We are constantly looking for ways to improve the Authority Directory by working with coders, script providers and innovators. We work very hard to offer added value to those who visit and submit to the directory. So we thought we would make a little post on some of the enhancements that have been made over the last couple months.
Some of the Directory Enhancements Full Story »
Back in the “old days” it was a much tougher thing to get a deep link to your site. There were no blogs and very few directories that allowed them. If you’re wondering just what the deep link is, how it affects your site and how you get them you came to the right place.
What are deep links?
The deep link is really just what it sounds like. It is a link to a deep (interior) page of your website, which means it is not the main page.
An example would be http://www.authoritydirectory.com/gallery/ pointing toward the interior gallery page of the Authority Directory. Full Story »
Over the past few months there has been a new feature popping up on general directories which has been available on bidding directories for some time. The instant approval directory is a directory that relies on the submitter to write a quality description, title and anchor text which is not reviewed prior to acceptance, but instead instantly activated after submission.
This has and continues to be a very common practice among bidding directories which is part of the reason they have been criticized for in the past. There are bidding directories available that do use a review process with submissions, I am just saying that a higher percentage of them do not at this time.
Now there is a trend developing where this feature is being seen in general directories. Let me tell you right now instant approval is not a feature you will ever see on the Authority Directory. Full Story »
Every once in a while there is a post in a forum that laments how hard it is to submit unique descriptions to directories. Recently there was one that asked the question of how often the submitter should change up the title and description when submitting.
I responded to the question and thought I would also blog about it since it seems to come up time and again.
The simple truth is that there is something on the internet called duplicate content and search engines can easily find it and at the same time disregard it. If you are wondering just how easy it is to spot duplicate content go to Copyscape and test nearly any article you want to in an article directory. Results come back in scarcely a second and will tell you if there are other copies of that content on the net or if it is unique.
When it comes to directory submissions, after review and approval your link will appear on a details page. A large part of the content on that details page consists of the descriptive text for the site submitted. If that text is identical to what was submitted to 50 other sites there is a good possibility that search engines will disregard or discount the value of the page.
Yeah, that is the page your link is on so I think that most would want it to stand out to search engines. Many submitters to directories will make the mistake of using the same descriptions over and over again. Those same submitters will in the same breath wonder why directory submissions are not as effective as they would like them to be.
To get the best results those descriptions need to be unique. It is that simple.
As a directory owner I have another perspective on unique descriptions. The flip side of the coin from my perspective is I want a quality directory which gives value to visitors and those submitting here alike. I want the pages indexed by search engines. I want them indexed so internet surfers can find them and find the directory. It gives those who have websites listed here added value.
I want unique content in articles and link descriptions alike. While reviewing submissions I will do a search using the domain of the submitted site to see if there are other links out there with the same description that was submitted. In most cases I can find 3 or 4 in the first couple pages of results.
As far as the initial question that sparked the whole thread, “How often should I change the description and title when submitting?”
There are really two different answers for it.
If you are paying a review fee you should submit a unique description every single time without fail.
If you are submitting to a free directory ideally you should submit a unique description every single time.
The thing about free directory submissions is that most submitters will submit in bulk to them. It is common to submit to free directories 1000 at a time via a submission service. They will tell you they are manually submitting to each directory and charge a whopping $5 for the service. Syed over at Balkhis recently posted on that and you can read more about those services there.
Think about it, those thousand submissions are using maybe 5 different descriptions and 5 different anchor texts plugged into an automated form feeder which will submit to those thousand sites in about 10 minutes.
That screams duplicate content and is one of the primary reasons that nearly every free directory and many pay for review directories have diminished value for listings. The sites that are listed there are just duplicates in content to what is found in other places. Listings with duplicate content simply means diminished importance for those pages in search engines.
So the right answer when submitting to directories is to write unique descriptions every time because most directories available either free or paid will not rewrite what you submit to diminish duplicate content issues.
The Authority Directory does modify and rewrite descriptions to make them more unique. All you directory owners, let us know if you do the same or not.
