In a world where search engines measure the ‘value’ of your site according the number of relevant links to and from it, installing a link directory – when done properly – is a very good idea. A link directory can allow you to exchange or trade links with other related websites seeking to improve their own search rankings. Best of all, a link directory is free! Read on to find out how your site can use a link directory to boost your search engine rankings.

Some tips to remember when making a link directory

Moderation is important: Gone are the days when websites with thousands upon thousands of links were king. Nowadays, search engines are much more perceptive – they only rank your site high if they know that your link directory contains entries that are related and relevant. Do not link to sites that have absolutely no relationship with the purpose of yours just for the sake of linking. Search engines can now tell if a link directory is ‘unnatural’ – they already have methods of determining link relevancy based on theme, popularity, and other factors. Linking haphazardly actually does your search engine ranking more harm than good, so do it in moderation.

Organize and categorize: Search engines are likely to ignore your website if you have an unsystematic link directory. This is because search engines interpret disorganized link directories as ‘link farms’ – those sites with no content and only links to myriad of unrelated destinations, which are undesirable for both the engine and the human reader. The best defense is to clearly organize your link directory. Categorize the links and whenever necessary, make new pages for new topics. Link directory experts say that you should create a subcategory for every 30 links or so to make your navigation bar easier to scroll through, and also easier for search engines to read.

Make your link directory conspicuous: Your reason for installing a link directory should never be just because you want to boost your search engine ratings – you should sincerely want the links to be seen by visitors to your site, too. That is, after all, the point of a link directory – you are promoting other sites as they are promoting yours. Unless you are guilty of liking totally unrelated sites for sketchy reasons, there is no sense in hiding link directories, is there?

A good link directory is therefore very visible. When the webmasters of the sites you invite to link up with your site sees that your link directory is conspicuous and that their link would be given importance in our site’s layout, then they are more likely to accept your offer.