SEO: Link Directory Organization - by Liz Jackson
After evaluating a website’s overall design as well as the link directory location and accessibility, link partners then evaluate the general organization and design of the link directory itself. Many site owners do not understand the importance of a well organized link directory. Most directories start with main categories such as computers, business, travel, etc, which then include sub-categories. Within the sub-categories are additional sub-categories. Link partners will be looking at the page rank of each of these pages within the directory as well as the content on each page. They will want their link to be on a page with good content including relevant keywords. Having a well organized directory with multiple levels of sub-categories helps ensure that this is the case. The more well organized a directory, the more relevant each page within the link directory will be to each link on that page. For instance, a Logo Design site will want their link to be in the most specific category possible. This will ensure that their link will be on a relevant page and surrounded by plenty of keywords such as logos, logo, design and graphics. Ideally, the category logo design would be most appropriate, because that would ensure that most of the site descriptions in that category would include plenty of those keywords. If the directory does not have a category specifically for logo design, the next specific category could be graphic design. Although somewhat less specific, this category would still contain some relevant keywords.
Good organization will also help the pages within the link directory to eventually increase page rank because of their relevance. Some directories lump every link partner URL in one group, or have just a few large categories to choose from. This results in pages with a large amount of non-specific content since the links on those pages may or may not be at all related. The values of these pages are not as high as many link partners would like and such sites therefore attract fewer link partners. Overall, it is very important to put thought into the organization of your website’s directory to help ensure that your site attracts and maintains quality link partners and also consistently increases its page rank.