Member Avatar for superspudnuts

Hi all

While busy trying to gain quality links for my site, I have come accross quite a few directory sites which will offer a listing for a fee and without me having to link back to them.

Are these sites worth the cost and how does google view this (will it know I have bought and paid for links and if so will my rankings be punished for this)?

If the page where my listing is going to be has a page rank from google does this mean it is safe to list my site there and may even help to imrove my rankings?

Many thanks in advance.

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Dani AI

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Short answer: paid directory listings rarely move the SEO needle by themselves. They can still be worthwhile for targeted, well-moderated directories that send real referral traffic or improve visibility in a niche, but they are not a reliable way to "buy" rankings. Any paid link should be disclosed (for example with rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow") so it is not treated as a link scheme.

A quick vetting checklist before paying:

  • Editorial process: ask how listings are reviewed, what percentage are rejected, and whether humans approve submissions.
  • Relevance: a niche or local directory tied to your industry is more valuable than generic directories.
  • Link placement: in-content or category listings are better than site‑wide footer or sidebar links.
  • Link treatment: confirm they will mark paid links as rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow".
  • Traffic and indexation: do pages get organic search traffic and are listing pages indexed?
  • Outbound link density: pages stuffed with hundreds of links are low quality.
  • Pricing model: one-time fee for a curated listing can be OK; recurring fees for a low-quality placement are a red flag.

What to do if you already paid or are considering it: insist on the rel attribute, avoid exact‑match anchor text, track referral traffic (use campaign tags), and treat the listing as a branding/referral play rather than a pure SEO hack. Monitor Search Console for manual actions and backlink tools for spammy growth; disavow only after trying to remove or correct bad links and if there is a real problem.

Building on points from , , and : vet editorial quality, don’t rely on old signals like toolbar PageRank (it’s no longer a reliable public metric), and prefer earned, content-driven links or niche citations over broad paid-directory bulk submissions.

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Member Avatar for jay 11

Google engineer Matt Cutts actually commented on this exact question about a year ago.

To summarize, he basically says it is OK as long as the Directory provides an editorial review service. In other words, does the directory reject spammy sites?

Member Avatar for quicktpgo

Hi all

While busy trying to gain quality links for my site, I have come accross quite a few directory sites which will offer a listing for a fee and without me having to link back to them.

Are these sites worth the cost and how does google view this (will it know I have bought and paid for links and if so will my rankings be punished for this)?

If the page where my listing is going to be has a page rank from google does this mean it is safe to list my site there and may even help to imrove my rankings?

Many thanks in advance.

Directory Submissions don't work as great as it used to. In fact, Google does not give too much importance to web directories nowadays.

And you need to check the PR of directories you are offered. If they are less than yours. There is no need to link to them I think.

Member Avatar for dailyearner

i suggest you try social bookmarking service

Member Avatar for infinique

There are no quality directories out there except DMOZ and BOTW. Other link directories are more associated with link farms as many has got more than 200 links on every page. Google webmaster tool guidelines recommends less than 100 links on any single page.

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