What makes a good solid Directory? There are so many directories, what makes one better than the others ? Is it the domain name? Does it matter if it is paid or free? I read so many of the threads in here and really want to know what it takes to make the best directory. And lastly, is there a top 10 directory list? thanks
A decent directory is one that is able to call itself a directory - like dmoz. A crap directory is one that has bad editorial standards - empty categories, no links, has spam listed, doesn't have good standards for titles and descriptions. Look at a directory like yahoo, botw, dmoz etc. Even small directories like JoeAnt and WowDirectory follow these good standards and have content rich directories. Forget pagerank, alexa etc. The decent directories are the ones with content. PR, traffic, backlinks will follow when thats complete.
Gonna be a short thread... Mikey pretty much covered all the bases. Only thing I can think of to add would be to have well written criteria telling submitters what kind of sites you will/won't accept and stick to it.
If every directory follows the rules that you stated,it still takes time to establish links...right? Nothing is over nite...just time and patience Should you give out free first to get more links and later on charge them? thanks
How can we determine if it is a decent directories that give good result for a site such as good ranking?
I wouldnt give out free links to the masses but instead go find sites yourself and add them (with unique descriptions) add lots of reference sites and sites with good content
Yeah Rob, but that gets ignored by submitters anyway. Paid for Review is the only way forward and do it as a one-time fee.
Agreed, pay-for-review seems the optimal setup for a quality product *and* a functional business model. Helps to have eyes on the adds.
To me a good solid directory falls into one of these categories. 1. It actually gets some search engine hits and then refers those hits out to the sites that are listed. 2. It has well edited, very targeted and focused categories that will make the link to my site related.
A directory should be beyond a basic search engine, and do what others aren't, won't or cannot. It must be/able to: 1. The authority on a subject 2. Never general in nature 3. Provide targeted traffic 4. Advertise the companies listed 5. A community in some way/not necessarily a forum 6. Provide user driven content/help/advice 7. Highly popular 8. Maintain focus 9. Keep out undesirable sites/spam 10. Trusted 11. Generate profit in the hundreds of thousands 12. Expandable Above all it must be for the user or it's pointless. Profit desperate websites always fail and close down very early.
Questions like this are why I write articles - easy and quick responses. You can get more information in this article on the subject directory quality if you like