What makes a good directory a good directory?

Is the list longer than 3 characteristics?

[Webwork]

1. Drives traffic.

2. Passes pagerank.

3. Relevant (on target) traffic.

What else? Is 1-3 then end of the story?

Okay, besides the big 3, what else makes a good directory a good directory?

You're a consultant (unpaid, like we all are here) and your advice is what: What else is a 'must have' or 'should have' attribute, function, element of directory design?

What fails miserably in its presence or absence?

4.?

5.?

Add 'em by the number. Who's got 4, 5 and 6?

[ncw164x]

What fails miserably in its presence

4. three sets of adsense ads with no page content
5. no less than 10 small banners per page or 3 large
6. hard to use navigation inbetween the banners down each side with PPC search results down the center
7. start page pop unders
8. exit page pop ups

[encyclo]

A good directory for whom? For the directory owner, the sites listed or the end user?

[Webwork]

Interesting response Encyclo.

I guess you see some conflict in those 3 distinct perspectives? ;-)

Not too veer off from the original question, but Encyclo, would you suggest a 'best practice' for reconciling those 3 distinct interests?

[nandini]

Let me add few more things to the list..

1. Spam free results..
2. Human Edited
3. Are choosy while adding sites
4. Have arranges sites in proper categories.

For Wemasters
1. Deep Links to the website included with main link
2. A good link poularity
3. if poosible a resource page for each site listed

[claus]

1) comprehensive
2) updated
3) well-arranged
4) fast

Added: As for "human edited", that's an absolute requirement. It's not sufficient, though.

[g1smd]

encyclo, you asked the same question I was about to ask..

Good for who; surfers or webmasters?
The two are almost mutually exclusive.

[The_Expert]

Nandini - you mentioned 'Spam free results' do you mean affiliate ads? if not then what?

regards

[PatrickDeese]

I will echo the other sentiments:

Users:

A) Real content
B) Human reviews
C) Links lead to sites that still have the reviewed content in other words, a link to widgets.com doesn't lead to adult content due to ownership changes
D) Good navigation / site search function
E) Directory has quality standards that go beyond receiving payment.

--

Webmasters:

A) Good PR / spiderable links
B) Quality, qualified traffic
C) Low cost for paid listings, free option (with linkback, perhaps?)
D) Deep linking when appropriate

--

Directory Owner:

A) Good balance of paid / free listings
B) Quality CMS / Link Rot management system
C) Quality affiliate programs that don't leach traffic from paid listings.

[The_Expert]

I'm well on the way to achieving way beyond the above mentioned. I think a fast and targeted search engine is most important though, as users won't want their time wasted with irrelevant results.

Quality rather than pages full of advertisers is the name of the game.

[bhd735]

What fails miserably in its presence

paid listings coming after unpaid/filler results from google or dmoz.

Categories and content that are just copies of dmoz (which arent that good).

[LizardGroupie]

Relevancy, logical directory structure, clear descriptions.

Human editors are essential, but what's just as important is the management of the human editors. A good directory organization should emphasize integrity. People should be promoted on the basis of rationalism and objectivism. There should be no discrimination on race, nationality, age, etc. It should be a pure meritocracy.

Further, the organization should promote the moral development of its members, and it should be crystal clear why the higher ups are higher up. And that the newbies should respect and defer to their superiors. The human editors should look on their participation as a source of moral growth.

What fails miserably in its presence

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