Why do many directories only accept root domains and not any deep linked pages? I can't see why this would be important.
because probably the owners of the directories saw enough deep links on ODP root site being used like the page which will broke the rules of the directory . And from seo point of view its seems phrasing links within folders root domain increase the importance of the domain itselfs , so owners of this directories are enough responsibility to respect the rules of their own
I accept deep links, providing the deep link is of sufficiently different content to other sub pages. So if a webmaster forum submitted their additional seo blog, thats fine. But submitting the sub forums like php, affiliate marketing etc wouldn't. Because if I allowed that you could submit the majority of DPs sub forums. That's just spam, not really aiding the users much.
Even though many directories don't accept deep links officially, if you submit something quality enough they will approve it.
I believe that it originates from the directory software not identifying the internal pages as duplicate submissions. A directory owner would then be faced with a greater workload in manually identifying duplicate submissions.
So webmasters publish unique content on homepages and duplicate content on internal pages? That is one of the main reasons, indeed.
You mean deep pages? I accept them and why not, to me is just as important as the root domain. As for an SEO point it is necessary to have some of your deep pages be known. examples: http://example.com, http://example.com/electronics/portable-usb.php ..On a free web directory I manage, I do not accept them as a free listing.
because otherwise it will it smell link building , and directories owners probably more than other webmasters and alfraid of mighty G, but to be honest, in 2009, most people who submit to directories do it because they are after links for their SEO value, from this perspective, i personally accept deeplinks in my directories.
Page submissions in most instances creates a lot of problems in directories that only experienced directory operators would be aware of. To name a few you run into topic monopolization by companies who can afford to submit hundreds of pages, overcrowded topics, and spammers abuse the option aggressively. Primarily however directories should not operated as webmaster link dumps.
Also the "only root domains" policy shouldn't be applied to quality blogspot and wordpress blogs in my opinion.
that is the main reason !!! if you let deep links in, spam, spam, spam and again spam. I personally let about 3 or 4 deep links to get in my directory until now, cause they were full of content, showing interesting information. But I received hundreds until now, and about all of them were affiliate reviews , not to mention posted under the wrong categories. Sometimes, when I received a quality deep link from an indeed quality or nice created website, i spent 3-4 seconds from my time, and edit that entry, pointing to the root index page, instead of deleting that entry.
writing a description for the domain is a description covering the full site in brief, not the index page
I accept deeplinks as the main submission listing, as long as it follows the directory rules and has good content.
This is a good point I think - as their are actually a lot of GOOD blogs outthere on subdomains that aren't accepted in all directories. Even the Yahoo directory is a subdomain (dir.yahoo.com) so will this not be accepted? It seems ridiculous really