Most people go through life without realizing the profound impact that Non-Profit organizations and Charities make on the daily lives of too many people. The people in these organizations work tirelessly for little and in most cases no pay.
The Authority Directory appreciates the efforts that Non-Profit Organizations and Charities make to better the communities we live in. We understand that Charity and Non-Profit organizations have a deep and lasting impact on the daily lives of countless people in need.
To show our support for Non-Profit and Charity Organizations we invite you to submit them to the Authority Directory for Free review and consideration.
To submit a Non-Profit or Charity organization
Appropriate categories for your submission would be the Society > Charities or Volunteering categories. When you have a charity or non-profit that operates locally you should find the most appropriate Regional category.
We will approve legitimate non-profit and charity organizations that meet our guidelines. We do carefully review each and every submission.
We ask that you allow us to do this for the benefit of these organizations without spamming the directory with sites that are not legitimate Charity or Non-Profit Organizations. Here is an example of a recent qualified Non-Profit Organization that submitted for consideration.
Help us spread the word to get as many charities listed as possible by promoting this on your own website or blog.
I frequently see questions asked about the ways in which directories sort their listings. There are several methods and I will cover the most popular in this post with some of the pro’s and con’s for each. Feel free to leave a comment if you think of anything that was not touched on.
Page Rank - This is the most popular method of ranking listings within a directory. It basically relies on leaving a third party to rank the sites for you. As a directory owner I can see benefits and negatives to using this method.
Date Added - This option will sort the order of the listings purely based on the date of inclusion in the directory. It rewards the sites that have been there the longest, but there are some negatives. Sites change over time and may not be well maintained putting less quality sites in a higher position. High quality sites can also be new sites that gain popularity quickly and this option would not allow them a more visible spot.
Alphabetical - This is an easy method to use and just places sites alphabetically. It makes sites easy to find if you know their name, but if you are surfing for popular sites it can be frustrating.
Hits -
Method used on the Authority Directory
When I was determining the method to be used for sorting links on the Authority Directory, sorting by date added just did not make sense for me. There were just too many significant negatives to that method. Sites can change over time and the method for sorting links should have the flexibility to adjust based on those changes.
Using alphabetical listing sounded like a good option at first until you really think about it. There are many quality sites that don’t start with a letter at the beginning of the alphabet. Did I really want to place a site like Yahoo at the bottom of any list?
Hits were the next area I looked at and I really like the idea of sorting by hits with a few safeguards in place to guard against manipulation. By doing some custom programming you can inhibit the manipulation and any benefits derived from it.
Page rank was next and though it does have some substantial negatives. After all Google itself does not rank search results by page rank. Do any search in Google and check the sites in the results for page rank and you will find that the number one position may very well have a page rank significantly less than the number 5 position.
In the end we decided to use number of hits to determine rankings of listings with some custom programming to avoid the ability to others to manipulate the rankings of sites as much as possible.
The the Site of the Day Mod allows newer sites additional exposure on our high traffic front page to accumulate additional hits and rank it where our visitors determine it should be.
If concerned about placement of your listing there is always the featured links option to have your sites listed at the top of a category immediately.
One of the most common questions there is when it comes to Web Directories is, “Which ones should I submit to?” of “How do I tell which are the Quality Directories?”
There is really no simple answer to this question. There are many traits that need to be taken into consideration when you are looking for a Quality Directory to submit your website to and next we will cover those traits in more detail.
The first set of traits will help you to determine how serious the directory owner is about establishing and promoting a quality directory resource.
Unique Design - The first thing that you will notice when you visit a directory will be your first indication of the quality of the site. Does the directory have a design that is unique? Is it the same design that you have already seen ten times on other directories today?
Directory Features - Additional traits of a Quality Directory are the features that it offers. Look for features that indicate there have been additions to the directory. Some of those features with examples are a directory blog, deep links, sections designed for visitor use such as a Gallery of Art, multiple review options and informative details pages.
Unique Content - You should check through the directory for any content unique to the website such as unique and well written articles or blog posts. Unique site content is valued by the search engines. They will typically give more weight to sites that have unique site content and visit more often.
