I briefly mentioned the fact I've done a bit of review of diresenei a great directory owned by popotalk. Its more of a critique than an out and out review, its more of an observative blog. Hope its okay and you perhaps pick up some tips on it and even pass some on to me as I'm sure I will have missed some. Link to blog is http://www.blog.cantufind.com/2008/04/08/dirsensei-web-directory-review/ Thanks to popotalk for letting us publish it warts and all.
Well Jamie, that looks like a very detailed and objective review. I think it speaks volumes to the trust you are trying to build with your readers. Good job! If it were a full review, I would include Alexa and Compete stats. Not that they mean much, but it is a publicly available traffic gauge. Especially when reviewing directories, one needs to look at the number of outbound links. You touched on this by mentioning a rival directory was being advertised. But the lack of apparent paid sitewide links makes it look like an attractive place to list at since the site does not seem to be part of the quick buck crew creations. Overall, I think you did a good job with your analysis.
Thanks for the kind words. I don't think for a second this site is one of the QBC sites, which is why I never went for that approach. I deliberately tried to avoid going down that route. I also deliberately avoided the alexa, traffic stats as they are there to be manipulated and can give a false impression. That's no reflection on the directory owner, he can't help it if a hundred other directory owners with the alexa widget installed visited his site, its that false representation I wanted to avoid commenting on. Does that make sense?
Great review Jamie. I'll be taking onboard the criticism and praise you have given to dirensei for my own directory - this will help me, and many others, learn from others mistakes and gains - which as we all know, is how to grow a strong directory Thanks
It really depends on the information your blog subscribers are looking for in a review. If your subscribers submit to directories frequently, then they may want to know about PR, Alexa, Compete, etc. While these statistics can be manipulated, one could clearly explain that in the review. While unfortunate, it is these statistics that most people look at in a Web Directory. Some details that can not be manipulated are the domain age, directory age, reported backlinks, indexed pages, etc. There are so many dropped domains being used for directories that have PR, including these details might be useful and reassure your blog subscribers that the directory you reviewed is infact a well established directory. I'm certainly no expert on Website reviews. But from what I saw in your review, I believe it was objective and had good depth. Your subscribers trusting you is the most important part of any review, and your objectivity built on that trust.
Thanks snowbird, I'm out to learn and to be honest never thought any more regarding subscribers. I will certainly take on board the comments you made and see if I can integrate some if not all of your suggestions. What I'm trying to do though is just offer critique as opposed to an outright review as there's plenty of sites out there that offer this.
Then please stay away from my directory! You are right though. There are many places that give biased and subjective reviews. Your approach should be interesting and prove worthwhile to those reading your reviews.
JamieG, although not a directory owner myself, I enjoyed reading your review. It had some good info I could apply elsewhere. Rep added.
Aww, come on, let me loose on it and I'll promise not to post it before giving you access to exactly what I find. @Jim; Thankyou.