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well then dataguy link it up
I don't really think it's appropriate to promote your own sites here at WebmasterWorld...
or there are hundreds of directories that haven't made the list that are better than some of the ones on the list...
dataguy, you don't want your directories to be on the same list as some of the above listed directories. It would be a "scrutinize me" sign on your back.
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On another note..
What should I look for to determine if a directory is "good"?
I saw a few that were obvious, as they had next to nothing in them. Other than that I wasn't to sure, except for the ones that had 302 redirects.
What should I look for to determine if a directory is "good"?
This is a very good question, one that I've been asking myself since I started reading these posts.
This is the criteria that I think I would use, in no particular order:
PageRank of home page and top-category directory pages,
Number of pages indexed by Google, Yahoo and MSN,
Backlinks in Yahoo
Alexa rating,
Whether the links pass PR
What am I missing?
The stats for my top site are:
PR6, PR5
125,000-43,000-1,811
36,000
5,800
Yes indeed.
Advertising is just too pricey.
The whole search game requires a massive sort out. Some independent directories could do with being bought up, and run properly as the other option is directory heaven. I'd rather see some as part of something else (merger) than forced to remove them from the web.
There are lots of good directories, and in some cases - brilliant ones. Unfortunately, the reason not many of these are properly promoted is lack of budget.
I just don't understand this mentality. Seems to me that the problem isn't a lack of advertising budget, but rather the lack of filling a need for people that isn't being filled elsewhere.
I didn't spend a dime to promote my directories until a few months ago, when I decided they were making so much money that I might as well get as many 5 cent clicks as I could get out of AdWords, even if I was throwing the money away.
The success of my directories have nothing to do with funding. Come to think of it, the success of my directories have nothing to do with brilliance either!
One of the most important factors that determines the worthiness of a directory, IMHO, is, "Whether the target directory ranks for any competitive keyword at all or not". Very often I have been successful in ranking websites with minimal links, by getting links from pages that themselves rank decently for the target term.
Nice work dataguy.
Thanks...
Lately I've seen a lot of new pages pop up that link to directories that webmasters can submit to.
A few months ago I came across one that also showed Alexa rank, home page PR, and the count of pages indexed by G. The list had over 100 directories on it, and it seemed like a really good idea. Problem is that now I can find it again. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? If you do, please sticky it to me.
If you didn't spend anything on advertising, then how do you advertise? Just adwords?
Adwords is pretty good, but expensive if you want top keywords. I've seen most of the directories on the web and they have some weird domain names, ones infact that nobody will ever type on a search engine.
Keyword 'Directories' is too popular and thus very pricey. So I'm wondering how these directories ever get found at all. It's obvious that hardly any spend cash on advertising, as their Alex ratings and number of sites linked to them reveal a lot.
If few sites are linking, then what's the point in continuing. Nobody would ever find them.
Adwords is pretty good, but expensive if you want top keywords. I've seen most of the directories on the web and they have some weird domain names, ones infact that nobody will ever type on a search engine. This also means that relying on natural search traffic is pointless, as it's never going to happen because of the silly domains out there. I reckon people just don't know what they are doing..
<removed>
I can't see anyone that will type those in. These domains aren't words that I'd automatically think to type in. As a searcher seeking information, I'm far more likely to type in a keyphrase or single keyword - not 3 seperate keywords then followed by a number, or cool sounding obscure site names.
Another problem is the lack of links some of these directories actually have.
If few sites aren't linking, then what's the point in continuing. Nobody would ever find them. At least get a load of link exchanges or buy some decent advertising.
[edited by: jatar_k at 7:26 pm (utc) on July 22, 2005]
[edit reason] no specific urls thanks [/edit]
Dataguy,
If you didn't spend anything on advertising, then how do you advertise? Just adwords?
No, as I said, I didn't start AdWords until just recently. I'm not going to spell it out for you, but the key is to make your directory provide a needed service, and put it out there so that people who need the service find out about it. As a matter of fact, many people have paid ME to advertise MY directories. It's a matter of being in a position where others benefit by promoting your web site. Think about that.
Who promotes the DMOZ, JoeAnt, and the other big guys? Why do they do it? They need to be able to promote your site for the same reasons. If they can't, then no advertising bugdet will get your site off the ground except maybe temporarily.
In the early days of my sites (about 5 years ago) I even tried to get other search engine & directory owners to join in with me (for free), but they were too busy trying to build sites that they liked themselves, forgetting about who it was they really needed to please. They are all gone now. I just hope to be able to snap up their domain names whenever they expire.
I started long before AdSense made it easy to make a good web site profitable, and most of my sites never turned a profit until AdSense. Instead, they truely were my "passion" sites. Now they have turned into nice "coin" sites as well, so I have the best of both worlds.
There are so many directories out there that aren't even within the top 100,000 websites on the web. This tells me an awful lot about them, and I wonder about the point in creating such resources if they aren't advertised as fully as they could be.
Made for adsense only, springs to mind all to often, and if people only want to run a directory to take advantage of adsense earnings, I wish them good luck, but when adsense crumbles - what then? I mean forget about Top directories, there are only about 20 that are worth listing with anyway, as the rest just don't provide enough traffic. Will everything be monitised after that happens, and if that resource fails to deliver traffic, noone will pay to be listed anyway.
Okay, hosting is cheap, so in theory webmasters can keep a site 'present' on the web - but for what purpose? If companies know these don't drive trafic, then apart from PageRank, what's the point in them.
If a directory doesn't provide traffic or make money - tell me of a major investor (blue chip) that's going to bother investing cash into it. It won't happen.
I'm not being nasty here - just projecting the truth and reality. Top Ten anything is very uncertain and can mean different things to different people, and in the directory world I don't believe such a term should exist. It confuses and frustrates more than does anything of value. I could call the 400th directory on the web a top 10 one couldn't I?
My point is who's going to pay, when there's no major return on that investment. Are businesses using directories for link count/search engines, or for PR value.
Thoughts on this anyone?
