Will this be the most controversial thread ever? Directory Penalization

Not at all

I index using my own bot which is tailor made for directories

you can even use it for all websites and not only for directories

It shows directory backlinks for any website!

e.g.,
http://www.bigoole.com/index.php?q=http://www.webhosting.uk.com&c=0 (For www.webhosting.uk.com)


you can use it to see any directory backlinks for a website!

 

Why would high in the SERP's be a waste of time if you have a directory containing multiple links for the searched resource? The client gets an ROI by having their link in a directory that can achieve these results.

Do the "the better things to do" involve managing the PR0 "Organic links farm. The real thing" that costs $5.00 for a reciprocal link?

[now proceeding to duck and cover]

 

Ignore the jibes bobby, I do. If you don't sing from the same song sheet as most of these lemmings on here then they pathetically start throwing badly spelt words at you. Ignore the schoolyard bullies, they're probably little in stature with a chip on thier shoulder.

 

Not only directory but also other sites

Also I can pinpoint no of active links in any directory including yours

I do n't whether it is (web1directory.com) is yours or not ?

No of active outgoing links:1037 (+-20) (web1directory.com)

This information will tell you that I am not using Google soap api or anything!

 

Okay Great ! First of all You say that you have a bot and you index data. Then you say you can tell number of backlinks for any website on the internet. Oh so this means your BOT has indexed all the websites on the internet in your database right ??? Yes OR No ? If yes then people will laugh at you and if NO , then its certain that your site pulls data from some third party source.

 

It seems that you have not clearly understood what I said!

I am indexing only directories(over 8000 directories)

a)Bigoole is only showing directory backlinks to a site(www.example.com)

b)It indexes these directories again and again over a 20 days

c)If you have submitted a site to a well known directory then it would be indexed within 15 days.


It indexes urls via directories.

8000 directories have over 1 million unique websites which were reviewed by 100's of individual editors

I have clearly explained here

 

I think everyone went a little off topic, but that's cool nobody wants to hear the truth anyway.
@Pheonix, I want to rep you on three or four of your psots, but it keeps saying I rep you too much, so I rep some people, then come back and rep you, but then can't rep you again. What a shame

 

No worry on the rep but thanks anyway. You got it right here when you said no-one wants to hear the truth but that won't stop me posting it, and hopefully it won't stop you either.

 

We can argue this one back and forth but lets put it this way. Choose one or the other and I guarantee that content tops out every time. This is what a directory is about. And besides the sites you find and add yourself, web masters will submit their site to you irrespective of where you sit in the serp's. This is where editorial integrity comes in and if you are doing your job properly you will also doing Google a huge favour. They acknowledge that and have said they have no problem with anyone charging to review the sites submitted to them. So why complicate it by trying to prove that you can pass traffic when everyone knows its just wishful thinking? If you get high serps good on you but I doubt it will make the slightest difference in today's market.

I thought that's what you were getting at. And it worries me because its no more than an angle. A little bit of marketing gibberish that the silver tongued sales types will exploit to the disadvantage of the industry as a whole. Directories don't pass quality traffic, never have and just because Google has taken away their toys it does not mean anything is going to change in the short term. The biggest threat to this industry are those directory owners that see no reason, not to fleece anyone who does not have the common sense to see the obvious flaws in their pitch.

No I manage people and the person who runs that site gives me 30mins every week. But that will change. She believes the internet is a crock of bull and whilst she is not wrong she has an enquiring mind and it wont be long before she starts digging and exploring. By the way the home page is PR2, the directory and blog a month old and her Biodiversity category is already indexed and working. What's your point?

 

I've actually just been STARTING a directory which may sound insane with all of this stuff going on, but it's something I had planned on doing for a long time. I feel I'm in a better position to avoid the penalties and whatnot because mine is a niche (although a very large niche) : blogs only. I'm definitely being careful to try and make sure my directory follows all of the rules. I am making a point not to mention PageRank and not to talk about "links" but to talk about blogs. Anyway I still have a lot of work to do on the listings and the design - but I'm trying to keep it real from the get go (you can see my progress in my sig. And yes I know I am charging a lot for a review for a new dir. but I my time is very valuable to me and I have a lot of confidence that this is going to be one of the (if not the) top blog directories on the web.)

Anyway posts like this help me to know what to avoid with my blog directory. So thanks for that.

 

No harm in that but how did you put a value on your review process? What do you do for that $50? I would pay a premium if I was submitting a site to an established directory with a track record and a couple of years under their belt. But your fee is not over the top. There are some people on this forum charging Yahoo rates and still getting away with it.

 

It isn't a matter of not talking about pagerank, it is a matter of not caring about pagerank. Don't try to hide from google that you are seeking pagerank, don't seek it in the first place. Yes it is nice to have, but not something to manipulate

 

I came up with my rates like this:

#1 based on the time I have to spend to review the site and the time/money I am putting into building the directory and making it something worth being a part of in the first place.

#2 based on some other rates I've seen at other directories. I think once my directory becomes what it will be, the rates will be very reasonable in comparison and in fact should be a good deal considering it's only a one time review fee and not a subscription payment like many other sites.

#3 a higher fee will keep spammy sites from submitting in the first place. I make it quite clear in the submission FAQ that spam sites and m4a sites will not be included in the directory and I think that along with the review fee will hopefully keep me from having to waste time looking at crappy sites.

