Tips to help you assess Web Directories

How to spot a Poor Quality Web Directory.

Does it use an open source directory template script?

Usually the footer will have a link to the script provider. There are not that many scripts and you will soon be able to spot these quickly.

Using a directory template doesn't mean the directory is poor quality, but it is a flag. Most quality directories have their own custom Content Management System.

Does it use a common directory template theme?

The more directories you see, the easier these will be to spot. As above, this isn't a definite quality indicator, but a flag.

Does it say that it will help your rankings, or mention Google PageRank?

Google may strip it of the ability to pass PageRank and anchor text benefit - or it may already have done. Be especially wary of paying for a link from a site that openly boasts about the benefits its links offer. However, just to show you it's never simple, there a few old and established UK directories that make quite open claims about the benefits of their listings that still do well in Google.

Does it offer sitewide 'featured' links?

This is one thing I personally would definitely avoid. It basically says "I give more links for more money".

Does it have a block of footer links to other sites, or sitewide links to other directories?

Footer links or links to other directories can indicate

• a family of sites created to help each other
• obvious link selling schemes (especially if the sites linked to are affiliate sites or in 'high risk' markets like pharmacy or gambling)

Both can be bad news.

Does it offer a link (or a keyword instead of your business name for a link) only for cash?

Not all sites that do this are poor quality (indeed respected directories like Yell.com and TouchLocal.com work this way) but be careful if you see this policy on a site.

I personally would avoid sites that guarantee a listing if you pay; clearly the editorial quality of their listings is not their priority.

Does it cover the whole world?

Some of the older and respected directories do try to cover the world, but they started when the internet was a far, far smaller place than it is now. A new directory that covers the whole world is generally trying to ensure it can list as many sites as possible. It will usually have too few categories, or too many pages, meaning that the relevancy of the linking page to your site (a key factor) could be low and the page your link is on might not even be indexed. 

How well is the directory run and what sort of sites does it accept?

This is always the key factor for me. Browse the listings. Do you see any of the following?

• Irrelevant sites in any categories (including foreign sites in a UK directory)
• Listings with poor English, listings that are just lists of search terms rather than a proper description of what the business does
• Affiliate and reseller sites as opposed to real 'bricks and mortar' businesses or quality sources of information

All of these indicate a site that accepts anything and everything, or where there is little or no editorial control. Such sites get targeted by affiliate webmasters and even spammers for these very reasons and your link could end up keeping some nasty company. Now, some very large and respected sites are Wikis (BizWiki.co.uk and HotFrogUK.co.uk for example) but notice that both of these have their own unique and detailed admin areas, and are also well-staffed.

Is it featured on any 'SEO Directory List' websites?

Many sites on these lists are put there by their owners to advertise exactly the sorts of links that Google is trying to stamp out.

And finally, here's things to ignore when assessing a web directory:

Things I usually ignore when assessing Web Directories

What is its PageRank?

The PageRank you see in the Google toolbar is always out of date and sometimes completely inaccurate. It can change at any time, and can also be rented or even faked.

Don't use PageRank as a quality assessment on its own; at best it is something to include with other factors in your assessment of a website.

Does it offer links and what sort of links?

I'm not saying that links aren't important; just that you shouldn't always care if your listing contains a link and whether you think Google will credit the link.  

Google never used to crawl Javascript links, but now it does. They are constantly trying to find new ways of discovering links and content. It's looking increasingly likely that they are not just considering links but also 'citations' for rankings. Things like the website url (even if it's not a link) and the business address and postcode could be counted as 'votes' for your site.

As a general rule, if you can see the url of your site in the page code, then so can Google. However, as long as people can get from the directory to your site then you can get visitors from the directory. The best directories send your site visitors. So if you think that a listing is useful to humans, then you can bet that Google is working on a way to give your site credit for it.

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