Ask SEO consultants about the power of links from directories and most will tell you that directories are no more than link farms. I will tell you that this simply is not true! Of course I realise some directories are indeed no better than spam sites but I will say there are some real gems out there.
When I first started out as a gambling affiliate I will be honest and say I simple purchased my rankings. Each quarter I would spend a small fortune on links. Looking back I did not have a clue about the quality of links I was buying as I simply purchased links with PR as many affiliates still do today. I soon realised this was false economy as I would have to keep renewing links for eternity. Now I’m not saying that I will never buy links again, or I’m not saying that gambling affiliates should or should not be buying links. I’m just saying that I wanted to increase my ROI by not spending so much each quarter. The answer was to build my own network.
During the last couple of years I have built a decent network that feeds my earning sites. Part of this network I will admit consists of gambling directories. As I now understand url and domain metrics I can tell you that many of my directories have great power and can quickly increase the SERPs of a new key phrase I may target. I have proved this to myself by targeting key phrases with directory links alone.
I have a network of general directories. Some of the biggest SEO companies online have been happy to purchases links on these directories on behalf of the biggest companies in the world. Why would they do this if directories were no better than link farms?
Many affiliates simply wrote off link building with directories years when I believe it was reported Google made a statement regarding the value of directory links. If I believed every Google statement then I would be waiting years for my sites to gain back links naturally. The gambling affiliate niche is one of the toughest plus most profitable sectors to work in. We have to fight for our rankings with some of the best SEO minds online. You are not going to win a war with sticks when the opposition have tanks!
