Is site directory with "dofollow" links still effective?

Question

I am planning to create site directory, but I learned that Google consider site directories as low quality. They emphasized that without any editorial effort to maintain a web directory and without continues effort to update them will bound to fail. I clearly understand the Google algo updates. I need your analysis if creating a more modern way for site directory can still be possible now today.

What I'm planning to do:

• Review sites that are not spammy before adding to directory
• Put a "dofollow" link without anchor text
• Make sure that all contents are unique and meaningful to visitors
• No keyword stuffing
• No misleading content

If I do these does Google consider my site as a high quality one even though I pass PageRank?

I am planning to place it in the subdomain, does it affect the rank on my main domain or just on the subdomain itself?

Answer 1

Generic web directories are what are considered low quality and have been devalued by search engines. These are the types of web directories that will actually do more harm than good if they link back to a website.

Niche or well maintained, legitimate business directories can still serve value and perform well. As long as you think about the end user and not search engines, you should not face any problems.

Answer 2

Here's my opinion. Directories are old-fashioned. They worked well (SEO-wise) many years ago but nowadays, Google can easily detect your site is a directory and thus most probably classifies your site under a special category. That's why, unless you think about a very new and very good concept (unfortunately, when you list features, I don't think it's the case), I wouldn't recommend to launch a directory.

Moreover, as you mentioned, it takes a lot of time to maintain and thus are many chances to give up in few months.

Otherwise, Google considers subdomains as different sites than main domain. That's why a subdomain can't affect SEO of the main domain.