There are so many directories. Most of these suck! Many of these provide zero value to the web. Why would someone use one? There are no signals of quality.
Look at Yahoo, DMOZ, etc. These were once strong. Now, Yahoo’s directory is invisible to the user. The collaborative model at DMOZ was a fine vision, but now the editors have disappeared.
Niche and vertical directories are completely different. A niche directory with an active, involved curator is fantastic! Look at industry directories. Industry trade magazines are maintaining directories specific to their industry. These are likely higher in authority and trusted by Google. Many of these are manually curated by a human and deserve this level of trust.
So, how do you know if you are looking at a good or bad one? If its maintained by an industry trade group, magazine or organization. This has tremendous value. Ask who is the owner of this directory and what is their reason for maintaining it? Researching these things takes some work. There is not a directory of good directories. You have to go through each one and ask the question.
allintitle: <subject> directory | links
The result of these directories or links pages is a valuable backlink.
Always ask the AllNaturalLinks.com key question. Would I want this link if there was no Google?
