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As you guys know, I have 2 directories and all of them are powered by Phplinkdirectory (PhpLD for short). I have done a lot of research before and found that it is the best in it’s price range. A lot of web directory owners on the Internet recommended it. Most importantly, it has all the features I needed for my directories. So I went ahead and got 4 copies of the directory script. That was in 2006. All was well during that time. The script was updated often and new features and functions added. I found that although it’s support isn’t as good as I like it to be, it was at least acceptable. Their support is forum-based. And seriously, the script is very stable, I didn’t need much in the way of support.

Then came the year 2007. For the entire year (till now), there were only 2 updates. One in January and the other in April. After that, no updates at all. Of course, they came up with yet another script called phpLD Photo which is sort of like phpLD, except it is for photos. First of all, I must say I don’t have any problem with creating new scripts, I mean if they want to release a new script, go ahead. Afterall, it’s a business right and it’s all about making money. But how about the old scripts and how about their customers who had purchased the old scripts? Why isn’t it updated for nearly 6 months now?

If you frequent the Internet as often as I have, you will see that a lot of new directory scripts being created. And old ones being updated very often. The directory script market is actually very competitive considering a lot of people are interested in setting up directories (mainly because they believe that it’s a simple job). And since PhpLD is a paid product, it’s going to be even tougher for them. Sure, they are the most popular script out there right now. But how long will that last? I hope that they start concentrating on their core products and helping their customers instead of just new scripts. I really hate to see such a good script being overtaken by others.

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How many of you are worried about what the latest (Page Rank) PR Update has done to your site? Especially if your site is a web directory? For my directories, both have dropped 1 notch to PR 3 from PR 4, which I think is a pretty small drop cosidering what others have faced. And for me, the traffic has not dropped much at all even for my general directory. In fact, for my business directory, the traffic has slightly increased. This is mainly due to the year end traffic increase. But comes the holiday season, I will definitely see a big drop in traffic. I guess this is only natural.

For commercial directories which are very dependent on how high their PR is, I guess this update will effect them more. Paid directories (unlike free directories) attract listings because their customers would like a PR boost for their site. So if a paid directory has a lower PR, then it won’t be as attractive as before. I wonder how these directories are handling it? Do they plan to change marketing strategy and switch focus away from PR to something else? I believe that web directories in a sense cannot change much. Basically, it’s a site with links to other sites which are categorized for easy reference and access. So, how are these paid directories planning to weather the storm?

For me, I still think that a niche directory is the best. General directories are too wide and without the focus on a certain subject to topic, will not be able to attract the correct crowd. And now, without the appeal of PR, it will get worse with time. One good example is my business directory, if we take away the seasonal factors, it has weathered everything Google or other Search Engines has thrown at it and still come out virtually unscathed. Traffic remains constantly increasing.

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As you guys should know, I am a web directory owner. I had been a web directory owner for over a year already and during this time, I have learned a lot and I have also gained some insight on the web directory industry. Currently, I have 3 directories, one a Singapore business directory, a general web directory and a niche directory. Although they are from different categories and segments, basically it’s all the same. Sure, I am not saying that my directories are a success like those big name directories you see on the Internet, but from what I see, they are successful because all of them have achieved what I wanted them to archive. The traffic to these directories are quite reasonable too. That, I am proud of.

Anyways, here are some tips and advice which I have for anyone thinking of setting up a web directory.

1. Patience. You will need a lot of patience to setup a web directory. Don’t expect like 15 minutes of work per day. Having a web directory requires you to sort out all the junk from the legitimate sites. You will also need to write proper descriptions for each submission. This would require you to visit the site in question and know what that site is all about. There is no other way about it.

2. Uniqueness. Get that brain working and think of something that no web directory has and implement it on your own directory. And get a unique design as well. Anything to stand out from the crowd. Don’t follow the crowd! Lead it! Everything is about being different here.

3. Advertisements. Yes, there are so many other web directories out there, you will need to do a lot of advertisement in order to stand out. Even if you have a unique site with some very interesting features, it still won’t stand out too because of the sheer number of web directories. Other than conventional methods, you should also look at directory forums and SEO forums as possible places for you to advertise your site. And if you are in a niche market, aim for related websites.

