Comments on: PageRank Ponzi

By: Brian McGavin

Brian McGavin — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 15:28:50 +0000

I work as an outbound salesperson for an online directory and have been working there for the past 2 months. Potential customers ask me about traffic counts for their individual listings. The owner of the directory tells me that the directory only collects information on the whole site. I am asked for regional traffic ie., Ontario vs Alberta vs British Columbia. No we don’t track that either. The owner tells me we are like the classifieds in the Yellow pages or in newspapers–no one expects to be able to track the success of their ads. I tell potential customers “link the translated summary page to your website so you can track performance both of your web site and the links e.g., my company’s translated Chinese, Punjabi, mini-web pages.

I did a search of the company’s online presence, blogs, third party website mentions, complaints, compliments from customers, Better Business Bureau…nothing. I did get a mention that the business was incorporated in 1981 as a brochure, print, translation service. That it had started an online directory in 1997 for students wanting to study in Canada. As Steve Goldstein of Alcara has said,”it’s better to have a reputation than to have no reputation.”.

By: AJ Kohn

AJ Kohn — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:40:43 +0000

Israel,

I think you’re right. The remaining traffic around ‘web directories’ likely has more query intent around finding places to get listed rather than actual information exploration. Some of the directories might retain some value, but I suspect it is less and less every day.

And thank you for the very kind words about the blog. I hope I can continue to deliver value to readers like you.

By: Israel Kendall

Israel Kendall — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:20:40 +0000

I bet the majority of those who do still search for “web directories” are bloggers looking for directories to submit to. I’d venture to guess that the average person below 30 or 35 years old has no idea what a web directory is.

Thanks for the great article. I’ve been reading through some of the stuff on your site since I found it yesterday, and I must say these are some of the most unique and informative articles I’ve read.

By: GSM

GSM — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 03:53:50 +0000

I think that DMOZ will live. Because it show only high-quality sites.

By: AJ Kohn

AJ Kohn — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:44:09 +0000

Thanks for the comment Barry. I’ve seen ‘carpet-bombing’ work in the past, but recently I’ve found it to have less of an impact, and that impact evaporates quickly. The idea offered by many seems to be to simply dip back into that well and do another round of bombing once the first wears off. I don’t mind exercise, but that’s one treadmill I don’t want to be on!

Perhaps it differs by site and category, but I can think of a number of other methods that provide better ROI in the long-run, both in terms of link building or general marketing.

By: Barry Adams

Barry Adams — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:41:04 +0000

I would agree with your sentiment if the ‘carpet-bombing’ approach to directory submissions had stopped working. The sad fact is that it still works. The sheer volume of links to be gathered more than outstrips the feeble value of each individual link. It still works and thus is still an effective – if decaying – method to boost a site’s link profile and this its rankings.

By: AJ Kohn

AJ Kohn — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 21:41:29 +0000

Agreed Gail. It’s tough for many to adapt and change, particularly since there are others who are trying to preserve those ‘old’ ways for their own benefit.

Search Engines (including Google) are a great source of traffic, but they shouldn’t be your only marketing channel. In fact, I believe you should use the traffic you get from Google and convert that traffic into subscribers, followers and evangelists. Too many focus on getting the traffic, instead of what to do with it once it arrives.

By: Gail Gardner

Gail Gardner — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:40:56 +0000

Too many people want to cling to what used to work – even in the face of clear evidence showing that it doesn’t work any more. Often that evidence is clear to the few but as clear as mud to the many.

The handwriting has been on the wall for a long time and it tells me any business counting on Google for traffic should be sharing what kind of flowers they want at the funeral of their business.

If a non-big brand wants to survive what is going on today they need to be working a new plan. Personally, I believe that has to be alternatives to Google including social media and collaborations of bloggers strong in their niche.

By: AJ Kohn

AJ Kohn — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 13:41:50 +0000

WB, I sure have. I've bought directory listings with Yahoo!, BOTW, JoeAnt, GoGuides, GreenStalk and others. I've gotten links in DMOZ (a while ago) and spoke to super-editors there who told me the best way to ensure I got listed was to become an editor for that section. It's my job to test these things. My experience is that these links don't help for an established site and, of late, have very marginal impact for a new site. This may have to do with the fact that Google understands what these sites are about and, therefore is discounting the value of those links. Whatever the reason, I don't think submission directories have been a viable SEO option for years. I can think of a number of different ways to generate more effective back links, all ways where the exchange of value is far more equal in nature.

By: WB

WB — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 03:50:38 +0000

Have you ever placed a directory link…..or bought a link in BOTW or tried to get into DMOZ?