Did you make your own category structure? Are your categories all aligned by subject or do you mix categories by type of site (forum/blog/directory/etc.)? Do you use symbolic categories? Do you believe that these are important questions? It is my hope that this thread will lead to further consideration amongst directory owners for quality and perception issues. I'll add my own comments on the questions after people have had a chance to respond.
yes, i make my own category structure, also in my threads i have always asked people to recommend categories for me, and i added those categories!
I use a custom structure, its the best way to do it. I use a mixture of subjects/sites. So blogs/directories/forums and also internet/arts/real estate. you get the idea
I ask 2 main questions what is it = example = it is a forum what type is it = example = its an auto forum = Forums > automotive > name
Yeah. Then you have a category such as technology > autos inside autos a symbolic category called forums, which points to the forums section.
Hi Mike not sure i understand but if you mean a ghost like Main : Forums > Auto > Title Ghost : Auto > Forums > Title then yes it does cover it.
No i mean this main = yoursite.com/forums/autos symbolic = yoursite.com/technology/autos then a category inside there that links back to yoursite.com/forums/autos Its called a symbolic category - basically links to another category to help users find similar categories, and imprives internal linking structure. In our example the forums category in autos links to the autos forums category.
Ok cheers Mike, appreciate your help with this, the way you have described it has helped me better understand some layout terms and idea's, Thanks.
Some good responses here. One of my pet peeves about directories are "type" categories (forum, blog, directory) that are not topically focused. For example: Health > Chats and Forums While this kind of categoy is appropriate for some general topic health forums, directories with these kinds of categories often don't include the "type" categories under the more topically focused subcategories (like each individual health condition). These types of categories are not helpful to visitors looking for forums on specific subjects, they aren't helpful to webmasters who want to link to useful references on specific subjects and they aren't helpful to search engines looking for hubs of topical associations. *If* you are going to include "type" categories, they should be topically focused IMO! Symbolic categories are very much underused IMO. How many of you get upset when people don't submit listings to the correct category? Symbolic categories can eliminate duplicate and redundant categories and guide visitors to the correct category. For example: Business > Software Computer > Software Shopping > Software This is confusing! Better to pick one of them as the main category and use symbolic categories for the others to redirect to the main category - like so: Business > @Software (links to Shopping > Software > Business) Computer > @Software (links to Shopping > Software) Shopping > Software As mentioned, this is also good for improving the internal link structure of the directory.
Do an old timer a favour, can you point me to an example in a directory using this system, just need to cement in what i see. Thanks
Sure. Spend some time browsing around dmoz.org. They have a very well defined category structure with symbolic categories (have an @ symbol at the end of the sub-cat names). For example: http://www.dmoz.org/Business/ lists Software@ as a sub-cat which,if clicked, takes you to: http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Business/
It brings a tear to my glass eye, the penny dropped with this, and what a magic system. green for you and Mikey, appreciate you helping out.
Thanks! A response like that makes all the effort I put into these "directory structure 10#" threads worthwhile.
I think for the most part people who are seeking links as well as seeking sites to visit care more about the topic then the type of site it is. Following your example, if I were looking for an automotive forum, I would look for an automotive category before looking for a forum. Additionally, if I am looking for help with my ___(insert car name here)__ I would go to an automotive section before I went to a forums section (thinking as a site visitor who navigates via the menus rather than using search). This is part of the reason why I think the Shopping category is greatly overused. If I am looking to buy a car and I pick up my local phone directory, I won't find much if I look under shopping; but I'll find exactly what I need under Automobiles. Why with directories is it necessary to add another layer like this? If you want to separate the cars for sale from the informational sites, why not have: Automotive > Forums Automotive > Vehicles for Sale and if the category starts filling up enough Automotive > Vehicles for Sale > Toyotas, New Automotive > Vehicles for Sale > Toyotas, Pre-Owned
Can only agree with that, i will also be following up on the help above with the symbolic catagory, this should cover most options. i will probably go with something like Directory > Forums > Automotive > Title then a symbolic somthing like Directory > automotive > @ forums which will redirect to the forums > automotive This is where it even gets more fun as i am about to list a directory that has a blog so see if this sounds right to list it once but list it as a directory but also list the blog ( advice appreciated ) Directory > Web Directories > General > Title then to re direct the blog i need re direct the title not the catagory ? i hope Directory > Blog > Directories > @ Title the plan anyway, but i just plan to make it up as i go, if its wrong, chillout and fix the catagory before moving on.