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 | Misinformation & Rumours |
Google Moving Against Directories (July 2005)In a recent algo tweak, a bunch of directories were delisted by Google, which has led to fears of "Google hates directories" on one hand to "Google is dropping scraper sites, these got caught by mistake" on the other. If you look at the ones dropped, most (not quite all) were adsense promotions - a directory is an easy way to create 20,000 pages to display adsense. And Google hates them, directory or not. One or two directories with similar setup, but possibly sounder motives also got dropped. We'll see Sites that link to you , cannot harm your site (February 2005)Wrong. In general, Google seems to argue 'you control who you link to, so a bad choice may bring a penalty - you cannot control who links to you, so incoing links cannot harm you'. Fair enough - in most cases. But Google is a sophisticated animal these days; long able to detect reciprocal and three way linking, there are signs that more complex linking scams are beginning to be found out - if you choose to join any 'network' for the purposes of gaming Google, you have been warned. There are good 'submission services' (2001 -5)Yes, but there aren't many! You [virtually] never need to submit your site to search engines
- they'll find you. From the directories available, who better than you to select appropriate directories and categories for your site? Who better than you to look at the directory style, and word your entry so that it is likely to be accepted - and unlikely to be edited? Why pay silly money to an idiot who finds the task boring and delegates it offshore, when you would find it challenging, interesting, and learn about your competitors? Why pay to be submitted to a search engine, when with just one quality link, they'll find you? (The only exception is a few quality, highly specialized search engines - 99% of sites do not need them). Why spend two days briefing someone who is not listening, when it would have been quicker to do it yourself? (Oh? He didn't need briefing? Great job he's going to do, huh?). So, in general, submission services are a serious waste of money. the exceptions? Well; site submissions can be a boring and monotonous (and thankless) task; if you really do not have time to do that job yourself, then - like any other job - it can be outsourced. But do choose carefully; be sure it is a service that will take the time to understand your site. Ask them what kind of directories they will submit to, and listen for general directories you may have heard of, and specialist ones that sound relevant, that you have not previously heard of. Ask how many; above a hundred, look again - below that, it depends how specialized your site is. If you care about your site, care enough to get this vital task right. Go for a quality service - or do it yourself! Please be clear about our Google ads, on the left: We are not endorsing these companies, they are endorsing us; if idiot spamming search engine submission services choose to subsidise a site that exposes their scam, should I complain? Sorry, No. Published: 31 August 2005; updated 5 April 2006 |
2 July 2008 | 
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