Web Directories - Performance, Purpose, Problems - A General Guide to Web Directories

The path to building a successful web directory is far from a simple task. It requires a certain amount of devotion to take a web directory script and transform it into a heavily used directory. Web directories contain more complexities than meets the eye, and I have learned first hand that the development of a quality web directory is no walk in the park. But a good web directory is worth its weight in gold, for both webmasters & internet surfers alike. Let us enter the world of web directories.

A web directory acts much like a search engine, but on a much smaller scale. Web directories are essentially a categorized index of websites that have been submitted by website owners. Directories normally have search features, allowing users to search through the entire index, just like a search engine. The main differences between a directory and a search engine is that very few directories contain the amount of links that a search engine does. Search engines also collect data from websites, which is used to categorize and rank them. Directories lack the ability to "crawl", or exam websites as search engines due, therefore the only information a directory contains on a particular website is the information that was submitted by the website owner. Most directories use meta tags and keywords to search for websites, where as search engines use complex algorithms that take into consideration much more than meta tags (the value of meta tags in search engines has actually declined). Web directories are not the most popular internet search tools because huge search engines like Google and Yahoo are much more convenient to use and contain a vast amount of resources available to be searched. The largest and most popular web directory is the Open Directory Project (DMOZ), whose links are indexed by Google, Yahoo, and the majority of other search engines. Google and Yahoo both have their own web directories as well. Though independently owned web directories may not be so popular for internet searchers, they do have their benefits for webmasters & surfers alike.

Web directories can have several purposes, it all depends on what the administration's intended goals are. Some web directories are purely advertising hot spots, while others focus on driving targeted traffic to the directory. Some directories are free, some paid, others both. Directories can have broad topics, or specific topics. Lets start with the different types of web directories.

First, we have what is commonly referred to as a "niche" directory. Niche directories have a specific topic, or niche, and the links found within the directory reflect that. Examples of a niche would be automotive directories, sports directories, shopping directories, web promotion directories, etc. Niche directories are most beneficial to internet *searchers; they have a specific topic and therefore *surfers and *searchers have a better chance of finding what they want. In a human edited niche directory, you are very unlikely to find spam sites as well.

We will label the next kind of web directory as a "Free for All" directory. Free for all directories have no specific topic. They are very broad in their category selection and links are usually hidden behind several sub-categories. Free for all websites can benefit webmasters so long as the "no follow" tag is not applied (page rank increase), however it is in your best interest to avoid free for all directories for several reasons. Using a free for all directory to search for a website is more likely than not going to require you to sort through heaps of spam. A lot of free for all directories are not human edited due to the massive amount of link requests they receive, and websites are not carefully examined before being approved into the directory. The link quality of some free for all directories is extremely poor. Also, a lot of free for all directories extract data from other directories; how original. No sense in supporting the lack of creativity or devotion in such web directories. Despite a flood of low quality free for all directories, there are some very good ones available. A well organized, human edited (human edited = higher quality links) free for all directory is a great place to search for websites. It also serves webmasters with increased website exposure and if they are lucky, the directory is indexed by Google and other search engines, therefore improving its ranking on search engine result pages.

The final type of web directories that will be examined are the poorest quality ones. Often referred to as "link farms" these directories are not human edited, due to contain high quality links, lack organization and unique features, and more often than not they become blacklisted from the major search engines. Searching these type of web directories is useless, and it's highly recommended that you do not support such sites. Furthermore, if you are a webmaster, submitting your website to link farms will substantially decrease your popularity amongst search engines. These directories due more harm then good, and consequently give other directories a bad name.

Whether you are submitting a website or searching for one, you will achieve the best results with a high quality niche directory. Webmasters, here are the common submission options for most web directories: Free submission: Submit your website to the directory for free. Simply fill out the form and wait for approval. A "no follow" tag is often placed on free submissions. Regular Submission: A small fee is usually necessary for regular submissions. Regular submissions can sometimes use the "no follow" tag. The main benefit is that submission approval times are significantly faster for regular submissions. Reciprocal Submissions: Free submissions that require a reciprocal link of the web directory to be placed onto the website you are submitting. Reciprocal submissions sometimes use "no follow' tags, but often do not. Cost is free with reciprocal submissions. Featured Submissions: Paid submissions that grant you premium listing (websites listed in special section of category, generally above regular links), fast submission approval, and paid submissions do not place "no follow" tags on your links, meaning you gain a back link for search engine ranking benefits. Featured and regular submission fees are generally charged per year, and prices vary depending on the directory and the traffic it receives.