Unique Category Structures - After you have been through the process of submitting to a few hundred different directories you begin to notice something. A lot of those directories seem to have the same category structure. Those are called a category dumps and the easy way out when building a directory. The problem with directories that use category dumps is that they look too similar to search engines. To get maximum benefits from directories they should have a unique category structure.
Directory Listings - The directory listings themselves can give you insight into the editorial standards of the directory.
Additional traits to consider for a Quality Directory
Family Friendly - Not all directories are family friendly and that is all right. There are many good directories that allow for adult content. The thing is that there are many directories that say they are family friendly and when you actually search through their listings you may be shocked by what you find. If a directory states that it is family friendly, take a look through its listings and see what you find there. If you find any listings to porn or gambling, you may want to take that into consideration. If the directory is not following its own guidelines, that is a sign of poor editing.
Backlinks - Go to Yahoo Site Explorer and enter the web address for the directory to check the backlinks. There should be a mix of quality and quantity of backlinks to the directory.
Check the Search Engine Rankings - One thing that I like to follow is where the listing of a site ranks in relation to the actual site in the serps. What I mean is that I will take a site that is listed in my directory and do a Google search for the domain. For example “yourdomain.com” without the quotes. The first result is usually the site itself, but what I like to know is where the listing for that site on my directory ranks.
Check Alexa Rankings - This is one that should be done with a grain of salt. Keep in mind that the only traffic that is tracked by Alexa are those surfers that choose to use the Alexa Toolbar. That is a small percentage of the total internet traffic and skewed towards tech-savvy surfers. On the flip side one can say that it equally mis-represents the traffic for all sites so may be more accurate than you think. Either way it is fun to go there and check out the traffic graph to see where they come out. One thing about Alexa is the higher the site ranks (the lower the number) the more accurate it tends to be.
Check to see if the Site is Banned - Go to iWebtools banned site checker and enter the web address. It will tell you if the directory has been banned by Google. If a directory is banned it means that it is no longer being indexed by Google and is not benefiting your site for searches in that search engine. Just remember even though Google is the dominant search engine, there are other search engines.
What You Will Not See On a Quality Directory
Conclusion
These guidelines should help you in determining a good strategy for directory submissions. Submitting to low quality directories is not always the best use of your time or resources. Using these guidelines can help you in distinguishing quality directories from those of lesser quality and aid you in putting together your directory list of favorites.
Why get listed
So you have read up on that monster directory DMOZ and have decided you would like a listing there. Well it is not quite that simple. Sure submitting your site for consideration is free. Sure DMOZ currently has a page rank of 8. Sure it is a trusted authority site in Google’s eyes. And sure the submission and review process is flawed.
Benefits of a DMOZ listing
The benefits of getting a listing are pretty obvious as DMOZ is an authority site with a high page rank. The links are also syndicated out to numerous other directories including Google’s directory. That means that a single listing on DMOZ could result in numerous additional links on other directories. Plus a listing in DMOZ is free.
Negatives of a DMOZ listing
Have you ever really searched the listings in DMOZ to see what websites are there? Just to come up with examples while I was writing this I went to their search function and put in the word “porn”. Feel free to do the same if you like, but I will not link to the results that came up because, well it’s my site and I don’t allow it in my directory.
I don’t allow links to “gambling” content either, but you know DMOZ will serve up a bountiful platter of sites when you use their search function.
Many people will say that these are legitimate industries and they are absolutely correct. Every site has its own individual editorial standards.
Customer Service
I would just like to mention, I have twenty some years experience with customer service and I have seen some companies that made some pretty poor attempts at serving the needs of their customers. Never in my experience have I experienced a company that provides such a complete lack of support on the scale of DMOZ.
They accept submissions and in some cases take years to review the site. When they do review the site they do not make you aware of the results. They do not provide a way of checking the status while it is awaiting review and they absolutely do not answer any queries on the status of your submission. If you get tired of the non-response and resubmit after a few months DMOZ considers it spamming and may ban your site for life.
