A Good Directory - Key Quality Factors

The following are some of the factors that you can use to judge the SEO quality of a web directory.

1. Links should pass PageRank.
2. Directory is ranked highly by the Search Engines
3. Unique content
4. Hosting on unique IPs (no networks hosted on the same IP)
5. Age of site
6. Age as a directory
7. Quantity and quality of inbound links
8. Directory’s pages have unique titles, meta descriptions and meta keywords.
9. Solid editing standards
10. Clean category Structures
11. Traffic

For details, please see the complete article A Good Directory - Key Quality Factors


I would appreciate your views.

 

IMHO I think that both 3 and 4 are irrelevant, if you look at some of the high powered directories such dmoz and yahoo they really do not have content any different than what you would find in any other directory. If one would like to say that they have unique content because they update there blog all the time this would not be correct, because the blog articles are not plastered all over the directory categories you only see adsense, at least on yahoo, with dmoz you see nothing, and the only way to tell if dmoz has added new content is to check manually every single day.

When people come to directories they are most likely looking for only a few factors, and that is page rank and whether or not if the directory has no follow or not. It is sad that so many people think that all directories should be in the same category as yahoo and dmoz, the truth is, all directories are in fact the same and provide the same thing you would find in those directories. The only difference is that most directories are not owned by Million Dollar Corporations.

 

1. Links should pass PageRank. not a sign of quality
2. Directory is ranked highly by the Search Engines not always a sign of quality
3. Unique content yes
4. Hosting on unique IPs (no networks hosted on the same IP) not a sign of quality
5. Age of site not a sign of quality
6. Age as a directory not a sign of quality
7. Quantity and quality of inbound links not a sign of quality
8. Directory’s pages have unique titles, meta descriptions and meta keywords. yes
9. Solid editing standards yes
10. Clean category Structures yes
11. Traffic not a sign of quality

 

Thanks for the comments. I should note that the factors are looking mainly at the SEO quality of a directory. The context is "Should I submit to this directory".

I edited the main post.

 

Instead of pointing out what's not sign of quality according to you, kindly point out what's sign of quality?

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Anyways, yes I do agree with some things there, they do form some aspects of a Quality Directory.

Apart from that how easily available is the owner of that directory or how friendly is the support system of the directory should also be added.

 

of course its according to me
if it wasnt Id be posting with with your username

I pointed out the the positive things..thats where I say yes
look I even bolded it again so you might be able to see

 

The point is some people only see and point negative and spread negativity rather adding something positive. and its ofcourse its you only with your username.

 

I think you can do everything absolutely right, from having a directory custom coded, be old and established, even have that one directory on a dedicated server and keep very high standards regarding editing and maintaining and after all that still see your directory suffering eventually.

So im unsure if any factors contribute to a directory being good quality anymore.

Its quite disheartening actually.

If the factors listed were contributors to a good directory then there would not be directories of that type suffering in any way, yet they do suffer.

Yet again its never so black and white as do this and this and you will have a good directory.

 

oh so saying yes is negative then is it?

 

Directory design is a non-neglect important factor for myself as you must stand out from the crowd.

 

# Having a Unique custom theme also stands your directory out of the crowd.
# An article directory or a blog with unique articles in the sub-domain of your directory.
# Listing out the rules and regulations including the acceptance rules clearly on the homepage

 

quality directory?

what i think and need to do..

- promotion ( advertise your own directory )
- unique content (title, description, keyword not spam.. )
- seo on page or off page, ( i hope you know about web design )
- old ? yes, still open for directory, not using drop domain. ( branding )
- pagerank? just for google...

 

Good directories should have strict verification rules only approving pages with quality. and Good PR is important too.

 

Sad the #1 on your list is still PR. I would have expected that from a newbie around here rather than an old-timer.

I suspect you are referring to follow vs nofollow isses. I admit that it's rare that I will submit to a nofollow directory but even a nofollow link can be useful.

One of my sites enjoys quite a bit of traffic from nofollow links on Wikipedia. Several writing clients found me thanks to nofollow links on regional professional directories. I guess it all depends upon your link building goals.

I do disagree a bit with discover about the age of domain vs. length of time used as a directory. I don't know of any quality directories that were built upon a dropped domain or switched from a typical content site to a directory. I also tend to skip those directories that are tacked onto a content or business site as some sort of weak attempt at link bait for the domain unless they are tightly kept to the same niche as the rest of the site.

 

Thanks for the excellent comments. I have added "fast reviews", "support" and "good design" to the new list below. I added "clear acceptance rules" to the editing standards factor.

In summary, these criteria are meant to help submitters judge the quality of a directory, with a strong emphasis on SEO factors. The factors judge the quality today as well as the probability that the directory will be around 5 years down the road. Please note that a good directory does not have to have all factors. For example, a directory that provides good traffic does not have to be dofollow.


The following are some of the factors that you can use to judge the SEO quality of a web directory.

1. Links should pass PageRank.
2. Directory is ranked highly by the Search Engines
3. Unique content
4. Hosting on unique IPs (no networks hosted on the same IP)
5. Age of site
6. Age as a directory
7. Quantity and quality of inbound links
8. Directory’s pages have unique titles, meta descriptions and meta keywords.
9. Solid editing standards
10. Clean category Structures
11. Traffic
12. Reasonably fast reviews
13. Support - easily available and friendly
14. Good design

I have also updated the blog article. Keep the comments coming.

 

Very useful quality guidelines for a directory, I agree with the criteria(s) listed.

 

You missed what I personally consider to be the absolute most important factor: cache and the frequency at which it gets cache.

 

I mentioned it in the detailed blog posting

Directory is ranked highly by the Search Engines
The directory’s Google cache dates should be recent (including its main category pages).

 

A directory with diff styles and unique codding .. bunch of features ,, unique content ,, unique ip ,, error free,,no more than 20 links per page ,,only 2 level category down level ,,proper seo tags ..a lot of content in shape of text..each page have its own strength and have back links..

 

IMHO, these are the things that are most important to SEO. If the directory has these 4 things then it gives serious link juice. With just PR and clean categories you'll get a lot of benefit, but add in SE rankings and traffic and those directories will really boost your site in the search engines.

1. Links should pass PageRank.
2. Directory is ranked highly by the Search Engines
10. Clean category Structures
11. Traffic

These are the things that are important to someone using the directory. If you've got a good directory and people bookmark it and use it as a resource then you'll often get natural links that end up giving your directory PR, SE rankings, and traffic.

3. Unique content
9. Solid editing standards
10. Clean category Structures
14. Good design