I have a niche specific directory and clearly state that only finance related sites will be accepted. I have no long dry list of terms and conditions just few words clearly stating finance sites. Even with this people submit unrelated sites, why do they bother I am not going to accept them. Do you have a niche directory and find you get off topic submissions?
I own a popular niche directory, but rarely get problems with unrelated stuff. What's your sign up process like? I have 2 forms they have to fill out before they get listed, and that stops a lot of crap from being added. Try a 2nd form, but forget captcha codes - it doesn't work. Or adding a fee always works to keep the spammers at bay.
same with me, There is around 99% unrelated submissions for my software directory everyday... You can change to paid directory for stop anymore spam submissions!
If your site is free, and you have no captcha then bots and chancers have no reason not to submit as it costs them nothing to try it on. I have a niche paid directory with reCaptcha and get a few unpaids but no off-topic submissions.
That's not a surprise especially if your directory is included in some general directories list. It's faster to just submit than watching where you're submitting to
The same here for all our niche directories "except the adults" lol i wonder if its that they dont want linked to an adult site. laterz malcolm
In general I would say that more people ignore the submission guidelines on free directories. The worst thing that happens is they don't get approved. They seem to pay more attention on the ones that charge a review fee. Also go around and read the guidelines on one hundred directories and they are nearly identical so after the first few they probably figure why bother. Then there many new directories which don't even bother to fill in their guidelines.
Same here. I have a niche directory about mobile communications, but I receive non-related submissions all the time. Only 1% or 2% of submissions are related to the niche.
The narrower the niche, the higher the percentage of off-topic submissions. You need an idiot filter. Try asking a trivia question that has some relevance to the topic, and use that as a captcha. That should be easy with finance, there's plenty of jargon that you could ask about.
In the directory i am curently working i have suggest this form and been accepted by the company http://www.iozoo.com/submit.php its is obvious that is more likely first see the submissions rules or tips than the actual submit form but 50%-80% of free submissions dosnt follow the rules so i believe there is no efective way, they just been blind when submiting i guess
I have the same problem with my two niche directories. And I see the same culprits over and aver again!
I get this too. I allow submission to root because so many working in my topic area don't really understand directories. It can be comical sometimes the categories the spammers submit their sites too. As a whole my largest three type of sites being submitted are for ringtones, SEO companies and Flower companies in India. I assume the SEO'ers are hoping that I will hire them - can't see that happening when they can't follow simple directions. I use captcha (not had any complaints) and also have a field outside of the normal ones on my bigger site. That extra field has also turned into a great spam reducer. If the link text is questionable, a list of keywords or other garbage in that extra field is cause for automatic deletion - no review of the site necessary. I guess that directory almost has a double captcha working for me.
I have the same problem with my two niche directories. And I see the same culprits over and aver again!
Too funny, after posting here I went to check my overnight submissions. I had one from a "Quality Paid Directory" in my Computer Art category - can't say that I'm inclined to even look at it. lol
People using automated submitters add any and all directories that they find. They don't care if 80% of them are not relevant or don't follow the rules.
I have to say if its niche then they really should use their common sense. Must admit, when i submit to general ones i dont bother reading the rules, i simply scan looking for 2 - 3 obvious guidelines that i need to be aware of. Can understand your frustration though.
Glad to see I'm not alone on this. I think the trick is to keep everything as simple as possible. Of course this will not help with auto submissions ans bots. Tired a captcha type system before but some prolific spammers seem to be able to get round it so I do not bother any more. Instead I just ignore all their submissions. I do however tend to try and edit submissions that look like they are errors rather than spam.
Try charging a review fee ... What I mean is that a lot of directories charge for the listing ... say $10 (random figure) ... but they refund if the submission is not accepted. So charge whatever - and if you deny the listing - only refund a percentage of the submission fee ... if people are going to pay even if they're not accepted they'll probably be a lot more careful about reading submission guidelines