Wow, this thread has people talking. I'm glad I'm not the only one who realized that directories now do need to evolve to become useful again. I'm not really sure if they will become a seperate entity or a gelling of applications already available. I'm also really happy to hear that other members here are creating new projects that hopefully will solve this problem. Skinny
Yeah I recently added keywords to my directory listings. I haven't seen another other directory with that feature. Example: http://www.addyoursitefreesubmit.com/view_detail/37528/
I offer links on my site that have email author and "tell-a-friend" attached to them. They really haven't caught on too well yet, but I'm seeing more and more people choosing the option. I agree, directories need to be a little more active on the user involvement side of things.
There was a site up for sale at DP a few weeks ago, OOZM, and had i had the cash i'd have loved to purchase it. The users decide the order of the listings in different categories (similar to digg / pligg system of voting). With a large user base, i see that site being a hit. It has a few other nice features too, such as using keywords urls to find relevant listings through its mini "search engine" feature. At the time of the sale, i really wanted to whip up something like that, but lack of time and technical nouse put pay to that! It's the kind of direction i'd like to see directories taking - user editing in a sense (there was another thread about combining a wiki with a directory on here that was also interesting) - oh and blogs are of course the web un-directory.
Hi, Yes it is tough to keep a directory interesting, I added a VB forum to mine to stimulate a community atmosphere and got it totally redesigned to give it a fresh professional look that is different to the run of the mill directories out there. Take a look at www.eBusinessDirectory.com and tell me what you think? By the way regular links are free till the end of the month Tommy
Surely a directory's main (and arguably only purpose) is to provide link backs to other sites. Some of the more popular ones will get searched a lot sure, but on average you are just looking at people submitting urls to massive numbers of directories in the hope that it will help their search engine rankings - i'm sure it does help with that to a degree. I only submit sites to directories to stay on par with the competition in terms of linking and search engine rankings, not to get ahead of them - because everyone goes down the traditional directory submission route. The fact that many directories these days are more or less link farms really de-values them in my eyes. But because many are free to submit to, they are an easy souce of links for people. I also take issue with the generalised view of what a web directory actually is - to me, a directory is simply a collection of links - whether they be embedded in text, or placed on a page alone with other links, whether they be packed into a single domain or spread over many. The difference between a good and a bad directory (in my eyes) is the quality of the links, and user experience and other aims come secondary to that. That is why to me, a blog network is just another type of directory, just not one in the traditional sense. Niche directories still have a place though i believe...
Keeping up with a directory would be easier if a webmaster only owns one or two instead of twenty. How about a webmaster working on one directory at a time.
Amen! couldn't have said it better myself. And because of this, that is one of the reasons I see directories having problems further down the road. I shall refer to them as the QBC (Quick Buck Crew).
Evolving is something that should be happening all the time. People bang up a script and thats all they do. It is true that many directories are useless for human eyes, and they could be so much more. They have a powerful script at their fingertips and only ever use the categorising aspect of it. What I would suggest is to not all go in the same direction. The whole reason this conversation exists is because everyone does the same thing. There is no creativity, and without that everyone looks the same. Some good ideas have been raised in this thread, why doesn't everyone pick 1 or 2 and run them on their directories, rather than running all of them and having everyone else copy you to the point that within a month everyone is doing the same thing again. I watch the trends closely, and there are 1 or 2 smaller directories out there that could explode into full blown portals tomorrow they are that good. Interestingly enough they are also the only ones doing what they do. They chose a different path to everyone else and its paying off (at least in Google).
I think it’s crazy for only one person to manage more than 2 quality directories. QBC (Quick Buck Crew) LOLOLOL So true.
Better still 1 guy full time on 1 quality directory, that is what we are going to re our other business directory get 1 of the guys to look after it on a full time basis Of course you need cash resources to be able to make that commitment
ive recently purchased a couple directories, and im considering what to add to it. I'm not sure how effective a ranking system would be, however i'm planning to add on details pages with deep links, longer description, page screen shots (havent worked out the code for that part yet). featured links will get more deep links then normal links. what do you think about adding a news section in the page details that includes a summarized clip of that website's rss feed?