Link Directory Verification & Quality Policy

About this directory: You don't need to pay $300 for backlinks - and you shouldn't have to cross your fingers they'll still be there next month. This directory exists to provide a free, fair, and transparent way for small businesses, content sites, and link builders to connect: businesses get citations and exposure, content sites get traffic and outreach, and link builders get vetted opportunities. Listings are free for businesses; subscriptions payers receive access to vetted contact details - not guaranteed links.

Quick summary - how we operate

• Businesses: Free listing. Provide accurate NAP (if applicable) and a working contact URL.
• Directory team: Manual review for quality. Verified pages get a verification badge and optional LocalBusiness schema.
• Subscribers: Pay for access to vetted contact details to perform outreach. We do not sell or guarantee links.

The rules (what it takes to be listed)

Every submission is evaluated against these baseline requirements:

• Accurate NAP (if local): Business name, street address (when applicable), city, region, postal code, country, and phone number. If a business requests schema markup, full postal address is required.
• Working contact page: A live contact form, contact email, or contact URL that actually works. If contact attempts fail, the listing can't be verified.
• Real content: The website must have meaningful, original content. No doorway pages, thin affiliate pages, or obvious PBN-style link farms.
• Category relevance: The business/site must match the chosen directory category (no irrelevant or random submissions).
• No restricted niches: We do not list adult, illegal, malicious, or clearly spammy sites.
• Permission & consent: By submitting, the owner consents to public listing of their data (we provide a removal mechanism).

What "Verified" means - the checklist

A listing is given a Verified badge only after a human reviewer confirms the following:

• Contact page or submission method is functional (we verify delivery of sample message or working link).
• Website contains genuine content of sufficient length and utility (no thin or auto-generated pages).
• NAP shown on the submission form matches the information on the website (if local business).
• Business/site is relevant to the category and does not violate site rules.
• If requested and eligible, we add LocalBusiness JSON-LD schema to the listing page.

Verification process (internal steps - for your team)

Use this as your checklist when processing new submissions:

1. Review the site for quality and relevance (content, UX, no spam).
2. Check contact page works (send a test message to confirm delivery if needed).
3. Confirm site has actual content (not auto-generated or doorway pages).
4. If requirements met: add to the directory database and create an individual listing page (SEO-friendly URL).
5. If the listing is local and has a full address: add JSON-LD LocalBusiness schema on that listing page.
6. Send approval or rejection email to the submitter (template below).

Link attributes & SEO safety (how we protect the directory)

To avoid link-farm signals and stay compliant with search engines, we follow a hybrid link policy:

• Unverified listings: outbound site links use rel="nofollow ugc". (This reduces risk and encourages owners to get verified.)
• Verified listings: outbound site links are editorial (standard links, dofollow). Our verified badge documents our editorial choice.
• Optional conservative option: use rel="sponsored nofollow" for any links that look commercial or paid.

Why this works: Google distinguishes curated directories from automated link dumps. Manual review + context + schema = editorial intent.

Listing pages & site structure (technical signals)

• Each listing gets its own unique URL: /link-directory/business-name/. (Indexable, crawlable pages.)
• Include a short business description, categories, NAP (if applicable), verification badge/date, and JSON-LD (for verified local businesses).
• Paginate category/search results (20-30 items per page) - don't dump hundreds of links on a single page.
• Provide a "Report this listing" button - that's a trust signal for both users and search engines.

Subscriber terms (what paid users must follow)

• Subscribers pay for access to contact details and advanced filters. This is access to opportunities, not a guarantee of links.
• Contact details provided are for outreach only - reselling or redistributing contact data is prohibited.
• Abuse (spammy outreach, harassment, scraping) may result in immediate account suspension and loss of access.
• Subscribers must not attempt to coerce or pay the directory to guarantee link placement - we do not sell links.

Removal, corrections & dispute policy

If a business requests removal or correction:

• Contact us at: [The Professor's Contact Form] with the listing URL and requested change.
• We aim to process removal/edit requests within 24 hours (business days).
• If a listing is found to be spammy/malicious, we will remove it immediately and notify subscribers if required.

Transparency & auditability

• We publish this verification policy publicly so businesses, subscribers, and search engines understand how listings are handled.
• Verification timestamps and the name of the reviewer are recorded on each verified listing page for accountability.
• We regularly audit listings and may revoke verification if a site falls below standards.

JSON-LD example (LocalBusiness) - for verified local listings

Example NAP citation listings for verified local businesses:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "LocalBusiness",
  "name": "Business Name",
  "image": "https://example.com/logo.png",
  "@id": "https://laughingprofessor.net/link-directory/business-name/",
  "url": "https://business-website.example",
  "telephone": "+1-304-237-5499",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "123 Main St",
    "addressLocality": "Hinton",
    "addressRegion": "WV",
    "postalCode": "25951",
    "addressCountry": "US"
  },
  "openingHoursSpecification": [{
    "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
    "dayOfWeek": ["Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday"],
    "opens": "09:00",
    "closes": "17:00"
  }],
  "sameAs": ["https://facebook.com/example","https://instagram.com/example"]
}

Sample Verifier Email (use for approve/reject)

Use this template after you complete your verification checklist:

Subject: Your Link Directory Submission - [Approved / Rejected]

Hi [Name],

Thanks for submitting [Business Name] to the Laughing Professor Link Directory.

[If approved:]
Good news - your listing has been approved and is now live:
Listing URL: https://laughingprofessor.net/link-directory/[business-slug]/
Status: VERIFIED
What we did: We confirmed your contact page works, checked content quality, and (if applicable) added LocalBusiness schema to your listing. Your public NAP is included on the listing page.

If you'd like changes (description, categories, phone), reply to this message with the corrections and we'll update it.

[If rejected:]
We reviewed your submission and could not approve it at this time due to: [reason - e.g., thin content, contact page not functional, category mismatch, restricted content].
Please correct the issues listed above and resubmit.

Questions? Contact: [The Professor's Contact Form]

Thanks,
The Laughing Professor Team

Final notes - why this keeps the directory safe

The approach here is simple and defensible: we curate, we add context, and we publish structured data. We do not sell guaranteed links or accept bulk auto-approvals. That keeps your directory useful for humans, useful for businesses, and safe from the kind of automated link schemes Google dislikes.