I am sure one thing DMOZ would say in their defense is that the review process is run by volunteers. This is a ludicrous attempt to make excuses for abysmal service. There are plenty of organizations out there that are successfully run off the efforts of volunteers. Ask the Red Cross if that excuse would work for them. The complete lack of service on the part of DMOZ can only be attributed to a poorly managed company.
Steps to listing
Prior to submitting ask yourself if your site is list-able. DMOZ does state in their submission guidelines that there are sites that they will not list. Amoung them are sites with illegal content or spam.
Do a quick search and see if your domain is already there. If it is already listed, do not submit it again. That could cause your listing to be removed entirely.
Make sure to find the single best category to submit your site to. The category should match up with the content of your site.
Make sure to use the official name of your site when submitting and do not use sales speak in the description. Keep the description simple, descriptive, objective and void of marketing hype. Look to sites already listed in the category your interested in for examples.
Make sure to follow their submission guidelines to the letter. After that you wait and wait and probably wait some more.
No Guarantees
You should realize that after submitting to DMOZ there are no guarantees. The review process could take a week or it could take a year. In the range of 80 to 90% of all submissions are rejected. Problem is that they don’t tell you. You may get rejected an hour after submitting and never know about it. The best policy is to submit it and forget it.
Can I pay and editor to list my site
If you search around the internet you will find numerous accusations of corruption among the editors at DMOZ. I have researched and found no evidence of corruption other than accusations and innuendo. It probably does exist to a small extent but I don’t get the impression that it is any more widespread than any other company.
If you are thinking along this route be very careful. I think that you’re more apt to find someone who will tell you what you want to hear only take your money and run.
Conclusion
Because you can submit to DMOZ for free it is probably worthwhile to do so. Go ahead and submit while following their guidelines and forget about it. If it happens then it happens.
If the site required a review fee of any kind I would not bother with submitting to them. They have a good page rank and are considered an authority site.
To me the selections for inclusion seem more random than anything. Possibly based more on the actual submission process than the quality of the suggested site. In my searches of DMOZ I found numerous examples of what I consider questionable linking practices.
I have submitted the Authority Directory to DMOZ for inclusion since it is free. To this date I have not heard anything back which is not surprising. If I ever actually do hear something I will update this post. Good luck!
When it comes to bidding directories there are a couple different strategies that people submitting there pursue.
There are those people that search out bidding directories for the benefit of being able to control where their link is placed through the bidding process. They want to be able to bid the placement of their link up to the top of their respective category or even on to the front page. This ensures their link exposure on the page that receives the most traffic for that directory.
Going for the opportunity to to place your bid on the first page for traffic reasons can turn into an expensive proposition. Depending on the directory that first initial bid to get there can be expensive and what usually ensues is a bidding war to stay on that page. There are submitters that feel the boost in traffic is worth the expense and in some cases they are correct. Then there are others that just don’t want to be involved in an ongoing bidding war for position.
This situation causes some people to take another tactic with bidding directory submission. Rather than going for the front page they will look at the minimum bid and increase that minimum bid by one dollar or even fifty cents.
There are numerous sites that will make submissions to bidding directories for only the minimum amount. By bidding one dollar over that minimum amount you get much better positioning of your link within the category. In categories that have many links it can be the difference between being on page 8 and being on page 2. This can make an enormous difference in the value of that link. One that is absolutely worth the price of an extra dollar at the time of submission.
A last option for those people looking for traffic exposure for their website does not even involve bidding directories and the threat of having your link moved down by another website out bidding you. It involves traditional general web directories that have a modification (by Forplex) to their directory that allows for a site of the day to be featured on the first page of the directory.
This feature allows for highly customized exposure to traffic and is not subject to a bidding process. You simply reserve the space for a series of days throughout the month. Typically it requires that you have a regular or featured listing on that directory prior to reserving that space, but in cases where you are looking for a boost in traffic to your site this is a great and less expensive solution for you.
An example of this feature can be found on the Authority Directory.
This is your guide to developing a quality directory. Quality does not mean free, but it can. That just depends on if you have the funds to develop a quality directory without getting a return to at least break even on that investment. For more on business theory of paid vs free directories visit the article
