Paid directories: They mean business.

Directories are great for SEO. Get a link in the right place and under the right category, then your website will receive a lot of link value. Good directories nowadays, while scarce, can also prove to be very costly. But is it all worth it? If you have the money to set aside, then yes. We think it is.

Now when I mention scarce, I refer to the very few online directories that Google actually still values as a genuine, objective contributor of links – not your standard ‘link farm’. Google’s continuing push towards local search through relevancy and user value means that the old-school, ad-dense directory has a pretty bleak future. Check out our post on the death of the online directory if you haven’t already.

The following paid directories are to be considered unique because they each have a business relationship with Google that is known to be acknowledged. Let’s look at the big three:

1. Yahoo paid directory – Google acknowledges Yahoo! as a prevalent industry threat. As a fellow search engine, Google understands that Yahoo! is built on its own unique search algorithm and therefore has its own measures in place for determining the relevancy and objectivity of a link. Conversely, Yahoo’s very own online directory receives a lot of street cred from the search engine at Google, the domain authority is extremely high and is passed down to links listed in their respective categories. Yahoo’s paid directory is one of the oldest, and most respected available on the web – and it is respected because people actually use it.
2. Botw.org –The oldest directory on the web, that isn’t owned by a search engine. This website has been around since 1994, and has a stringent selection criteria. While this site is expensive to maintain, it has been known to pay the higher ranking dividends. All of the big players have their business listed here – Definitely worth checking out!
3. Business.com – Another paid inclusion directory, and one of the top 4 on the web. This site passes on a whopping page rank of 7/10.
4. DMOZ.org – A google endorsed open directory project. While this directory website is free to list your business, it is exceptionally hard to gain approval. To get listed in DMOZ, your site needs to be seen as a positive web contributor… A little more than a commercial entity.

If you’ve been thinking about a paid inclusion, Yahoo! directory is definitely something you might want to try out. It’s not as costly as the privately owned directories, and the link value passed on from inclusion should be enough for you to see an impactful result on your search rankings.