We (along with everyone else, it seems) have gone back and forth on directories in the past six months: acknowledging that links from many of them are not as useful as they used to be, while proposing that listings in those of higher quality are still a valid, helpful link building method. A few prominent figures have been proclaiming the “death” of all directories, but this is certainly exaggerated (and wrong). Stuntdubl gives a more balanced view in Mr. Ploppyâs Monday Tool List – Volume XXVI – Directory Tools.

I still like many directories. When theyâre not built for the SOLE purpose of manipulating PR, they can be a very good addition to a siteâs backlinks. I donât think the directory model will ever completely die, but it does have itâs flaws. As a final note, donât go over board with getting ALL the directories in one sitting.

There’s a lot more there, go read it.

Rand Fishkin over at SEOmoz has posted a cracking article on how to get links when money won’t suffice.

What do you do when money doesn’t appeal to your link targets. This happens to me all the time – sometimes because they’re an educational institution, a non-profit or simply a webmaster who doesn’t want to “compromise”. If purchasing “advertising” links becomes impossible, there are some great ways around it that I’ve used successfully.

His ideas are link junkie required reading.

… is now a blogger. Some initial reactions:

• His posts actually contain some original ideas (pretty rare on SEO blogs these days)
• That might be the goofiest portrait I’ve ever seen

I just finished writing a rather long post at Threadwatch about the legality of linking. If you’re too lazy to read my rather encyclopedic rant, here is a two-point summary:

• A hyperlink is basically a reference. A reference, whether in your kid’s term paper or on your homepage, is (in and of itself) legal.
• Any reference, including a hyperlink, is bound by ‘normal’ laws which govern speech–e.g., you can’t slander someone, you can’t steal someone’s content, etc.

For a concise breakdown of what the average webmaster needs to know, I suggest Linking Legalities…What You Need to Know by Eric Ward.

Unless you live under a rock, I’m sure you’re aware of the (almost hilariousm, but not quite) Traffic Power lawsuit against Aaron Wall.

He is now accepting donations for his legal team.