4. Niche. Having the correct niche will work wonders for your directory. If you know a particular niche which is not crowded or no one has thought about, you can quickly corner that market. And being first in the field, you will be able to gain a reputation which a lot of people will remember. Of course, you need to be at least knowledgeable in that field first. At the very least, you should read up and understand the particular subject or topic before entering the market.

5. Hardwork. I guess this is the same thing as patience. You will require a ton of effort to setup and maintain your web directory. Don’t expect submitters to do the work for you. It isn’t as easy as that. You need to check your submitters’ descriptions, your submitters’ spelling and so on. And you need to add your own useful websites to your directories in order for your directory to be of any use. For me, I try to add twice as many websites as those being submitted. Get ready to spend at least a few hours everyday on your directory, if you want it to be successful.

Hope these little tips help.

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I am sure all of you have heard by now that a lot of web directories are currently being affected by what is called a “Google penalty“. I am not sure whether this is the correct term for it, but it seemed that these directories have suddenly lost rankings and even have some of their pages removed from Google’s search index. And we are talking about supposedly high ranking sites here! Not that little directories that nobody knows anything about, but well-advertised, well-respected and well-maintained web directories. I must say, I am pretty worried about that. And the doomsayers are saying that it will affect all directories in the near future.  Whether what they are claiming is true or not, I don’t know. But I find it weird that Google is only penalizing directories. I mean there are a lot of websites out there that are crap, even blogs and forums, some of which virtual spam centers.

Surprisingly, my own directory don’t seemed to be affected by all these. Searching for my own domain name, my web directory pops right up in the searches. It looks like I am off the hook for the time being.

Shouldn’t all sites be affected if Google decides to take action against “bad neighbourhoods“? Why pick on directories in the first place? I know that there are a lot of pathetic directories, but truth to be told, web directories are usually started by people planning to make some money. And in order for them to make money, some effort must be made to create a reasonably working directory in the first place. It’s not like forums or even blogs where webmasters usually create and then go. You know what I mean? Compared to crap blogs/forums/websites, they have certain (okay, okay relative then) amount of quality in them.

I also believe that this is not really a penalty but perhaps a glitch or a “dance” in Google that went wrong. Google could be doing a shuffle or some modification in their algorithms for their Search Results and something went haywire in the process. Hey, you know how complex it is? Tweaking one part of the algorithms will almost definitely affect some other part and thus this is the result. Anyway, don’t get too worked up if you are a web directory owner, time will tell. I have heard that some of those directories which was supposedly being affected is now climbing out of that hell and things are starting to look rosy for them again.

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Looks like there is talk about creating an Association of Web Directory Owners in the Digitalpoint forums. Is this a good idea? As if the Inquisition that controls life and death of directories in the Digitalpoint forums is not enough. I mean if you were to look carefully at what is happening in the directory subforum of Digitalpoint forums, you will realize that it’s the leaders who are in charge and they are the ones who have the last say. Not the community. And these lies in the hands of only a few people. They really control the web directory industry through monetary manipulation, peer pressure and of course media control and propaganda. I am a regular visitor to Digitalpoint forums and I realize that these group of people control the market by buying their supporters(who are usually web directory owners themselves). So do we really need such an association? Do we need more control from these people? And who will be the people in control? Will it be the same old group?

And will webmasters doing the submission be faced with the problem of monopolistic prices? If an association was to be formed, will prices be fixed? You know like OPEC? And with this price fixing, will we then see less innovation since there will be a lack of motivation for web directory owners? That could also spell the end of the web directory market. And how will big directories react to this? Will this association engage them or will they be seen as a competitor? Do you really want to go against big directories? But if such an association engages these big directories, will it be swallowed whole by these big monsters?