Web directories have benefits for both webmasters and internet users. For webmasters, web directories main benefit is website exposure. Webmasters submit their websites to directories to increase their exposure. Not only can they receive traffic from people using the directory, but they can also benefit from a back link; a link to their website indexed by Google. Google ranks pages in several ways, but back links is one of the most important. A quality back link to your website increases your Google page rank. Enough quality directory back links, and your on your way to the top spot in Google search results. Bottom line: Web directories can increase your websites exposure by sending targeted traffic your way. For people using web directories as a search tool, web directories can offer you a big advantage over search engines. Search engine indexing is a big contest between website owners and therefore a lot of high quality content gets left out of the search engine result pages. Top results often go to corporations, big business, or highly devoted marketers. What about the little enthusiast and personal websites that contain valuable knowledge otherwise unavailable on the web?

Well, a lot of these quality content websites can be found in web directories. If you are having trouble finding what your looking for in search engines, try searching for a niche directory and I bet you will find what your looking for. Furthermore, using web directories supports smaller businesses and helps the little guy out. Not everyone has the time or money to spend on internet marketing or website promotion, and web directories are a great way for these small websites to gain some exposure. Big search engines have monopolized the internet search market, and it makes the relationship between big search engines and website owners way to critical. Google doesn't like you, and your sales drop 75 %. Now that does not seem right, does it? If more people frequented web directories, directory owners would gain a larger slice of the search engine market.

There is a large number of web directories on the internet today that have been blacklisted by Google. It is best to avoid these directories at all costs; having your link listed there will most likely negatively affect your search engine rankings. But how do you know which directories to submit your URL to and which ones to avoid? These guidelines in rating web directories may help:

1. Organization

- Web Directories should be well organized and categorized.

- Categories should be, neither, too broad nor too narrow. Category organization is important, but a directories search feature holds more value for finding links.

- Links should be easily accessible.

- Links should be posted into the correct category. If they are not, this is a sign of automated link approval, which should never be used in a directory. (Even the largest, most powerful of web directories are human edited).

- Poor quality and spam links should not be accepted into any decent web directory.

2. Advertisements

- A quality directory should contain a free submission option, so it is necessary for directories to offer sponsored listings and sale advertisement space. However, the page should not be cluttered with ads. This is a sign that the directory administration is too focused on making a quick buck than enhancing the internet experience.

- If the directory has a specific topic, or niche, than the advertisements should pertain to that topic. Off topic and irrelevant ads do not belong on niche directories.

3. Page Rank (PR)

- Rumor has it that it's possible to fake some page rank indicators. Make sure your page rank comes from a reliable source when examining the PR of a web directory.

- Page rank is important factor in website popularity. However, directories that boast high page ranks, or have their page rank in the directory name or slogan typically use the page rank factor to compensate for their downfalls. It's like bragging...and you want a modest web directory. Find a directory that shares and uses their page rank to the benefit of directory users, not a directory that clearly lacks in features but boasts a high PR.

- Directories that display website links within a category in descending order of PR are less desirable than those that display links based on popularity (unique hits). Most desirable first, not highest PR; very beneficial to new websites attempting to build initial PR.

4. No Follow Tag

- A web directory that uses "no follow" tags on all links is useless.

- "no follow" tags are acceptable on free submissions. Reciprocal & featured submissions should not be tagged as "no follow" links. This gives value and meaning to featured (sponsored) & reciprocal links, while controlling the amount of links indexed by search engines to a reasonable number.

- In a quality directory, do not fear a "no follow" on your free submission. A good directory brings in targeted traffic, and though you may be missing out on that back link, there is still a lot of potential for increasing traffic.

