How we miss the early days of directory link building

In the early days of SEO (late 1990’s, early 2000’s), directories were an easy way to generate links. Submitting to directories was part of that outdated link building methodology whose primary objective was to increase the number, rather than the quality, of links.

Fifteen years ago, getting links from directories worked. But Google has gotten smarter and devalued this type of link. Especially after the Google Penguin update, directories no longer enjoy their status as a link building tactic.

So where does directory submission stand today?

Well, it is definitely of a much lower value as a pure link building tactic, but there is one area where you still do want to submit your directory listings properly, and that is with local directories. You also want to make sure those listings provide a consistent name, address and phone number (“NAP”).

Local directories and name, address, phone number (NAP)

Getting your site listed in directories is still valuable for local SEO, where you can send the search engines signals about where your business is located. The trick is ensuring you are sending search engines precise data about your business name, address and phone number (NAP) using these local directories.

There are several directories that are really effective for NAP syndication. Getting your site listed accurately and consistently in these directories will help your business visibility for local search queries.

Here are some local directories worth submitting your website to for local SEO:

• https://www.google.com/business/
• https://www.bingplaces.com/
• https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/local
• https://www.yellowpages.com/
• https://www.hotfrog.com/
• https://www.superpages.com/
• https://www.merchantcircle.com/
• https://www.elocal.com/
• http://www.brownbook.net/