A back link question...

[sylviad]

Site directories offer multiple categories. Some owners let you submit your site to multiple categories, while others only allow one submission. Period.

I came across a directory this morning that says you can submit your link to daughter categories, but not to the same 'home page'. I assume they mean the home page of each category. This is an anxiety directory, with various anxiety categories. It allowed me to list in one category, but not in any more. Yet, other sites show up in 3 categories.

The questions are:

1) Do people actually use site directories or have people chosen to go with SE searches now? Because if they don't use them now, being listed in more than one category is pointless.

2) Does more than one listing in one directory affect your PR, or Google "approval" in any way? Or is one listing on the site sufficient to gain the benefit from SEs?

Thanks.

Sylvia

[HeySal]

Multiple back links from the same site can help Sylvia, but I'm not sure how strong directory links are these days. The multiple back links that have done me the most good are the ones on someone else's site that have put my articles up along with a banner, etc. and blogs where I actually contribute regularly.

I would think that directories would be mostly for a back link. The only time I've ever known anyone to actually search them is for business research. I'd never bother with one. But then, I don't always do stuff according to hoyle so there might be people that actually use them.

[musicaltouch]

The more powerful the directory, the more results you will gain.

Directories have some benefit to SEO, but very little unless they are DMOZ, YAHOO, GOOGLE, etc.

We use directories in our strategy and depending on the market our results do vary quite a bit.

When it comes to backlinks,. it is all about quality- not quantity.

Get high quality links and you will see great benefits from the link.

Are you trying to rank nationally, locally, or both? Both are different and require different strategies?

[sylviad]

I pretty much gave up on doing directory submissions some time ago, but I was investigating a competitor who is using my domain name, hyphens and all, but .net, so I was curious. That person shows 3 back links from this anxiety directory, so I figured I'd add mine as well. And then, it wouldn't let me add into those categories.

And then I wondered how important it could be anyway, since it's not a big directory like DMOZ. I'm listed there. He's not.

As far as targeting a specific geographical region, I'm not. That is actually a UK directory run by Germans, apparently. I don't see it as a really important back link source. I just wanted to get in there along with my competitor who is only one page away from mine in Google. My site is a year older and far more comprehensive.

I have other plans for back link building besides this which will probably be more effective in the long run. I just feel like this guy is snapping at my heels and I need to get busy pulling away from him.

Sylvia

[HeySal]

Originally Posted by sylviad

I pretty much gave up on doing directory submissions some time ago, but I was investigating a competitor who is using my domain name, hyphens and all, but .net, so I was curious. That person shows 3 back links from this anxiety directory, so I figured I'd add mine as well. And then, it wouldn't let me add into those categories.

And then I wondered how important it could be anyway, since it's not a big directory like DMOZ. I'm listed there. He's not.

As far as targeting a specific geographical region, I'm not. That is actually a UK directory run by Germans, apparently. I don't see it as a really important back link source. I just wanted to get in there along with my competitor who is only one page away from mine in Google. My site is a year older and far more comprehensive.

I have other plans for back link building besides this which will probably be more effective in the long run. I just feel like this guy is snapping at my heels and I need to get busy pulling away from him.

Sylvia

If that site is making money and the competitor is biting into it - you might want to look into what you can do about cyber-squatters. Even if you aren't trademarked - you can put up a TM on your site and will have first call since you had the first usage of the name. That's as long as they haven't done so first. If you've lost out on that because you didn't specify a tm - then you might just want to get a new URL.

[sylviad]

Hm. Interesting, Sal.

Isn't there an expensive process to getting something trademarked? Sure, I could put a TM next to my name, but that doesn't really make it legal, does it? I'm not familiar with this topic, so I really don't know.

People choosing domain names probably don't even bother to look anyway.

As far as getting a new domain name, this one is only 2 years old and is highly keyword targeted. I'm listed twice on the front page for that keyword with this domain.

I did look to see if I might grab the .info version, but the 3-4 main versions are all taken: .com, .info, .net, and ....?

I could go with .co (too expensive at $27 after the "special price" now) and .biz is available. Not sure what to do. I'm thinking maybe put more energy into getting quality back links in the right places (Yahoo, Bing) instead of buying and parking 2 more domains.

Sylvia

[HeySal]

Originally Posted by sylviad

Hm. Interesting, Sal.

Isn't there an expensive process to getting something trademarked? Sure, I could put a TM next to my name, but that doesn't really make it legal, does it? I'm not familiar with this topic, so I really don't know.

People choosing domain names probably don't even bother to look anyway.

As far as getting a new domain name, this one is only 2 years old and is highly keyword targeted. I'm listed twice on the front page for that keyword with this domain.

I did look to see if I might grab the .info version, but the 3-4 main versions are all taken: .com, .info, .net, and ....?

I could go with .co (too expensive at $27 after the "special price" now) and .biz is available. Not sure what to do. I'm thinking maybe put more energy into getting quality back links in the right places (Yahoo, Bing) instead of buying and parking 2 more domains.

Sylvia

The tm doesn't make your site legally registered. What it does is give you an edge if someone else wants to use the name, you get first consideration since the name is already in use. YOU have to act on it though. You know there is a squatter, you can register the tm and then they are just out of luck - if they put up a fuss over YOU registering it, that's their own tough luck. Not sure what registering a trademark costs down under. It's not that much in the US. Certainly worth it if the site's pulling good money.

Do note that if you ignore the squatter, they can register the URL and put you out of luck. How much does the site make and how aggressive might the squatters become in taking over yours?

[AlexsPablate]

Yes, it would give benefit to your other sites also if you have submitted more than one site, if the directory is good with good pr then it would give you good link juice as well.

[strategic seo services]

It is still good to list your site in directories. Although not the best backlinks, they will still provide some SEO benefit to your site.

[masterjani]

Mostly placing link in directories helps in getting some quick backlinks.If your site is listed in multiple category then you get many backlinks.
Thus it helps in serp rankings too.

[sylviad]

Originally Posted by HeySal

The tm doesn't make your site legally registered. What it does is give you an edge if someone else wants to use the name, you get first consideration since the name is already in use. YOU have to act on it though. You know there is a squatter, you can register the tm and then they are just out of luck - if they put up a fuss over YOU registering it, that's their own tough luck. Not sure what registering a trademark costs down under. It's not that much in the US. Certainly worth it if the site's pulling good money.

Do note that if you ignore the squatter, they can register the URL and put you out of luck. How much does the site make and how aggressive might the squatters become in taking over yours?

Hi Sal,

Maybe I didn't explain it well - as far as I know they have every right to register the .net version of my domain, which they clearly have already done since they've been using it for a year now. I cannot re-register a domain that's already under their name.

My site is .com - theirs is .net

I missed the boat when I registered this great domain 2 years ago. I should have grabbed the .net and .info as well but I didn't think of it at the time. Now they're both gone.

Sylvia

[sylviad]

Sal,

Ok. I think I see what you're getting at. It's not the extension, it's the actual name. Well, actually I seem to recall that I took the name from someone else back then and inserted dashes, so in fact that person could come after ME, I suppose.

Maybe I should shut up now, before they find me.

Sylvia