A big thanks to our Pubcon 2014 sponsor, LinkResearchTools, your off-page SEO toolkit. Link Detox: Recover – Protect – Build.
At Pubcon 2014 in Las Vegas, I had the opportunity to talk with Greg Hartnett from Best of the Web about whether or not directories are still relevant in today’s SEO landscape.
Are directories relevant right now? If so, will they continue to be relevant going into 2015 and beyond?
These are some of the questions I get his unique insight on in the video below:
Are directories still relevant? An Interview with Greg Hartnett of BoTW
Here are some key takeaways from the video:
- Google’s policies towards directories have changed a lot in recent years, but Greg makes a case that directories themselves have not changed. There have always been high quality and low quality directories, and Google has always frowned upon those low quality directories.
- If you focus on submitting your site to high quality directories, it doesn’t really matter as far as Google penalties are concerned.
- As long as we’re in a link based economy and links continue to be a major part of Google’s search algorithm then there’s always going to be a space for directories and high quality, authoritative links.
- How does Best of the Web separate itself from other directories in terms of delivering high quality links? Greg says it comes down to editorial integrity. Sites that do not meet BOTW’s editorial guidelines are not approved, and sites are frequently rejected.
- Greg says BOTW will continue to stay relevant because they focus on the big picture. It’s not about just delivering individual links to websites, its about curating a high quality resource for users.
Please visit SEJ’s YouTube page for more video interviews.
Category
SEO
