I also “have†a Free Blog Directory along with my Best Web Directory. Few months back, a friend of mine took its control in order to handle it as I was least interested running it. Few days ago, he handed over that directory back to me saying that it’s a big “pain in a**†and he can’t do that anymore…. When I asked why, he gave me the “stats†of link submitted during last month and I was surprised to see that among 130 submitted links, there were only 30-35 blogs submissions, around 40 spam submissions (robot spam) and the rest 70 submissions were legit links but not Blogs. <Rant-Starts> People submit almost anything including forums, business sites, arcade, image hosting and what not…. The worst part, I was able to identify some of the DP members who themselves have “directories†and were submitting sites blindly to a blog directory. (com'on guys ....) Also few “manual directory submission†services here that don’t even know the difference between a blog & a site. </Rant-Over> That being said, I have took the control back in my hand and will be trying to make it a better place. I never advertised that directory besides the one announcement thread here. So, I hope its re-launch would get some decent submissions. (It’s free) If you have any tips, I be more than happy to hear them
i had a hard time and gave up. what i do now is to run one directory with more concentrated categories, as opposed to the usual 1000-category directory or the unique-subject one. there's a balance between the two. only lots and lots of dedication on your project will show you exactly what the right balance is.
Not really, here's a tip I wrote on my blog about niche directories. http://raduantohi.com/experiencesreviews/niche-directories-heres-a-tip-for-getting-more-traffic/
I just noticed you had a redesign for GamingType. I liked the old design as well, but this one looks friendlier.
Blogs is a really big niche also free directories are spam magnets. Dealing with spam day-in and day-out can be very frustrating. Here is my updated article on 15 Stages of Free Directory Ownership
I run 2 niche directories and no general ones. Based on the conversations I've seen around here, niche directories (at least those that strictly adhere to topic) do get many submissions that are inappropriate. I had even thought of keeping a list of all of the "professional SEO" firms that submitted to my site - most in Root. If I didn't live in such a lawsuit happy country (USA), it would have been fun to create a site about all of the phony SEO companies that so obviously are spammers. My topics are much narrower than blogs and I can often tell the unacceptable submissions from just the link text and URL. I am surprised that your friend found 130 submissions to much to handle over the course of a month. It would seem a relatively quick to identify if a site is a blog or not. Advertising niche directories is a bit more challenging then a general directory. But I think the overall value of the directory to both submitters and site visitors is much greater, making the extra work worth it in the long run.
If you read my post, I was not interested in getting traffic or submissions. I was pointing out the fact that Many people are submitting their sites blindly to my blog directory. They don't know the difference between a site & a Blog. BTW.. your now directory theme is looking great
If you keep it for free the most submisions will be unrelated.I run a offer for free submisions in my paid directory a week ago and all i get it was completely unrelated sites to allmost all empty categorys...just 2-3 sites was decent submissions all the others was unrelated.So if you want not to get this things have a fee of 1$ and your problem will be solved.
I run 2 niches when I ran a promotion here on dp 99 percent weren't even related to the niche which was health and the spam I do get it easily deleted alot of times just by looking at the url for instance mediaxxxxx.xxx you know its media right away but I do look at every site and if its good enough I will put it in one of my other directories and email the owner I have my pricing set up like this also Pricing: Featured links $10 Regular links $5 Regular links with reciprocal free Links with nofollow attribute free
I do have some niche directories and it is the same pain that I go through. Have a directory of directories and it is PR4 so, people submit almost any site. -- They don't read at all, just go and submit. -- I have to delete 4 to 5 submissions before I can approve one. And in some nich you don't any submissions at all that are related. -- You just need add them manually..
I used to be plagued with such submissions totally unrelated to my top ranking webmaster directory however now it seems to have calmed down. I had a few bad submissions on my real estate directory, but nothing major as yet! I'm just waiting for someone to come along with a total that some how manages to recognise auto submission software... people who submit even when the directory is niche and totally unrelated.
I have a niche directory focusing on independent musicians and bands, artists & writers. About 80% of my submissions are totally unrelated. So, I feel your pain. But I don't think there's a lot to be done about it. I just happily delete the spam / unrelated submissions, block the IPs, and move on ~
Running a tight niche directory requires a lot of patience. I've actually only started back with a niche directory recently and I can tell you that it's absolutely true that people do not pay attention to what they are submitting to. Yes! some DP members are the worst. Guess they are just too busy to be bothered with details. If you offer a free option, you are going to get a ton of off topic submissions. No matter, off topics are easy and quick to identify and get deleted post haste. I think it comes with the territory and that's why I'm being very careful about where I promote my newest directory. For the most part, I'm finding my own sites and adding them manually. I know it's aggravating though.
Hehehe Well, yea, 130 submissions are not a lot .. Perhaps because he is not into directories... or perhaps because he is now busy in other stuff.... (Or perhaps he just wanted me to handle it again) My rant was directed to people who are member here, have their own directories and still acting like an immature.