What are good features/ add ons (such as Video sharing, Blog, Social networking, Classifieds like craigslist, Forum, Article directory, Web tools etc) to add to a directory to boost your traffic/ ranking? Do add ons make your directory better or worse off in terms of SEO? Since target market for directory is mainly webmasters, turning directory into a portal should (in theory ) attract more mass end-users After all, Yahoo started as a small directory and now has all kinds of add- ons.
I think like anything people can create what ever they want, but having a name or features does not make it a hit, it will always come back to the owner and its implimentation / promotion of the product. as for diectory target being webmasters i do not see that line of thought moving forward there are many working away from that towards the end user and as such placing directories where they belong and not seen as link farms.
you will find lot of DIRECTORIES only.. Its always great to add lot of content (all types) and they are good for SEO and traffic too.
It worked for Yahoo! But as for what works best, it all depends on how you implement it and who is running it. Just do one thing at a time, and test how it goes. Some directories with blogs work quite well, such as Aviva. But other owners find them too time-consuming and difficult to maintain.
I think going the portal route is the wave of the future, general directories with links only will dry up because of the sheer number of competitors offering the exact same thing. All my new directory based projects are designed to be quality portals, it costs more to start them, it takes more time to run them and it costs more to promote them but I hope in the long-run I end up with something unique and useful for my visitors, take a look at my Music Portal for an example, I hope to add a forum sometime this year.
Very nice! You got articles, blogs, details etc. and a nice looking site overall. It makes the visitor want to come back!
Right - you're going to see a lot more blogs, forums, etc. You already are, actually. Even the latest PHPLD script includes an 'article directory' feature...
This idea has been playing in my mind for sometime and I think turning one of my directories into a portal is the way to go for it. It has been enjoying good traffic and regular submission links too, but lacks the extra oomph that only by turning it into a portal can provide. Anyone care to share their experience on how should I turn my directory into a portal? It is run by phpLD and has a WordPress blog attached to it. Should I get other features or scripts for it in order to make this idea work?
I don't have any personal experience, but here's some ideas I have in mind: 1. Add a forum. 2. Add a blog (you got it) or blogs. 3. Allow users to create blogs (WP MU) - may only work for niches. 4. Add news feeds (sections on home page and dedicated pages). 5. Blog feeds (sections and pages). 6. Articles (like PHPLD 3.3 provides). 7. Social networking/bookmarking features/sections. Hope that spurs some of your thinking.
Niche portals are always going to be a good move as the directory scene as it stands is pretty much saturated. I know the phpLynx script was geared toward providing that and our next model will be specifically for that purpose.
strange this is all I am thinking about for a week now in Lola directory I have a blog that I have to say bring a lot of traffic and search terms from Google. At the moment I don't see a reason to add a forum. News? don't know... p.s the music portal is great!