To make a directory succeed, directory owners constantly need to be raising the bar to make them stand out...... Without the QBC’s or as Ask puts it 'Scraper' directories that bar may slip because there would be less competition and even the most dedicated directory owners would start to slack off ….. That would be a sad day for everybody.
Same almost Quick Buck Crews & Quality Bull Crap Just as good call them what you like but sure there is no place in the Directory Market for them
Directory of dead directories. I guess finding a new niche is virtually unlimited in directory industry.
well, the future of directory very bright and it going long period. the quality directory increase back link and traffic so it going long.
To answer your question, I would say as long as search engines consider backlinks to shift their rankings, the directories will stay in the game and for quite some time. Even though most of the people think directories are link farms, I see it different. In my opinion, directories are little search engine helpers, they help search engines evaluate and rank websites. When my website can be seen in thousands of directories, what does that tell you? Am I popular? Am I a scam? Do I give a damn about my web site's reputation? Most important, do I take time to promote my website by submitting to directories? And the search engine bots as well think the same way, remember it was once made by people for the people. If the website is listed in directories, especially under a relative category along with other relative to it websites......... I only see benefit to everyone from this. SE provide good info to users, webmasters have traffic, directory owner stays in the business when the same webmaster tells his friends about your directory. Some other stupid argument arises when people assume that Search Engines think you are spamming when you have tons and tons of links from directories. Ok, dumb asses, what about paid directories? Ever heard of that? Directories are not link farms with affiliate links to penis enlargement pills, directories are quality resources with categorized information for three sources: search engines, webmasters and users. Everyone wins. Thats why I strongly believe that directories are here and they're staying for long.
Sunday Bloody sunday... Yes... I cant believe the news today Oh, I cant close my eyes and make it go away How long... For how long we have build links? How long? how long... cause tonight...we can all be uncached Tonight... Broken links under submitters feet Directories strewn across the dead end street But I wont heed the battle call It puts my back up Puts my back up against the wall Sunday, bloody sunday Sunday, bloody sunday Sunday, bloody sunday (sunday bloody sunday...) (allright lets go!) And the battles just begun Theres many caches lost, but tell me who has won The trench is dug within our hearts And PR7, PR6, PR5, PR4 torn apart Sunday, bloody sunday Sunday, bloody sunday How long... For how long we have build links? How long? how long... cause tonight...we can be all uncached Tonight... Tonight... Sunday, bloody sunday (tonight) Tonight Sunday, bloody sunday (tonight) (come get some!) Wipe the tears from your eyes Wipe your tears away Wipe your tears away I wipe your tears away (sunday, bloody sunday) I wipe your blood shot eyes (sunday, bloody sunday) Sunday, bloody sunday (sunday, bloody sunday) Sunday, bloody sunday (sunday, bloody sunday) (here I come!) And its true we are not immune When Google bans our sites And today the millions cry Today we accept submissions while tomorrow we are banned The real battle yet begun (sunday, bloody sunday) To claim the victory Google won (sunday, bloody sunday) On... Sunday bloody sunday Sunday bloody sunday... ...
George Bush singing 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6805063692754011230 Backing vocals by Bono
Aspidov - I won't quote you as everyone else has already but, as a directory owner, I would like to address a couple of issues with you and get your opinion so we can create a bright future for our industry. By the way, awesome post, green added. My opinions::: 1. Link farms and the duplicate content penalty go hand and hand. Links will always rule the SERPs as the internet is a popularity contest. While high school all votes were created equal, the same is not true online. There are no more original sentences to type so I guess there has to be a % of duplicate content that has to be on a page before it gets penalized. So, directory owners, what I am getting at here is keep your link's descriptions unique and your directory will be also. You cannot do this when you approve 95% of your links at a glance, these type owners are what brings our industry down. 2. There are 1,000's of web sites out there that have 1,000's of links in directories. Q: How does google distinguish between the between the legitimate submitters and those on auto pilot (programs submitting sites)? A: Duplicate content!!! No doubt directories are here to stay. No doubt that links are a good thing in robot's/spider's eyes. Engines will not penalize you for promoting your sites, hell that is why they are here . . . to promote. 3. The biggest arguement I would take from your post if I were a search engine CEO is "what about paid directories?". This is a very important factor as not many would pay to spam. Spam happens on free directories but not frequently on paid ones. Should G penalize all free directories? Sounds like a legitimate way to weed out spam but I certainly hope they don't do it (check the sig). I have no proof on anything other than algorithms are getting smarter by the day. If you care about your web site, take the time to manually submit it and say something original each time. Submit it frequently (like dozens a month, not a day) over a long period of time (measured in years) and NEVER pay someone to submit your site. This is best handled by the owner. Why, because you care more than they do. By doing this you will sleep well at night and never wake up to Sunday Bloody Sunday, Black Monday or whatever you want to call the day the search engines strike back. It will happen, will your site get slaughtered?
The game will stay how it's always been : the good directories will succeed, the poor ones will wither up and die because the owners don't see $100/week after 2-6 months. The key to making money with directories is to stay consistent with it, and don't even think about money for a while down the road. Directories aren't quick money, if you want that look into affiliate marketing. But with much time and effort, a good paid directory can be an easy source of income. Time + money + hard work = good directory. For futher reading, check out 10 Tips To A More Profitable Directory, by yours truly.