5. Reviews, Marketing, & Promotion

- Search around for reviews and recommendations on web directories. There are some really good resources when it comes to choosing quality directories.

- A web directory should be marketed to both webmasters & internet surfers. If a directory only attracts webmasters, what kind of web traffic is it likely to bring? Look into how the web directory is promoted and marketed.
These 5 guidelines can help you distinguish between low quality link farms and high quality, effective web directories. I hope this information helps you in your website's marketing and promotion campaign, in terms of website directory submission.

Teal Reid, SYC Automotive Directory Administrator

http://www.sycdirectory.com

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What Everybody Ought to Know About Driving Web Traffic Through Directories?

When it comes to driving web traffic through directories, there are a number of different techniques which can be used. The most reliable is the practice of submitting a website hyperlink to different Web directories. It helps if you think of these Web locator assistants as a limitless set of yellow pages, where you can find just about anything under the sun.Trafficking on Directories: Web directories themselves are made up of a huge amount of website hyperlinks under different categories. Directories are category-driven, so it's always important to be as precise as possible when submitting a link. When you do that, you'll allow Internet users to more easily locate what they're seeking. So, where do you start?

Search Engines versus Directories: Internet users sometimes become confused about the differences between Web directories and certain well-known search engines. Web directories differ from search engines mainly in the manner in which they show a link to some website. They always show a website by category and then subcategory, which is unlike search engines that use keywords. Also, it's common for a website listed in a directory to only be shown in one or two categories. Search engines can be a jumble of links because of that keyword sorting.

Directories and Categorization: Once a website's been submitted to a directory, it's usually looked at as a whole, rather than just on the words or keywords within the website. This helps to ensure proper placement of each site into its niche and sub-niches. The key thing to remember is that web directories have actual flesh-and-blood human editors, who evaluate the submitted website and then make the final decision about which category it'll belong to.

Usefulness of Web Directories: As stated, there are a number of directories out there, and most are very general in nature. Some, though, are focused on listings in a specific language or region, or on some specialty or another. This can make directories both very useful and somewhat limiting at the same time, in many cases. They also make their service free to use by search engines and even other competing web directories, which is a plus for the Internet surfer.

Quality of Web Directories: Generally, web directory quality is of a high nature, though like anything else on the Internet, a user shouldn't rely on just one directory for every use. It's recommended that some bit of experimentation take place, checking out how well the directory incorporates information given it, for example, before landing on one specific directory for general purposes.

Advantages of Using a Web Directory: Directories are a great tool to ensure traffic is routed to the website best suited to deliver what's needed. Because they do that, potential customers who end up at the website after a directory search for a product or service are more likely to carry a transaction through to a satisfactory conclusion. This benefits both the customer and the website owner or proprietor. Plus, search engines like web directories, which they consider to be "expert" at what they do. A directory therefore gains much higher placement on engine pages, as a result.

Going With a Web Directory: Because of all the benefits to using directories, a smart website owner or proprietor would be well-advised to tailor his or her site with the idea of eventually submitting it to a web directory. Proven customer traffic, customer ease of use of the directory, and the chance to really stand out from a crowd of Internet businesses can all make for a happy ending.

Winson Yeung has many years of experience as an SEO expert. Click here to answer "What Everybody Ought to Know About driving web traffic through directories?" Simply go to: http://drivingwebtrafficthroughdirectories.superiorwebsitetraffic.com/

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Google and DMOZ (The Open Directory Project) - The Odd Couple of Internet Directory

Google and DMOZ - Organizational Dichotomies in Partnership

In one corner you have Google - analytic, automated, user interactive, driven by rules-based mathematical algorithms, digital efficiency - trusted and respected.

In the other corner you have The Open Directory Project (DMOZ) - completely people-driven, uncommunicative, no rules, no feedback, inefficient, analog - not trusted.

It is like having Herman Hollerith's punch card system feed data into today's grid and super computing environment. It just DOES NOT COMPUTE! Stone Age meets the Digital Age.

So what is the relationship between this two unlikely partners?

