Matt Cutts Confirms That Article Directories Are Toxic To the Health of Your Site
Over recent years we have seen the rise and fall of all kinds of link building techniques, many of which that have never been outside the area of breaching Google guidelines however Google are stepping up their defences and are finally taking action on what many would consider to be one of the lowest forms of link buildings, article directory submission.
As with many of the now redundant link building techniques that have fallen by the wayside over recent times, article marketing was a widely used tactic that would allow users to submit content into a low quality website with the sole aim of providing keyword rich backlinks into your site in the hope that they would boost your organic ranking, something that used to work unfortunately.
Although article directory submission techniques are rare within the leading SEO companies these days, there are still individuals that incorporate the tactic into their profile building plan, pushing hundreds of low quality and often spun content into masses of article directories filled with thousands of duplicated, scraped and spun content, meaning that Google naturally believe the sites to be of very little value to anyone using their search engine, if any at all.
Speaking to the masses through a Webmaster Help video, Matt Cutts addressed the technique directly, answer a question that was directed at article directory sites specifically:
In the video, Cutts gives a roundabout answer explaining that he would not recommend using article directories, even if related to your niche, as a platform on which to build your backlink profile, giving a more decisive answer via the social networking site Twitter:
Today's webmaster video: "Should I build links using article directories?" http://t.co/LBeODA2gve (No)
— Matt Cutts (@mattcutts) January 29, 2014
Article directories have never been something that we have even contemplated using in our link building plans due to the vast amount of sites out there that are simply generated from 100% scraped and duplicated content, giving off a strong sense that the site is not going to be seen as quality by Google in any month of Sundays, so we strongly advise that you avoid using article directories too.
In the world of post-Panda updates, even exploring such methods are going to prove to be costly on not only the time front but also financially if the online medium is the main aspect of income for your business.
You can see the latest video that covers the question below:
8 Comments
Pascal - http://www.myseosolution.de/
Could you please quote the part of Matt’s answert that you think qualifies your claim of “Article Directories are Toxic To the Health of Your Site”?
Although I agree with the general intention of that claim, I don’t think that’s what Matt said. I might be wrong but I think that’s an interpretation from you of what he said and your title is “a bid” misleading on that end.
Cheers
Pascal
Alex Graves
Hi Pascal,
The term toxic can be read into a number of ways, the definition in the pathology sense means harmful, which I think you will agree is the case both in general opinion as well as what is being advised within the video.
As you can see from the article, there is no quote of Matt saying those terms directly and I provide the video so that you can draw your own conception of what is being said.
To check my definition you can take a look at http://www.thefreedictionary.com/toxic.
Thanks for your comment.
Andrew
Not sure how this is news. It would be news if Matt Cutts said article directories were no problem and Google viewed them as authorative citations.
Alex Graves
@Andrew – I know that this is not something that is going to bowl you over but there are still people out there offering article directory submissions and trying to sell the service to people who know no better.
At least now there is something out there that simply says… No.
Will I think that it will stop others being hit with all this? No as there isn’t enough in the more public (out side industry) communities to tell the old guy with the car garage down the road not to listen to the false promises that he has from someone moonlighting as an SEO with the sole aim to get $5 for the automation of a blast of an article spinner and submission software…
Vamsi - http://www.stugon.com
Particularly, I’ve never believed in article directories as most of ‘em are filled with scraped and duplicate content. Finally, a clear answer to back it up!!!
Jenna Moss - http://www.island-state.com/
Thanks @Alex sharing the great post..
Patrice - http://www.sitepenalise.fr
From what i understand, he says that you upload one article that is going to be relayed by other sites, that would be duplicated content in that case. He doesn’t talk at all about just a single article not duplicated on other sites… Also, what if you don’t use rich anchor text ? His answer is far from complete…
Alex Graves
Hi Patrice,
The issue is more of a wider scale than simply being how you link into your site using article directories, instead of being about the content of said article that you are looking to publish, the theory is based on the article sites themselves and their inability to be able to produce quality on the most part.
Many article directories are unmoderated and that results in masses of duplicate, spun and low quality articles being produced and pushed into the general online world, which is simply making Google’s battle to improve search engine results harder from the moment that they are submitted.
As with most things, if there was to be a site that was highly moderated, maintained a strict guideline process and ensured quality, that site would be held in higher regard but the lure of free backlinks clearly attracts the masses and so it becomes unmaintainable for many.