I will rewrite the descriptions and other info in my paid directory but not in free one unless it is featured link
First, I have to congratulate you on the great post. This topic is rarely discussed but very important in regard to the unique content. Personally, I do change most of the submitted descriptions. During corrections I am looking for originality and clear message that describes purpose of the site. Sometimes I may use the information from "about us" in order to enhance the content of the description. In my opinion duplicate content takes place when two sites are mirror reflection of each other. Otherwise descriptions that have been submitted multiple times and presented on different sites do not pose any threat, since they are among other sites and listed in the totally different order.
Editing is a must 90% of the time but with regular clients you know who re-write their titles and description, I always approve as is, as I know from experience that they have re-written and re-titled for a reason. But of course you need to know your clients before you are comfortable to approve their edited submissions
OK, what about this?? I do change some of them but flip it around and let me ask you this: Lets say that all of your descriptions were the same on the submitter end and all of the directories did NOT change the descriptions! Do you think that the website that has had all of those same descriptions in 100s or 1000s od directories will hurt the site?? I have an answer in my mind but I would like to hear an opinion!!
I've notices that in general, most people have a description which is under 250 characters long. In my paid directories the minimu description is 250, so they are forced to add something. In my free directory, I made the minimum at 500. If they want the free link, let them sweat out a longer description. By setting a minimum description limit, you're forcing some unique content. Here it how it works: most people will rewrite their description to be at least 500 characters. Some impetient submitters will do this: "Webmaster Directoery organized by categories. Webmaster Directoery organized by categories. Webmaster Directoery organized by categories. Webmaster Directoery organized by categories. Webmaster Directoery organized by categories." End of Description I delete them without mercy. It takes me a qlick to delete. It takes them longer to submit. They are really lazy and are waisting more of their time than mine.
While retaining the original message and intent, we try to completely rewrite the description. Although it may discourage the business owner, we feel that it is better for the owner and us in the long run. We get unique content and they receive a link surrounded by unique content. Be sure to check us out. If you are a business owner, or marketer for such, check out our business search directory.
I began rewriting, as a writer it was hard not to. Then I started thinking about it, why should the person who takes the time to write something decent be penalized somewhat by a site that is less clever or lazy and gets what amounts to a professional marketing write-up for free by me. So, for the most part I check grammar and spelling. I do however help those folks for whom English is obviously not their first language. If there are any blatant falsehoods or overly promotional content that will probably get edited, if not deleted.
Agreed, Folks from non-english speaking countries deserve all the help, especially if they're submitting a paid link. The free submissions sometimes are so careless that I do not wether to laugh or cry. .