who do not have websites but I don't think that is online marketing as discussed in this thread.

 

[sjr4x4]

I have to base my opinion on my website analytics Steve and these suggest that directories do not offer any competition. The truth of the matter is that in the UK even the big boys with branding (like Bing who are advertising on national TV) cannot even compete with Google.

Fair play, we get very little from Bing, currently 1.76% of our traffic, so there is little search engine competiton, although Yahoo were once a force to be reckoned with. But directories will never compete with search engines, its too onesided, so like everyone else, its postions in Google SERPs that count.

I also appreciate that you provide a service for trades and other small businesses who do not have websites but I don't think that is online marketing as discussed in this thread.

I'll agree to disagree, I think it's exactly online marketing as discussed, but surprised your own stats paint such a negative picture. Is it possibly down to advert quality, maybe? We do get a lot of copy and paste or 1 liner punters, who spend a day pasting the same info on each directory, then wonder why their page never got picked up, and then bemoan directories.

Not saying your of this category, just wondering if I could see a root cause? Typically our underperforming pages tend to poor or low quality adverts in heavily saturated markets.

How the punter gets to you, from a Google search, then either via a directory listing displayed in the SERP's, or via your own site, which a link from a directory may have played its own (albeit little part), is immaterial. Cost versus reward, and if that directory listing which showed up in the SERPs was a Freeindex or Hotfrog freebie, and it got you a punter, even better.

...and would you believe the suns still shining

 

[bdw]

...but surprised your own stats paint such a negative picture. Is it possibly down to advert quality, maybe?

I very much doubt it. I do understand what to do with directory listings (I am a DMOZ editor) but I will admit that I tend to use directories for the link as opposed to the prospect of direct traffic.

As I said earlier I think the problem is that very few people use directories nowadays. I bet you don't.

.

 

[MASSEY]

Thing is with hot and free ind they structure the pages In A way that you can bet 80% of the traffic gets diverted to the google ads.

 

[westernsoftware10]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]

Finding Long Tail Keywords using Google’s Wonder Wheel to increase traffic
Keywords form an important part of an online business as they are responsible for driving traffic to a website and webmasters conduct a lot of research to find the traffic-generating keywords so that the business objectives are meant and they are able to run it profitably. As to which keyword or keyword phrase, would yield more results in terms of traffic and conversions, is a question that bothers every webmaster. In this article, we will discuss the potential of Long Tail Keywords and how one can find them using the Google’s free keyword research tool calledWonder Wheel.​

[/FONT]

 

[MASSEY]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]

Finding Long Tail Keywords using Google’s Wonder Wheel to increase traffic
Keywords form an important part of an online business as they are responsible for driving traffic to a website and webmasters conduct a lot of research to find the traffic-generating keywords so that the business objectives are meant and they are able to run it profitably. As to which keyword or keyword phrase, would yield more results in terms of traffic and conversions, is a question that bothers every webmaster. In this article, we will discuss the potential of Long Tail Keywords and how one can find them using the Google’s free keyword research tool calledWonder Wheel.​

[/FONT]

why are you spamming? Your posts will be deleted and you will probably be banned, are you thick?

 

[debbidoo]

why are you spamming? Your posts will be deleted and you will probably be banned, are you thick?

Hehe - funny

Doing it for the sig links - which a mod has duly deleted

 

[sjr4x4]

I very much doubt it. I do understand what to do with directory listings (I am a DMOZ editor) but I will admit that I tend to use directories for the link as opposed to the prospect of direct traffic.

As I said earlier I think the problem is that very few people use directories nowadays. I bet you don't.
.

lol, nope actually 100% agree with you, UK wise we all use Google. So the directories job is to be in those SERPs to get results.

Sounds like you've been unlucky with previous experience, but will let sleeping dogs lie...

However, if you're ever up for a challenge, would be happy to give you a courtesy listing, and let you publish your findings in 6 months. The positive marketing of changing the view of a DMOZ editor is worth the risk of abject humilation

 

[bdw]

I'll take it.

.

 

[sjr4x4]

I'll take it.

.

PM'd ya

Lets bump this thread with the results say end of Dec