The only reason why some of you directory owners are saying that website directories are dead is because all you guys focus on is directory submission traffic rather than people actually viewing your listings. And people do visit good directories, I quite often search for something in Google and end up on some listing in a directory somewhere. And the reason that happens is because these directories that google ranks higher actually have content, there's so much you can add to a directory to get more out of it and give more to the masses for example you can add Address, phone, reviews, links to social pages, discussions, maps, you could compile heaps of info about a particular website/business from accross the web on your one little business profile page, so much info that a person might stop looking because they found what they need and then guess what! they remember your website and they come back, why? because they have faith that they will find what they need. Almost every website has some form of categorized content which in my opinion is a directory which means directories are not dead. Market your directory as a directory to directory submitter's but market it as something far greater to the average googler and you will find success with your directory. Remember: Add content - More info on the website/business you list. Add a blog, add some content throughout the categories, And don't market your directory to the public as a directory (advertise your latest blog post eg "15 most scariest buildings in the world") with an amazing image that people will share and bingo social media traffic rolling in. Hope this helps some people I didn't plan on writing this much when I started lmao. Cheers for reading anyway guys, success to you all
I agree that useful niche directories that are actually useful and detailed are alive and well. The problem is that there are many many many poorly moderated/spam/junk directories that use the same old cookie cutter templates with nothing unique to offer these days for every half way decent one! I went ahead and checked out your website and gave you a submission! Good luck
What I find when looking at directories (for anything really) is the majority of them are simply not maintained, filled with SPAM (as mentioned above) & abandoned. I used to frequent a forum webdevforums.com years ago, used to be great place, now it's just overrun with spam. Seems to be the same with many directories out there as well.
I think it's pretty popular to claim something is 'dead' when you feel you are competing against it. I think what bother's Google is that Directories are able to do what they NEVER could. Drive traffic in a completely organized way. They have always seen them as a nuisance that manipulates their index, when in fact it is quite the opposite. A good, well organized, well categorized directory takes care the guess work out of the organizational structure of their index and compliments it. Is there a lot of crap out there? Yep... But the few that do it well, and continue to do it; every day - are not dead. We're actually very far from it.
1) Most directories are worthless, 2) most links in those directories are worthless, and 3) the people who actually go to directories to look something up are about as scarce as hen's teeth.
Honestly I cant remember the last time I used a directory to find what I was looking for - I dont even see them showing up in google search results. Maybe I would have to be really specific and say "directory" in the search bar. But even at that, I usually use the term "list".
I have mixed feelings about this. I do think that well maintained local directories serve a purpose. Listing in local directories do boost your local SEO
I think we've already established that very few people use directories to search for things. That is not the intended use.
I dont know what you've established, I'm speaking about what I do as an individual, and reflecting on what the the OP (@Nicholas Pope) Pope said: I quite often search for something in Google and end up on some listing in a directory somewhere. What is the intended use? I used to search for "directory of _ _ _ _ " or "_ _ _ _ directory" ... now I just search for "LIST of _ _ _ _" instead. I dont get any directories in the results - So, again. What is the intended use of the directory? .. an organized free for all? Oh, those were the days, random links all in a big page, and just click away. haha
OP is right. But directories have evolved which is why you might not have noticed they are still around and thriving. Look at Betalist and Product Hunt...those are directories, but they are are slick and glossy...almost like a blog or magazine. However, generic directories based on turnkey software are in fact dead because they are useless and behind the times--the kind of sites that look like Yahoo circa 1996.
Directories aren't dead. However, the problem with them is that the good ones are super rare and the others which exist as link farms are pathetic.