RichTC - 4:42 pm on Jun 18, 2006 (gmt 0)

Authority on a basic level imo is about content and links to that content.

A site with a high volume of pages about the subject matter - not auto generated junk but unique content perhaps static pages written about the subject. Depth of content and volume has to be relevent imo.

Links to the site, lots of them over a period of time. If sites are linking to it then in most cases the site adds value. A link in a way is a vote of confidence, if other sites are voting for that site its more likely to be an authority on the subject or adds value.

As a general rule authority sites imo should only link out (if at all) to sites on the subject matter or related that may benefit the end user not to any old site - whilst we may see exceptions generally an authority site gets far more one way links and doesnt link out to off toppic sites imo

Also, a quick way to improve your index is to not list sites with less than 10 pages or bloggs unless you have reviewed them. Sorry but imo this would eliminate self generated sites designed to spam your index and the poor low quality end of the market.

One thought, i dont know if this is possible or viable but you could charge say $600 (£300)for sites to be listed in your OWN directory and use that data for your serps quality - Thats one true way of ensuring you have quality control. If your own staff have been to a site and confirmed its a quality site of benefit to the end user you know its ok to list! - spammers imo will not pay a few hundred pounds a time for sites to be listed and reviewed they tend to have lots of autogenerated sites linked from networks.

Final point - dont go down the route of using DMOZ data, i know your team have looked at this but even an idiot can tell from close check that a lot of the listed sites are from biased editors, some of its fine but a lot of its junk - if you want directory data you need to use your own not coppy some one elses.