DoFollow Portal - a Do Follow Directory with reviews

Hello,

As I promised in some of my older posts, I was working on a DoFollow portal, a place where site owners can submit their community friendly websites (blogs, directories, classifieds, forums etc.).

I came up with this idea when I tried to find a place where I can choose dofollow sites classified by topics or nieches. There are pretty few sites and they are only directories (most of them based on the good ol' phpLD).

So I approached joomla to build this website. It's very flexible and extremely SEO friendly.

Some of the features this directory offers are:

- It's completely free (of course, you also have the option to feature your listings for a small fee as low as $1.67/mo);
- Multiple categories assignment for websites;
- Users can add reviews about websites;
- The websites owners can reply reviews but they cannot delete them;
- Short/Long description;
- Meta description & keywords;
- Tags;
- Image gallery / logo;
- SEF urls;
- Category proposal;
- Manual verification of your website proposal;
- Certificate issued (a linked image displaying the classic badge "U Comment I Follow" - 100% DoFollow). You can view a sample if you go to my personal website.
- Specify moderation type for user posted content;
- Specify areas where users can contribute with content;
- Specify if user registration is mandatory or not;
- Specify website language;
- Add YouTube video;
- Advanced search by all the parameters above;
- Display Google Page Rank (but you cannot sort listings by this parameter);
- Contact listing owner;
- Recommend to a friend;
- Print listing;
- Report listing;
- Claim listing;
- others will come in the future;

Now, you may consider a few cons like too much advertising. But considering me and my team are working hard to check every submitted website and moderate reviews, all for free... some advertising is our little reward.

We'll also try to help you with support removing the nofollow attribute from your sites and we have a forum for this purpose. Actually we'll try to offer as much support as we can in that forum.

Any other suggestions are welcome before launching the website and after

The website address is www.dofollowportal.com.

Thanks for your attention,

Marius.

 

I think you need to use some mixed color in your site, looks good. Just replace it..

 

Thanks for your reply. But please tell me, what do you mean by mixed color? More colors than blue, black and white?

If I change the links colors will they look better? I was thinking about orange or red. What's your opinion?

Thanks!

 

The concept and idea is great, so is the template and colors. Good Job.

 

Thanks, thestrangefruit,

1. Did anyone try to register and go through all the options when proposing a website? I want to know if I was clear enough for a well understanding of each of these options.
2. What about the certificate idea? Will it work or encourage people to contribute with content on the websites where it's being displayed?

I will add this forum as a listing and automatically generate the certificate and I'll post it here.

I was also thinking about creating more versions of this certificate. Right now there is only one version 160x160 px.

 

looks good
good look

 

Thanks, but I really appreciate useful comments. You seem to aim a high number of posts in a short time, do you?

 

I added some more custom parameters for listings...

- Specify moderation type for user posted content;
- Specify areas where users can contribute with content;
- Specify if user registration is mandatory or not;
- Specify website language;
- Specifiy link posting cost (free, paid or both);
- Specify affiliate links allowance;
- Specify if you offer incentives for users contributions;
- Add YouTube video;

You can view the full features list here.

Come on buddies, don't be shy to comment. I need some qualified opinions to get this website going. It will benefit all of us!

I would also like to have some volunteers to test the site from an average user point of view. I offer 3 featured listings (for 3 months worth $10.97) for the first 3 volunteers! I just need them to tell me if they understood all the options and make suggestions to make them easier to understand.

And also, I need some suggestions about the badge above. The one that's available now is (U Comment I Follow) but this situation is not very accurate. Should I make more versions like U Post I Follow / U Contribute I Follow etc.? I know U Comment I Follow sounds like a brand slogan that's why I'm asking.

Thanks again!

 

Your idea is noteworthy, but one change in google or yahoo could
negate your work.

Nevertheless, it is somewhat of an answer to my post .


Good luck !

 

my idea is simple but eye catching
people able find what they want to without more efforts
i prefer to put category menu on upper column

 

Hello,

your site's concept is good. I also have a DoFollow blog LinkCity Pro so I know how important and rewarding it is for webmasters to find Link juice. Now here are a few things that I did not like about your site, which once improved can give your site a more professional look:

1. Your site's favicon is different than your logo.
2. your logo does not look professional at all. Change it as soon as possible or have someone create a professional logo for you. You can have a contest or something here at DP.
3. The dark blue banner does not look good at all.
4. I don't see any option to add or submit a site button on the landing page. I see an option to create an account, but don't you think it should say something like submit your site or something?
5. So I decided to create the account and see what happens. The message that I received after the registration "Your account has been created and an activation link has been sent to the e-mail address you entered. Note that you must activate the account by clicking on the activation link when you get the e-mail before you can login." is not aligned properly. The first line is tabbed inwards.
6. Once logged in, I still don't see a Add a website link.
7. Also, every time I click on one of the member links in the sidebar for example "My Listings", i have to scroll down for the form. A few times, I thought it was reloading the same page over and over again.
8. Why are you having people create the categories?
9. OK, so now I got sick of it and left. I didn't see any option to submit my site anywhere.

Thanks and good luck,

 

IMHO, you should redesign your logo.. round type font make it feel not serious imho

 

n dont forget to change your mini icon (for browser tab/address bar)

 

You're right, but even if major search engines will ignore the nofollow attribute the directory will be valuable for the information it provides (allow/not allow links, type of posts moderation, link posting paid/not paid, affiliate links allowed/not allowed, user registration yes/no etc.).

BTW, thanks for that resource, you made my life easier

 

I try to understand what you said here but it's more like a guessing skill.

I tried to raise the categories just below the fold by reducing the amount of ads under the first two columns (now one ad per unit). After a while I'll try a different position for the modules I told you to see which ads units convert better.

 

Thanks for your HO

I made a temporary logo, sort of mirror effect and narrower.

 

I changed the favicon to match the logo (I chose the F letter). How does it look now?

 

Hi, HolyInsomniac,

That's what I call a review! I really appreciate your effort!

Now I'll try to answer to each problem you have found.

1. Sorted, thanks! I missed that
2. I managed to make a temporary logo and as soon as the site will bring some money I will start a logo contest for a professional one. Thanks for this tip.
3. I removed it and left only one search box, on the top right corner (CSE). The "real" site search box is below, on the right hand side.
4. I listened to your suggestion and created a listing information page as a guide on how to comply with some basic rules and how to add a listing. I put this item in the top menu labeled "Add a Website".
5. Sorted, thanks! I also changed the info box background to green - OK, red - error and orange - notification.
6. You couldn't see an "Add a website" link because you didn't leave the root category. You could see such a link in every category/subcategory EXCEPT the root folder. Now I made the "Add your website here" link much bigger than before.
7. Is it because of the two modules "Latest Listings" and "Top Listings"? If so, I have have a reason to move these boxes below the fold.
8. You probably misunderstood the Add Category concept. I renamed it to "Suggest a Category". That's because I might miss some popular categories when I created them and I let people suggest what they need and if I think it's good to be a category I'll publish it. IE someone suggested American Soccer as a primary category. I moved it under the Sports and published it.
9. Sorry for pissing you off with bad navigation but you really helped me with your experience! I promise I will give you the 3 months featured listings for 3 websites or 9 months for one website. Just add it

Thanks again for your help! Rep. added

 

No more reviews or opinions? Ready to launch? Hmm... I don't think so...