Google's Issues With Most Web Directories: Little Content

[djbaxter]

Google's Issues With Most Web Directories: Little Content
by Barry Schwartz, Search Engine Roundtable
Jan 17, 2013

A Google Webmaster Help thread has a webmaster who launched a business web directory in the Netherlands complaining his ranking is really poor.

As you know, less than a year ago, Google began removing directories from the index. But why? Why does Google dislike web directories?

The main reason is they lack unique and valuable content - for the most part.

Read more...

 

[mborgelt]

Interesting and thanks for sharing.

What is interesting to me is that I have a free directory that has very little content on it except for the business listings and it gets ...what I think is a lot of traffic...for me never doing any SEO or anything with it. I just built it and now it gets traffic.

Makes me think I need to get back in and play with it more.

 

[djbaxter]

I have the same - a free niche directory for mental health resources. Not a huge amount of traffic but definitely some. But what niche directories have in the plus column is that they are themed and that may count for something, maybe quite a bit. The key is to ensure that all entries are manually screened for content and quality.

 

[mborgelt]

I can see your point on the niche directory being left alone because of the purpose it serves....but I dont monitor the listings of it.

 

[djbaxter]

I can see your point on the niche directory being left alone because of the purpose it serves....but I dont monitor the listings of it.

Sadly, that sets you up to become a link spammer's paradise.

 

[mborgelt]

I guess I should say I dont let people freely add information. I just get a database of information and update the directory.

But I hear what you're saying.