Google commands the Worldwide Directory of Website Registration. But you cannot just add your Website to the Google Directory. Some time ago, someone at Google decided that if your website was listed in DMOZ (The Open Directory Project) then it was worthy of possible inclusion in the Google Directory. BTW Alexa also opts for this 'good-enough-for DMOZ then-good-enough for-us' approach.

The Open Directory Project has long been chastised for its troll-like gatekeeper presence when is comes to granting DMOZ directory status that feeds key global Internet Directories, like Google and Alexa. A completely volunteer organization, The Open Directory Project has received accusations of corruption, manipulation and incompetence when it comes to determining what domains get listed in the DMOZ directory. Some websites have been listed on DMOZ one day and then days later removed - with not even a simple explanation to why or why not. This is just basically WRONG!

The article, Ineffective DMOZ by Baron Turner (circa 2005), effectively articulates the wrongs of this volunteer organization.

Why has Google never intervened by advancing DMOZ from this highly suspect environment of an "all volunteer" editorial organization to a professional, accountable, semi-automated and communicative editorial organization? One of those web mysteries.

Example: Our organization has 8 commercial websites. In the last year only two of the eight websites have had the honor of getting listed on DMOZ. Why these two got accepted and the other six were rejected is the "sixty-four thousand dollar question". Or were they rejected? No way of knowing. DMOZ has no feedback mechanism! There is no way of knowing if:

1. a submission request was actually received by one the DMOZ volunteer editors

2. if it is in the DMOZ queue for review or

3. if it was rejected by a DMOZ editor and WHY it was rejected!

The absence of ANY type of feedback mechanism as part of the DMOZ process is simply a broken customer management system. Each and every Webmaster that submits to the Open Directory Project is a DMOZ CUSTOMER! DMOZ offends its customers by showing disrespect to these webmaster and SEO professionals.

Google represents capitalism, competitiveness and dynamic change. DMOZ is too close to a a third world Dictatorship. The topic of this unlikely partnership could be material for a new Reality TV series. Wait! Maybe the Google-DMOZ Irony is material better suited for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart or The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert.

In the 30 plus years in the High Tech Business, I have come to observe that the longer you have the same group of unaccountable people involved in a process, a process that is unchecked or not audited, then you will get laxness, arrogance and opportunity for corruption.

Maybe it is time for a Google REALITY CHECK on The Open Directory Project. Google has a responsibility to bring the now arcane processes of the DMOZ organization into the customer-centric age of Trust and Accountability.

Until then best of luck in getting listed in the The Open Directory Project.

Carl Chesal is a business and channel development consultant, trainer, photographer, and hobby carpenter. He operates BizFare Enterprise Inc and Foursight Photography, which provide business development, marketing, and internet marketing consulting services. Carl with wife, Janet, also operate a number of e-commerce web-sites.

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Traffic Building - How Social Bookmarking and Directory Submission Can Help You

Getting visitors to your website is much harder work compared to designing it and developing it. Traffic building is best done through search engine optimization. There are various techniques that you can use to optimize your website. Social bookmarking and directory submission are among the most innovative and effective ones that you can readily rely on.

Websites that get more bookmarks are more easily picked up by search engines. The really great thing is that you can submit links to your site to social bookmarking sites. In this way, you automatically improve your direct traffic building as well as your link building. Using such websites does not cost you anything, but gives you the opportunity to have effective promotion.

In addition, you do not have to worry about having your web page content on several sites, as this is not considered duplication. Another superb benefit form using social bookmarking is that you can exchange bookmarks to make your search traffic building even more effective.

There are various opportunities for directory submission that you can exploit effectively. You can submit your links to various directories supported by search engines as well as to independent ones. This form of link building guarantees you high search engine rankings and more traffic to your website. You can put the links in different categories and even use keyword tags and short descriptions for more effective promotion.

Article directory submission is another popular option for link and traffic building that you should consider as well. You get to market your website with entire articles and not just with a small description of the link. This is certainly effective for attracting visitors.

In order to make the most out of social bookmarking and directory submission, you have to employ all available techniques used in these search engine optimization methods. Just make sure you act in line with the search engine regulations, so that your site does not get banned.