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I'm having a unique logo/banner made to help distinguish the directory. I really want it to be something that blog owners think of as a privilege to be a part of and that people searching for a cool blog to read will use. In other words I want it to be a real resource. It can be difficult finding good blogs to read sometimes - So... I think it could be a useful resource. Maybe I'm dreaming in thinking of it in that way... but I have some ideas for marketing it that I am hopeful will get it to that place.

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I'm also very serious about not letting in any BS sites. Even if they choose the featured status choice. Any blog not meeting reasonable standards will not be included. To me that's what really counts as far as having a good directory that's worth something. It seems to me that that's what Google really cares about in the end?

 

What about a periodic review to weed out the sites which lose steam? Thats something that should be factored into the fees every directory charges. But once again you can only get away with charging a premium if you can offer long term value to the sites who want to submit.

Are you going to go looking for good blogs? Are you going to list these free as part of the service you offer?

 

I agree. I will have to look over the blogs that have already been added to make sure they do not grow stale, spammy, etc. I'm trying to calculate that into the price of the original review. I am hoping to add some sort of reporting system so that users could report any blog that's in the directory that has "gone bad" that would make the process much easier I imagine. There's a good chance because I'm new to this that I'm not fully realizing how difficult it will be to re-review blogs that are already in the system. In that way I can see why the directories that require a subscription payment for review do that...

And yes I will be (and already am) looking for good blogs to include. I say in the FAQ that all paying for a review does is put you "in the front of the line" to get your blog looked at. In other words their blog could be added eventually anyway if it's a high quality blog. But with the huge amount of blogs out there, there's a good chance that that could take a long time.

 

Most of you say this has been discussed greatly but you continue to discuss it. Why not just say its already been discussed, post a link to some of the discussions and leave the thread to die of its own accord?

 

I was thinking that, but was afraid I was missing something and didn't want to say it and look stupid.

 

Sadly things need to be repeated over and over again because it takes an awful long time for some of this stuff to sink in. Particularly if its stuff people don't want to hear. The QBC crew knew this and its the one thing we should learn from them. Just look at the number of phoney posts there are, asking for advice on Strongest Directories, Authority Sites etc. etc. Those really are boring and pointless repetition.

Whereas here we have a directory master full of enthusiasm, whose almost on the right track and all he wants is for you to look at his site and give him some feedback. If you notice he used the phrase "to avoid penalties and whatnot" which is something we should be trying to reinforce in the field rather than rehashing old threads. He has read it all and he has come up with a solution. What's right with his business model? And more importantly what's wrong with it? If we are going to change the way Google responds to this industry we need to look for constructive and positive alternatives to the way things were done in the past.

His review fees are too high but he will find that out soon enough and if his business model is flexible enough he might just survive long enough to justify those sort of rates in the future.

Generally users won't. The only people who use tools that allow Comments and Guest Books are link spammers. The chances are that you will end up creating more work for yourself rather than saving time.

The other point you are not factoring in is that the only users you are going to attract in the short to medium term are the search engine spiders. This simplifies things enormously. Forget about that mythical user and ask yourself what it is that Google wants to see and then concentrate your efforts on making Google happy. You need to spend a lot of time networking within the blogging communities and only add blogs that really are outstanding. Don't try to fool people, it doesn't work.

Your biggest problem is the need to establish a regular revenue stream. Look at the sites that have been penalised. This is where they cut corners and I would suspect that right now the best laid plans are in complete disarray. Maybe Google will let them off the hook but then again maybe not. They are in for a rough time, deservedly so and I wouldn't personally touch them with a barge pole. This was the result of too much talk and little or no substance. The QBC in action. Learn from their mistakes and understand that the time you don't spend networking and looking for genuine quality content you will need to spend networking some more and marketing your services.

My advice would be to start at $5 for a review and once you have proved you have staying power and are not all talk you can grow into the sort of fees you would like to command. Believe it or not, those who buy are not all stupid and they are looking for directory masters who are reliable. Are you still going to be around in five to ten years time? That's all that's important and that's what you have to prove.

 

Thank you for the advice workshop. As far as the biggest problem being needing to establish a regular revenue stream, that's not the case for me as I am not really in need to make any money with this directory at this point as I make plenty of money otherwise (affiliate marketing.)

I was going to start off with much cheaper reviews. In fact I was going to start off with FREE reviews... but then I realized I would just get tons of spam submissions. Anyway, I'm still in consideration mode on the price points. I'm not too worried about that right now - I'm currently just trying to get all of the categories right (with meta descriptions for each and all of that) and also I'm trying to find good blogs to include which is more time consuming than I realized it would be.

Again, thank you for the tips and ideas. What you said about being around in 5 to 10 years is a good point. I've already got my domain bought up for a few years but perhaps I should buy it for 10 years more to show that the directory has no intentions of "skipping town" - I do realize how important that is for blog owners who would consider submitting.

I'm also going to be integrating a word press blog into the directory. It will be a blog on blogging and how to have a successful blog which I think fits in perfectly with a blog directory and will help set my directory apart from some of the others out there.

 

Makes sense and if you stick to it and only add the really good blogs you might end up with the resource everyone dreams of.