Part 4 – Should i go with free directories or paid directories for link building?

This post is for people who try to build links for their websites through web directories. They always fall in a big doubt whether it is good if you submit your websites to paid directories(due to google’s recent attach on paid links) or is it good if we submit our website to a free directory.

In my view, the time of free directories is gone, as they are all just turned to big spam boxes and link farms as its really hard for a single owner of a directory to spend hours to approve quality listings and delete others. And so, they just approve everything in bulk. This not only hurts the directory’s quality but also will affect the websites listed due to the bad quality of the directory. Having good PR in a free directory isn’t at all enough. Pure editorial dedication is needed from the owner or has to have editors who can work well to keep the directory clean and of good quality.

Now coming to a paid directory, Who said that Google hates a paid web directory? If that’s so, then why are many directories including Yahoo!, Business.com, and many other directories still working very well with great serps? Don’t yahoo and Business.com directory charge for listing your website in their index?

My only suggestion is that don’t fall into wrong words from a few directory haters that paid directories are waste of investment and money. You are paying mostly for a permanent business listing in it and this will get you a quality backlink(for SEO purpose) and some traffic(for promotion purpose).

So final conclusion remains, you have to pay sometimes to get better, rather than going free and downgrading your websites quality.