{"id":4267,"date":"2019-05-14T13:47:57","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T11:47:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wolf-of-seo.de\/?post_type=glossary&p=4267"},"modified":"2023-09-29T06:57:08","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T04:57:08","slug":"web-directories-company-directories","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/wolf-of-seo.de\/en\/what-is\/web-directories-company-directories","title":{"rendered":"Web Directories"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"What<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What are Web Directories?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lange, bevor Google, Bing und andere Suchmaschinen auftauchten, wurden Webverzeichnisse entwickelt, um Menschen zu helfen, leichter Informationen im Web zu finden. Ab Anfang der frühen bis Mitte der 90er Jahre wuchs die Popularität von Webverzeichnissen rasant an, was zu frühen Pionieren führte, darunter Yahoo! Directory und das Mozilla Directory (DMOZ<\/span>). But soon companies like Google emerged to offer people an automated way to search the rapidly expanding company. The rapidly expanding company, which ultimately led to a decline in popularity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, for years, directories have been used by many in the SEO and Online Marketing<\/span>-world as a way to find and share content. Backlinks<\/span> and authority for websites. Until 2007, there were still many high-quality directories that could be used both for a fee and for free. But soon Google began penalizing mass directories that had grown in the thousands, as many offered little value to users and mostly served as link building systems. And quickly we saw a fairly rapid transition away from the use of directories by many in the SEO space as they were wary of the Google penalty risk associated with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are directories bad for SEO and which web directories should be avoided?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Back in the days when directories were largely considered a reliable way to build Backlinks<\/span> to websites, it was common to submit a website to many different directories for inclusion in specific categories for a particular industry. But as the trend gained momentum, you saw many thousands of \"fly-by-night\" directories (like Matt Cutts<\/span> of Google likes to call them) that popped up to offer their services, usually for a fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of these directories were automated sites (as opposed to the carefully edited ones of the past) designed to make a quick buck and not necessarily help people connect with the content they needed. In addition to these schemes, you also had cheap SEO services offering to submit in bulk to hundreds or thousands of directories without bothering to submit to quality and appropriate directories while promising a higher page rank in search engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what types of directories should you avoid these days? Here are some characteristics of bad directories:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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  • Das Verzeichnis akzeptiert alle Links oder besagt einfach nur „submit your URL<\/span>\" -<\/strong> If a directory accepts all or the majority of submitted links, this should be a warning that the site was likely created for the sole purpose of link building and carries no SEO weight and could be problematic.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Keyword<\/span>-anchored links -<\/strong> Wenn die Website Schlüsselwort-verankerte Links zulässt, ist dies ein Zeichen dafür, dass Google sie als unsichere Quelle für Links betrachtet, selbst wenn Ihr Link als URL<\/span> aufgeführt wäre.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The name of the directory indicates that it was created for links -.<\/strong> Stay away from these obvious schemes, as well as those that have already been banned by Google but may still be functional.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The directory advertises a high PageRank<\/span> (PR) -<\/strong> This is a clear red flag that the page was created only for links and is not useful for humans.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Are web directories still a worthwhile SEO measure?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Now that we know what to avoid with directories, the question remains: are there any directories still worth the effort? While some may argue that links from a directory are unnatural by definition because they are self-created, Google still seems to deem a handful of directories acceptable. By sticking to the few that are still considered trustworthy and competent, many in the SEO community still believe that you are getting \"high quality\" links.Link Juice<\/span>\" to your website and can help improve your rankings. Of the few remaining quality directories, here are some of the most important (that aren't necessarily niche or industry specific) that are still considered reputable and have SEO importance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    • YellowPages<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • DMOZTools<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • BlogCloud<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • (more to follow...)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Now these are more general directories, as opposed to local directories or niche directories that most SEO professionals find useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n