Methods for Improving the Directory Sector

I agree too, a completely non profit blog/site, it keeps it focused on its purpose and doesn't turn into something it shouldn't be.

 

I like the idea of an accreditation badge similar to VS Dan's old model. Of course this would require a lot of work by somebody but if it was done well it could be monetised as I think most sincere owners would be willing to pay for the advantage of displaying it.

David replied to my pm to him:

 

forget anything about making a profit
unless you start out with something simple and easy to setup it will go no further than this thread

I'm not surprised with David's response to the request to remove the free version
ain't gonna happen

 

A directory accreditation scheme could not possibly be simple and easy. It would require constant monitoring of proposed and accredited sites for a plethora of standard requirements.

 

I personally support this suggestion. Free script of directory software really creates tons of low quality directories.

 

Free LD scripts are great but more resources of them wil make some difference in looks,
Every Directory must have some Quality Standards so as to assume that directory really want to share some stuff to web not just spam.

 

well don't do an accreditation scheme do something that is easy to setup for now and let it grow into something
just make it without revenue to show it is transparent and a genuine attempt at offering information and advice to directory submitters and webmasters

 

Free directory scripts have always been available. As long as folks keep calling directory scripts without a database directories and there is a remote chance a dollar can be made the billion or so people in impoverished nations with limited education will continue to crank out directory scripts. Educating the public as to what not to waste their money on and not supporting fly by night operators in any way is about all you can do.

 

I don't know how much free directory script are creating problem for us....but I hate .co.cc directory and now I'm going to kick it from my submit page.

 

actually having a database has nothing to do with being a directory
a web page with sites categorized on it is a directory also

I also don't think you can blame "people in impoverished nations with limited education" (whoever they are) for the poor quality directories.
anyone who thinks they can make money on a directory will set one or a thousand of them up no matter who they are or where they are from.

 

That's a good example of how to not support the directory scam industry. Another would be not to publish directory scripts with unedited submissions and without a good database. If the domains don't get published in anything legit nobody is going to find them and they will be forced back to the UK lottery scam.

 

Wrong, the database is the most important aspect of any quality directory.

 

wrong, the content is the most important not how the content is stored/accessed
there are some very good pages of links just on simple html pages
a script just makes things easier but doesn't change the quality of the content

 

I won't argue with such wisdom. My experience normal speaks for itself.

 

syted, give me some specifications on the accreditation badge you're refering to.

 

That made absolutely no sense at all.

I could have the greatest content in the world on my site, however, if the accessing of the content takes 2 minutes for a page to load, ummm... I'm sure you get the point.

case in point: accessibility and a refined db infrastructure is the absolute most important aspect of any database driven website.


edit:

You are talking about 'educating' the masses, when you yourself have no idea what you're talking about.

Hey people, here's an idea: before providing education, lets first try and find someone who IS actually educated that can provide some input. I'd take experience over self-proclamation any day.

and discover, I very rarely give out red reputation, but when I do, I sign it so as to take out the guess work.

 

I agree that some sort of accreditation may be good. It seems to me that for one to have any meaning or credibility major directories would have to be on board with it.

For example how credible would a directory quality standards board look that did not have places like yahoo participating in it. But then a place like yourbrandnewpr10freedirectory.com were in there.

 

Yeah, this is the hard part. The accreditation that everyone is talking about would be a good idea, but I think it would be hard to monetize (and make it worth it). Our directory list site has the lowest return on investment of any site we run. It's in the bottom 2/3rds in terms of revenue, but takes more time than any of the other sites (in adding new directories and keeping the list clean). So accreditation would take even more time. It would be a huge undertaking.

Another thing that could be done is the various list owners could come up with what they consider the criteria for quality directories then put a very prominent link to the "quality guidelines" on their sites. Maybe then webmasters and SEO companies might focus on quality over quantity.

I've also considered setting up some criteria for pruning my list (like removing any directory that's been in my list for more than a year and isn't indexed by Google or still has a PR N/A, or a huge number of directories on the same IP, etc.). If we could get all the major list owners to prune (with an agreed set of criteria or even with their own "crap" criteria) we could lower the exposure that the crap directories get.

Those are just a couple of ideas I've had from the directory list owner/user point of view...rather than the directory owner point of view.

 

Yeah I understand what your saying. Personally I was driving more towards ways we could make improvements to the directory sector going forward rather than trying to come up with a new way to make a buck....

Not supporting them is a great idea - I could add a little suggestion to that also - Don't generate lists of them and promote them on sites, forums or anywhere else.

Everyone seems to like education but only really mentions it conceptually. Where is the meat of it? Go educate the masses! Are there any specific suggestions to doing that?

 

maybe if I break it down for you

I was talking about how a database does not make a directory (as I mentioned also there are plenty of single page directories without a database) so I think you maybe just ran on a little bit when you should have been walking..or crawling

see above

unfortunately for you (but not for us) you don't have any final say on who does what either in this proposal or the forum.
if you don't like it or have a problem with me being part of it..well you know what you can do..

lol who cares, seriously