I google the page that my link will be on to see if the page has been cached. No cache no deal. What do you look for
That's a good idea. I figure that if Google indexes the page then it will pass link juice. I also try a few search terms from the page. If the page ranks for it's page title or even some long tail terms then there is a chance the directory will give you some traffic too. Believe it or not, there are directories out there that actually send traffic. It takes work to find them, but they're worth it.
Agreed, some directories send a lot of traffic, and that what you should be linking to anyway. Forget the SERP and link swap mania, it just eats into your time, unless it's automated in some way.
That's a great point about the cached pages. I try to look at the PR of the page that I am applying to get listed on also, not just the homepage.
I look for signs to see if they have actually been edited in accordance with their "rules" they so proudly display or in actualy fact just allow any old site/blog in
Price, to me, is the primary point of determination. Of course, price is dependent on supplemental thinks like deeplinks, the age of the directory and how well managed the directory is. One big sticking point, for me, at least is that a directory owner turns around an approval in a respectable amount of time. For us, it's 72 hours — but generally we're much quicker than that. Inside of business hours, we're almost instantaneous!
I look for uniqueness. Not a directory that has the same exact stuff as every other directory out there. also, cached pages. pagerank is irrelevant to me.
Yeah I agree with anOn. Cached pages is one good indicator. Some uniqueness to the directory and signs of advertising is a good sign too.
autosubmit you want me to pay 25$, $50 for a listing in a directory and then say you have to wait for the page to be cached.
Apart from the cache I look for directories which are established and have unique themes and categories. From spending 2 years on these forums I also look at the site owner's credibility if he's known here. For new directories I look for an indication the person is continually promoting their site and they've spent time and money on it.
and Does that mean I should start selling premium links at XOWW.com as when taking a look every category page that I checked was both listed and cached and a high percentage of the detail pages are the same. Premium/sponsored are both in my plans but still working on the necessary mods to make it work like I want.
Not sure I quite follow you, but I believe the thread above is also hinting at the speed with which google crawls and indexes new pages, ie 'detailed pages'.
Yes that is good but... what if the directory have nofollow on all sub categories until they have at least one site. There is no reason to let Google crawl a category that has no content. As a directory owner you should not fill up the index with similar pages and using nofollow on internal links to categories that has no sites is a good choice. The internal link juice will go to the categories that actually have sites in it and you do Google and other Search Engines a favor. I have not launched my directory yet. But all categories that doesnt have a site or a long handwritten introduction text will have nofollow. Just a thought
Should be perfectly clear. The site I refer to went live on Oct. 11, 2008, has not been heavily promoted and I was surprised to see how much is indexed. My point (tongue slightly implanted) was if that is the criteria for buying links I might be wise to hurry up and get my featured links option going. It seems to my simple mind that if detail pages have been indexed that quickly I must be doing something right.
i don't thinks that each paid submission worth for you if that page got PR or Catch in google. for Paid directory submission i can't go for it.