Submitting to Directories: A Comprehensive Guide - Types of Directories
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Human Edited (categories)
This is the 'traditional' directory. It is the most prestigious, as each listed site is 'hand picked' and reviewed by a human editor. The assumption is that the editor is an 'expert' in his/her field and will select for inclusion only appropriate sites. Such directories usually have very clear and stringent acceptance rules, which ensure the quality of the search results. Invariably, the Directory is comprised of categories to which sites are 'assigned'. This type of Directory is relatively hard to maintain, as it is labor intensive and hence expensive. That also explains why many such directories are using volunteers to do the work. Notable examples of Human Edited Directories are Yahoo, Dmoz, Joeant and Gimpsy, but there are many more. There is no doubt that this is the most important type to submit your site to. Only the scrutiny of an independent human reviewer can ensure the quality and suitability of a web site to a given category.
User categorized
The Directory is structured in a very similar way as the Edited Directory, but it is the user's decision as to the best category to place the site in. While this is quite attractive for the Directory Owner (the users do the 'hard work') as well as the Site Owner (freedom to place the site in any category), the search results may be far from satisfactory. One such Directory is Websquash. You may get benefits from registering in such a directory, but make sure you consider all the relevant aspects, as outlined in the next chapters.
User classified
Sites are classified by keywords, entered by the Site Owner in the Meta Tags of the home page. The attraction here is that the site is classified (potentially) by many keywords and the process is fully automatic (low maintenance). While easy to register, the sorting algorithm has very little to go by, hence the position of the site in the search results doesn't mean much. Moreover, should you choose popular keywords you have little chance of being found due to the number of sites competing with you. On the other hand, selecting a rare combination of keywords suffers from the obvious problem of the minuscule number of searchers using that combination. One of the better known examples is ExactSeek, which enjoys significant popularity. It's attraction may be related to the use of the Alexa ranking, which measures the site's popularity, as a primary sorting criterion of the search results.
Independently classified
Instead of letting the Site Owner decide which keywords to use for finding his site, this type of directory allows every user to determine the relevancy of keywords. This latest addition to the Directory family harnesses the public vote to examine and determine relevancy of keywords to sites. Each user may choose to rate a (random) site and voice his/her opinion of the suitability of specific keywords to that site. The best example for such a site is Netnose. Due to the democratic process, it is highly likely that relevancy will be good. However, for such a site to achieve prominence requires a larger number of users willing to donate their time and effort to that rating activity. So far, that doesn't seem to have happened.
Pay Per Click (PPC)
While technically PPC Directories are of the User Classified type, their business model implies some significant characteristics that Site Owners should be aware of:
- A link from a PPC is never a direct or simple link. Hence, being listed in a PPC Directory will never help to increase Link Popularity with Search Engines.
- A link from a PPC Directory remains in place only as long as the user's account is cash positive.
- PPC Directories try to maximize their revenues by encouraging Site Owners to bid for as many keywords as they can, even those that are only remotely related to their site's business.
In short, you are welcome to use PPC Directories and buy traffic to your site via that route, but for the purpose of a link campaign, PPC Directories cannot be relied on at all!
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