BrightHaus Digital Marketing Agency

7 Reasons Why Niche Directories Can Still Benefit Your Search Efforts

July 30, 2013

Some may argue that niche directory submissions are not a legitimate strategy when it comes to link building. Some may even go as far to say they are useless because Google is actively working towards eliminating submission-based links from being counted in your backlink profile. However, niche directories can still play an important role in your link building campaign due to the following reasons.

lawyerscom

  1. Match the Competition – One of the oldest and longest standing strategies in the link building book is getting links from the same sites and pages as your competition. Technically, no one has Google’s secret algorithm in a file where they can perfectly perform SEO. Therefore, the next best way to figure out how to rank for any given keyword is to dissect and analyze the websites ranking for them. When you see that the top ranking sites are listed in avvo.com (a legal directory of attorneys), it only makes sense to get listed there as well. (If the site is flagged as suspect, then of course you would skip it).
  2. Help with Keyword in Domain/URL Linking Factors – One of the top 10 link factors when it comes to SEO is if the keyword you are targeting is in the URL/domain of the page/site linking to you. When you submit to a relevant directory or category that’s a little something like LawyerDirectory.com/Los-Angeles/DUI, you are capitalizing on this top ranking factor.
  3. Association with Other Websites – Another important link factor is linking neighborhood and association. Meaning what other sites is the page you are listed on about? If that page links to other lawyer sites, then you are in good company. Just make sure none of the other sites are broken or down. If a page links out to too many broken pages, it loses trust, no matter how relevant it may be.
  4. Sometimes they Rank and Provide Targeted Traffic – For many terms, legitimate niche directories actually rank for some of your target keywords or on the 1st page of search engines for keywords that send them relevant traffic. Having a presence in these niche directories could send you target visits.
  5. They Beat Basic Directory Submissions – Unless that directory is something like  MOZ, BOTW, dir.yahoo.com or some other high authority/trusted directory, getting listed in a directory that is relevant and designated for your industry is far better.
  6. Good Supplement to Other Relevant Forms of Link Building – Niche directories can be a great supplement to other forms of link building you may be performing in your campaign. In some cases when Google sees a site linking to you labeling you a certain phrase, it may look at other sites (directory or not) to confirm it. Niche directories can be a great ally when it comes to anchor text confirmation.
  7. Google Places Recognizes (some of) Them – If you go to the Google local page of some of your top local listing competitors, and look at their reviews section, many times you’ll see niche directories there, proving that Google looks at what other niche (and local) directories have to save about your business.

avvo-gplus

As you can see, there are many benefits to having your website listed in niche directories. However it is important to keep in mind that quality is key. Just because a directory may be relevant, doesn’t mean its quality and we know that Google is all about quality. Furthermore niche directories should supplement a robust link building campaign, you can’t solely do niche directory submissions and expect results.