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What are link directories?

Link directories list down all websites - sometime not according to rank or popularity but based on category. For example if you have an online store for plus size clothing for women, your website will be listed under the category of clothing in a link directory. There are two types of link directories – general and human edited.

The general type of link directories based on categories, region, country or language while human edited is the updated link directory. Human edited link directories are updated by editors based on the concept of search engine organization or SEO and through ranking. Most people prefer the human edited type of link directories.

Penalized Link Directories

Of late, issues are roaming around the Internet world regarding penalized link directories by the largest search engine Google. What does it mean of link directories being penalized? Penalized link directories means they have lost or don’t have their usual ranking from search engine results. For example, a link used to monopolize the first page in Google search but after the penalty, they are no longer there.

This is the main concern for most link directories since they have worked hard to improve or maintain their ranking in search engines and waking up one day loosing their ranking that they worked so hard to achieve. Likewise, these people will just get the surprise of their life when they learned that the traffic from their websites lowered to as much as 95%.

In fact, there are many link directories that had been penalized like Alive, Aviva, ewebpages, Big Web Links, Elegant Directory, and Directory Dump among others. Some of these have complained that the search engine Google didn’t give any notice that they will be penalized. In fact, almost sixty link directories were penalized by Google causing people concerned to wonder if Google is using an iron fist on those link directories. However, Google is happy and feels justified that it has taken a decision in the longer interest of webmasters.

Reasons for Penalty

Google penalized the paid link directories; that is why, when you search for link directories those are free directories and human edited. Google penalized many big web directories that even brought uproar in many forums from readers and those directly affected like the owners, but Google defended their stand that buying links is against their company regulations.

Google is also against those who are selling links using with unethical techniques and intentions. Some directories were penalized since they buy high ranking pages to increase their own ranking now that is a very obvious unethical method that Google cannot permit to happen.

Google is against all of those “manipulative” directories with general subjects just to generate large revenues. There are also bad links that cause Google a lot of problems especially those that spread spam in the Internet. One of the sign for this kind of link directories are those that anybody can get in; there are no regulations and guidelines for those links who want to be enlisted.

Google bounced back at those penalized link directories that their tem for anti-spam sent notifications to those link directories about to be penalized. Some link directories cleaned and made necessary actions and escaped the penalty. It is also a lesson learned for everybody to stay away from these links that will just cause trouble.

To end up, the move and decision of Google to penalize some web directories is just a way of cleansing the Internet from unwanted and malicious links. Penalizing some link directories will lessen the problems of spamming and phishing that are one of the problems among Internet users.

With the growing importance of search engine optimization or SEO, link building is very important to increase traffic in your websites thus gaining popularity and elevating the ranking of your site in search engine results. Online Advertising = SEO + SEM + Email Marketing + Affiliate marketing + website advertising.

What is link building?

How can we define link building? And what are the strategies in link building to ensure traffic and ranking to a specific website?

It’s a form of online advertising or website advertising. Link building strategies are methods used to make backlinks from other sites to your own websites. It’s like advertising your website in other sites by including your site’s link in the page. Advertising your site to increase traffic using link-building strategies doesn’t demand banners and icons of your site spread to all the other websites around.

How can you build links from other websites? Here are some easy link building strategies that you can start using right away to increase traffic in your site.

Different Link Building Strategies

Articles

Writing and submitting articles is a subtle way of link building; you write what your website is all about and can even place your link in it. Though some directories prohibit this practice, you can instead discuss your website a little bit in article or relate your topic to your website. Some directories let its contributor place their links at the bottom of each article. This way, the readers already has the interest of your site and clicking on your link means that they want to know more about your website.

You may write many articles in your blog than can direct readers to your website. In your blog you are really very free to include links of your websites that readers can click and visit while in the middle of reading your article.

Participating in Forums

There are many online communities where you can participate to build links to your sites. Posting in forums; while some forums allow posting your website’s address it makes a very effective link building strategy. Participating in forums will give you a wider avenue to link building since you can discuss and include your site forums.

You can start a topic of discussion in forums that is very closely related to your website can produce interests in readers to visit your site. Starting a discussion in forum is a very good link building strategy since you have the advantage of having your website as the main issue discussed. More and more people will be interested to visit your site thus, increasing both traffic and popularity.

Content Management

Your website must not just showcase your products and service instead it should be a good research material. People search in the Internet to find information in a certain product and services, write and include as many useful articles in your websites using keywords. Don’t limit your website’s content to mainly merchandising your business. Search engines can elevate your ranking if it contains contents that are of high quality.

PPC advertising

There are many “paid per click” advertising that have low rates than are very affordable for you and some PPC especially the new ones let its advertisers have a trial period. With a number of people attracted to pay per click sites, they are not just clicking for additional income but can be interested to fully navigate your website. PPC advertising can generate and increase traffic just in a single day. However, it is an expensive way of promoting your site. When you have poor skills of writing articles or blogs, this maybe the one you can be looking up to as a final resort.

To end up, you can ask for the service of link building experts but it doesn’t mean that you cant so it. If you really want massive traffic to your site, there is no harm in hiring the services of these experts. However, following the tips discussed above is already a big leap in link building.