With all the recent developments in the web directory industry a common question in certain webmaster forums has been “how can we build links if we can’t use web directories?”.

In the past the very first piece of advice given to new webmasters was to list their site at a number of relevant directories so it is understandable that people are getting worried. In reality the recent issues are only going to affect the people who hang around in webmaster forums advising users to submit to hundreds of directories.

Most knowledgeable internet marketing professionals have been aware of the potential problems directories face for some time now and have been building a broad range of links, just in case some stop being effective. Relying on one type of link source has never been a good strategy and never will be.

Most web directories will continue to be good value as long as Google ranks sites based on quality links, these are niche directories that list sites to help users rather than to help the sites they list.

Niche directories that are built on the back of trusted sites such as this are always going to pass huge value no matter what actions Google decides to take on more general directories.

My advice to people struggling to build links is to create relationships with as many sites as you can. Make friends with webmasters, link to them, buy them lunch at a conference, help them with their sites and do anything to make sure people know who you are. Once you have a relationship with a site it becomes far easier to ask them for a link.