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Recently, one of the more popular directories Zeal was shut down by their parent company Look Smart. This stirred a flurry of activities that basically got people asking if directories were still relevant as a tool in search engine optimization. Not just that, there is the perceived idea that many directories are outdated and irrelevant and are probably just a waste of time and money. While there may be some truth in the fact that some directories are outdated and do not add any value to the search engines, research has shown that directories that are well taken care of and monitored are often great for your seo efforts. However, it helps to know what to look for in a directory before you can say that it offers some link value and will probably help a website rank higher on the search engines. 1. Do the Directories Rank Well? Google and other search engines are pretty strict about the quality of directories that get ranked on their search engines. So, look to see if the directories are frequently ranked on the search engines. This often signifies that the search engines see them as trustworthy sites. The value given to them will pass on to your website if it is listed, thus pushing your website further up the search engine results pages. 2. Look for the Frequent Site Crawling Directories should be frequently crawled by the search engines because of the consistent activity on them. However, if the directory’s categories aren’t crawled by the search engines frequently, odds are that the directory hasn’t been functional or useful in the recent past. Either that or the search engines believe it adds no editorial value to them. 3. Are There Quality Measures? The third thing to look out for is the quality measures and standards. While most directories accept a website for a fee and just list them, other reputable directories never do that. While they may take your money, they will also scrutinise your website to see if it measures up to the require standard. If it doesn't meet up, they will refund your money and remove your website from their queue. It is important for you to know that in spite of all these, directory submissions are still an effective SEO strategy when used well and can generate lots of backlinks and link juice to websites listed in the right directories.
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