How about membership? Will it be something like a pay for membership thing? Or is there some sort of standard for web directories to be included? And who will setup these standards and who will be the judge? If membership to this association becomes very important for a directory owner to succeed, will it be prone to abuse by those with the authority? Is there anyway to regulate the behavior of those in charge? And will this association’s policies be transparent or will it be like those little rich boys club? Greed is the main driving force and I am sure all sort of abuse will happen. Just take a look at DMOZ and some of it’s editors.

Sure, having such an association can result in a better web directory scene. Perhaps we can see better web directories and directories with a higher editorial standard. And we will definitely see less of crappy directories out there. With a clear set of common rules and regulations, we can hopefully see better directories out there as these directories strive to follow these rules. Webmasters doing submission will have a more informed choice and a better understanding on which directories to choose when they do their submissions. It won’t be so messy as we are now. I mean the web directory market right now is really bad.

However we must always weight the benefits of creating such an association, especially when it is likely to be abused. Not only that there is no guarantee that it will benefit the directory owners, it may create more problems for us in the long run. I hate to see the association being used as a tool to further benefit some of the already powerful players in the web directory industry.

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This question is for web directory owners. What type of sites do you find acceptable to be included in your directory? I am talking about accepting sites in the general sense. Not  for a niche market or anything like that. I find it very difficult to figure out a way to truly do that and still make your directory a valuable asset for your visitors. How do you define good websites in the first place? And how to tell whether a website does provide some valuable and useful information? And with this information how do you judge a site? I know all of us have difficulty to determine whether a site is acceptable or not. It’s not an easy job to do.

For me, I first look at the following:

1. Design of the site. Yes, sure it does not mean that a well-designed website is good or even has any content. But someone made the effort to beautiful their site, so that someone did some work. It’s shouldn’t be too far off for me to say that the site owner takes his/her site seriously.

2.  Relevant content. This is a very important criteria for me to judge a site. Content must be relevant to the site’s subject and topic. No point having tons and tons of information that are meant to be spider bait but of no use to the visitors. Visitors expect certain information to be on a site and these should of course be related to the main theme of the site. Even flash sites can have relevant information. Flash game sites are an good example.

3. Writing style. A simple read of the main page and you can at least understand what the site is about. It’s about how well the content is written and it would show that the site owner has made the effort to really write content for their site. I have seen a lot of poorly written sites which I am sure anyone reading it will know that the site isn’t serious.

4. Text? Image? Video? For me, it doesn’t matter. I am no Search Engine, so just because a site has a lot of texts doesn’t make it useful to me. Seriously, images and even video really help build up and improve the usefulness of a website. Readers will get bored too if you don’t have any image to spice up your website. And images or videos are important to help illustrate your point, it’s a superb tool if used wisely.  And I don’t need to mention to you how popular videos are on the Internet. Just think YouTube.

5. Links. I don’t mind links, just that a lot of websites, they have too many links. And worse, I can even spot those paid links, mainly from irrelevant and useless links to crappy websites. And these links are placed on their mainpage! What I find attractive are links to related information on other websites. Hey, that’s what the Internet is about, a linked group on the web so that people can find useful information easily. These is no single website on the Internet that had any the information in the world and it doesn’t need to refer to other sources. That’s next to impossible.

6. Advertisements. If a website has too many advertisements, then I will give it the boot. No visitor should be tortured into seeing so many flashy advertisements that it becomes more like a billboard than a website. Even if it does provide good information, it’s just way too distracting and it reduces the effectiveness of the site itself. I would say if a site has 1 or 2 advertisements on their page and it is not too prominent, that’s okay. Hey, webmasters got to eat right?

Hope that these little tips will help you when the next time you need to check your directory. If you have any good tips or techniques, I would like to hear about it. And good luck on your web directory!

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Do any of you think that paid directories are good directories? It seems that a lot of people, even experienced webmasters believe that paid directories are good directories and those free directories are just spam listing sites. I wonder how did they come to this conclusion? Does a paid directory has good quality content which free directories don’t have? Does a paid directory means that their editorial integrity is higher? I don’t think so. I mean, a lot of paid directories will accept any site which pays them a sum. They don’t really care about whether the site being submitted is of a high quality or not. So how can anyone say a paid directory is a quality directory? Sure, there are paid directories which are of high standard in design, content and user-friendliness but there are also free directories having the same thing.