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The Role Of Web Directories In Search Engine Optimization

The opinions about web directories are often divided. Some experts in Search Engine Optimization say that submitting articles in directories is irrelevant while others give it the five-thumbs up.

New or old websites can actually benefit from directory websites if there is a balance when it comes to link building strategy. If you would submit your website, you have to make sure first that it has the right quality that could benefit not just your site but your business at the same time. You should check out the domain age of the directory, the page rank, and other factors that would help you determine whether the web directory is reliable or not. It would be best if you take advantage of human-edited directories in the World Wide Web rather than the automatically generated ones. The enlisting of websites would take longer but it's definitely worth the wait.

You can increase the credibility of your company's website if it is part of the well-established and one of the most popular web directories. More so, the benefit of these directories is to increase the rank of your website in the most popular search engines. This is one of the most effective techniques in search engine optimization. If the web directory of your choice indeed has high quality, it will deliver you backlinks in immense amount which will be crawled by the search engines. The more traffic you get, the higher will be your rank. Therefore, people would consider you and your business to be dependable and that you can cater them steadfast services and products.

That is why it is vital that you always check the categories and the listings of the web directory before you submit your website. Don't let it be a part of the spam-filled directories which would decrease the integrity of your site, hence affecting your business. Search engines must cache your site through these websites and it must also be well-indexed at the same time.

There is a vast range of directory websites that you can find today and you should choose the right one depending on your target audience. For those who are targeting a smaller audience, local web directories are available for a particular area or a state. There are also some web directories that enlist websites of the same niche. Most business owners actually prefer the latter directory since it gives them traffic from their targeted audience. Thus, increasing the chances of getting more sales online.

Submit your website to the best web directory on the net

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Market Your Website By Submitting Articles To Article Directories

Write about things you are knowledgeable in, and have passion for. Feel passion when you are writing, and your writing will improve. Article writing is one of those exercises that for a few people produce truly phenomenal results online. Some online article authors are total amateurs, but their writing is also quite good. Quality is so essential to article marketing. You don't want your web site to look like it's cheap and aimless.

There is no better way to increase traffic than having content and submitting this content to article sites. Many webmasters are using RSS Syndication and it is becoming the way content is delivered to websites on the internet. Creating unique good quality will help with the search engines and visitors. Without good, relevant content the Internet would be nothing. Many webmaster agree that relevant good quality content is king. The pages will be indexed in the search engines because the keywords are relevant and match the content of the article.

One of the benefits of submitting articles to article directories is that once the article is there in the directory it is not archived as time goes on. There are niche directories that only accept articles within their niche. One of the best article directories are very easy to use and provide members with a lot of help in the form of online tutorials and help screens. Article Directories is the one place where webmaster and authors can submit articles and get published. Article directories exemplify the best kind of website that Search Engines love the most. The first benefit of writing articles and submitting them to article directories is that it establishes you as an expert in your particular field.

Many publishers come to article directories looking for articles to publish, they take the article and post it on their site. When writing your articles, you need to focus on providing specific information the publisher will find beneficial.

Using a niche article directory is a great way to publish specific articles and sell products in that niche. This enables them to publish your article faster and with fewer errors. The giant article directories need approve hundreds of articles a day. Submitting your articles to directories is free. Article directories are websites that house free articles. Anyone can write an article and use it to promote their website. The distribution of articles through free article directories is one of the best ways to promote your website.

Want to know if this process has actually done anything for you. You are writing for people. If you are writing to get traffic and you are not receiving it, you might get discouraged but don't be, the link benefit in the long run will bring the traffic. One can use this method to try and draw in user traffic as well as use other procedures to bring visitors to their particular site. Writing and submitting articles is the most effective way to publicize your website, build one way links and promote your website.

Your link that you include in your article should point back to your site, but should also reflect the theme of the site. It can take several months to get into some directories so it can be frustrating but don't give up keep submitting articles.

David Marc Fishman is the owner of free articles [http://www.myarticlezine.com] site and articles [http://www.articleriot.com] site that is also free.

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