I think I need to burst this ridiculous idea that paid directories are always better directories. They are not. In fact, I would be more suspicious of paid directories, since their sole purpose is to make money through paid submissions of websites. Would their editorial standard be up to mark? Would they accept a site just because they are paid? I am sure that there are a number of paid directories which do. And how do you definite quality sites in the first place? The problem propaganda. Paid directories often have the means to “brainwash” us into believing anything they want. Their constant media blitz led us to that paid directories are good directories, which in my opinion is mainly a lie.

Of course I am not dishing paid directories. There are indeed good quality paid directories out there. And since these directories have a higher income, they will be able to hire editors to help manage and maintain their directories. This will definitely raise the standard of the directories.  My main objective of this post is to tell you that there are free directories which are of very high quality as well. You should look out for them in your next website submission job.

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I am pretty sure by now that you guys know that I have two directories which accept listings. One of them is a Singapore small business directory while the other is a general web directory which only accepts PR4 and above sites. What this means that these directories are niche, catering only to a specific group of people. However, it seems that no matter what, there will definitely be spammers who think that they can get away with it. In my Singapore small business directory I have people submitting websites that are not located in Singapore, forums, blogs, chat sites, sites which offer free MySpace Layouts and so on. I mean seriously, these are not even business or business-related websites at all and they expect to get listed?

For my the other directory, the general web directory, I would understand that not all doing the submission understand what Page Rank is, and I do get a lot of submissions. However, the amount of spam I get is also impossible. Of nearly 100 over submissions per day, around 5-10 listings will get approved. And a lot of these sites are really the spammy ones like selling all sorts of enhancement drugs and stuff. One look at the site and I ticked on the delete option. There are even those sites whose URL is really long and ridiculous, I too sent those to the rubbish bin. But yet, they still continue to pour in. And you can’t stop them. You can try of course, but in the end you will just give up.

I don’t understand what drives these spammers. Although it doesn’t take a hell lot of effort to submit a website to a directory, but the thing for spamming to work, spammers must do a lot of submissions because their sites will mainly get rejected. So just think of the effort needed for it to really work. So why bother in the first place? Won’t it be better for spammers to create content rich sites instead? The chance of getting rejected when submitting to a directory is less too. Won’t that get a better result than spending time and effort to submit a spam site?

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As reported by Reuters. Yes, that’s a hell lot of money involved. I guess this is good news for both directory owners and those people involved in selling domain names. The high price paid for this domain is sure to boost sales and prices for both directories and domain names in the near future. And everyone in the domain name business is talking and possibly drooling over it. Business.com is just a business directory but the name alone is a very good draw for investors. I mean what is easier than typing business.com when you are searching for businesses? But in all seriousness, it is really worth that much? I doubt that even Microsoft.com is worth US$360 million and it is a very pretty well-known domain name. But I could be wrong, it could be worth more to Microsoft Corp but I doubt it will be worth US$360 million to others.

I don’t understand how can someone spend so much on a domain name. Sure, it is very easy to remember but if you think carefully, Google.com and Microsoft.com are not particularly easy to remember domain names either. But we all know it and I am pretty sure most of us can type out the domain name without much problems (I hope). It’s just that both Google and Microsoft had spent millions of dollars in name branding and these names are now stuck in our heads. So won’t it be cheaper to promote and brand your own name itself of getting such a domain name?

But well, I am not a millionaire. If someone has so much money to spend on a domain name, he/she probably had done something right and who am I to argue? Maybe he/she is seeing something that we mere mortals don’t? X-ray eyes or some psychic ability that can look deep into the future? Perhaps he has some grand plans for this domain name? Who knows?

And anyone knows how much my domain name (autho-rity.info and autho-rity.com) is worth? Do you guys think that one day, it is possible for someone to pay US$1 million for my domain name? Nothing compared to the ridiculous amount paid by RH Donnelley Corp though, but I guess it is enough for me.

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