Well, this is a question post by someone in the Digitalpoint forums and we get all sorts of answers like good source of backlinks and all the good stuff. Sure, perhaps some of them are true but we all know what the truth is, right? The real reason why there are so many directories is because the world is full of people like me. We think that everyone else is stupid enough to pay us a lot of money for us to link to them. And thus, we start directories, all in the hopes that there are rich millionaires willing to pay a fortune and even do the work of submission for us. We install a directory script, buy a nice little template and they pay, then write their own description and we in turn just click on the “approve” button and our paypal accounts will be full. Easy work. I mean, really, nearly every other sites requires a lot of hardwork to set it up and continue to build, but not directories. People will do the work for you and you get paid in the process.

And that’s why there are so many directories. And the crazy thing is that people tend to follow what others are doing. The craze now is owning a directory, and a lot of sites are integrating directories into their main site too. I mean, why not? It’s isn’t so tough to maintain a directory.

The best question is why are there so few good and worthwhile directories? Ironically, the answer is the same. The world is full of punks like me, and we feel faint when we need to do some real work. Hopefully, we will see a change in the web directory industry. As this market gets more mature and the crap directories die out and people get smarter, we could see the real importance of web directories. I don’t see any real improvement in Search Engines, nor will it happen in the near future, so at least directories still have a hope to be relevant in the Internet. But only time will tell.

Do you think what I said is wrong? I mean, look around you, in the forums and in the blogs, you would realize that the biggest problem facing the web directory market now is that everyone is copying each other. Speaking from personal experience, I am one of those blind followers. We sort of do what the industry leaders are doing. You know, they start bidding directories, we follow. They start blogs, we follow. They add this mod and that mod to their directory, we follow. Not only do we follow the industry leaders, we follow everyone else too. Someone think of a good and unique idea for directories, we follow. In the end, everyone is doing the exact same thing with no regards to the Directory Industry on the whole. Soon, it will be next to impossible to differentiate one directory from another.

It is also surprising that we (the directory owners) spend a lot of time in forums discussing about directories (actually is to copy what others are doing). However, the main important thing that directory owners should be doing is thinking of new ideas and working on our directories. I mean, other than promotion and marketing, nothing beats good unique directories and quality content right? So why aren’t we doing it? Simple, we follow. Directory owners gather at forums, so why not let’s all go and pat each other on the back? We do need the Pied Piper to save us all.

Someone from Digitalpoint forums has started a list of directories. It is surprising that the authour named it the Complete List of Directories. Why surprising you might ask? Well, it’s not complete. Not even close. There are probably thousands of directories out there in the wild. And it’s very weird that they didn’t include my directories in that complete list. I mean, my two great and “powerful” directories are famous on the Internet for their editorial integrity and millions use it to search for stuff like gambling and porn. How could the author have missed my directories? Is the author living in a well or what? I didn’t spend years and years building up my directories’ reputation for nothing. And I didn’t spend thousands of dollars in advertising not to be included in these kind of lists. I am going to give this guy a piece of my mind and demand that he change his list name to the puny list of useless directories until he adds mine. I demand respect!

And anyway, if you are looking for a list of directories, it would be better to visit directories of directories. These are directories which lists directories. Ouch! I am included in some of them like Info Vilesilencer and ADD URL.nu. These have been driving traffic to my directories for months now and I can safely say that they work. And adding your directories into these sites is easy too.

I am also going to start The Complete List of Braindead Humans so please help me by listing down your full name and address. It’s going to be a great resource when Judgement Day comes.

Don’t know what Quick Buck Crew means in Web Directory Geek talk? Well, it means the people who start directories only to make a few quick bucks and then run off into the wind or sell it to another brainless moron. Basically, it means people who are in for the short term with no long term plans to continue in the directory business. Not really a correct term but hey, it’s close and everyone likes it, so why go against the crowd. I believe the term was first coined by the Hulk wannabe Anon from Digitalpoint forums.

This “guide” is written by BritishGuy (also from Digitalpoint forums) and you can read it here. And it is pretty funny. Although I have to say, this guide isn’t exactly for the “Quick Buck Crew”, but more for little kids who own directories. I am not talking about the actual age here. I have met a lot of funny and weird characters in the Digitalpoint directory forum and I have to say, this forum has one of the most childish and immature people from all around the world, some even believe the entire galaxy. People who complain about almost everything, from their scripts to their Paypal accounts to mods which other people use to which crap hole they stretch in the morning. Not surprisingly, the directory subforum in the Digitalpoint forums is the busiest and most active.

But whatever the shit you face in the forum, that forum is still the best source of information for anything related to web directories and the web directory industry. And there are some really friendly people there too. So whether you like it or not, you still need to visit it if you are a directory owner. Good luck to us all.

I am posting the big question, do you get any traffic from web directories you submitted your site to? I mean truthfully. I have read in forums that directories do drive traffic to their listings. But are these forumers telling you the truth? Or are they paid to say that? Or it could be they have a relationship with the directory owner and would like to help out by claiming that it DOES drive traffic to their listings? Me thinks the most likely reason is that they are all directory owners and thus complimenting on each other’s directory will certainly help each other’s bottom line. So beware when you hear such compliments. However, with all these being said, web directories can be a great place for you to improve your Search Engine rankings.

And I need to tell you, if you submit your site to general web directories in the hopes that you will get traffic from them, I recommend you to rethink your strategy. I am pretty sure it won’t work. In fact if it works, you will probably be one of the rare few. I would like to ask you another question, do you visit general web directories to look for sites? The likely answer would be “no”. So if you won’t visit a general directory to search for sites, then do you expect others to?

For me, I have several listings in small unknown directories, but I do have a few in big well-known directories. These hardly sent me a trickle of traffic to my site. However, since my website is actually a directory, directory of directories is one of the main drivers of traffic! No, this does not mean that a directory works, it means that niche directories (or niche sites) do work. Search Engines still can’t quite compare to human edited niche directories. Perhaps in 5 years time we will be able to get good search results?

Hmmm…remember I was talking about John Scott’s post about annual fees for directories being for greedy directory owners? Well, it seems that the owner of Aviva Directory, Jeff, responded by saying that Annual fees is the correct way and one-time fees are for Quick Buck Crew (fly by night directory owners). Exactly opposite of what John Scott said. Break out the popcorn, looks like we have one big catfight in our hands.

John’s post: No more annual listings

Jeff’s post: Annual Fees Rock; One-Off Fees are for the Quick Buck Crew

Jeff’s argument is that as a directory gets more listings, the cost to maintain such a big directory increases. And if directories don’t have annual listing fees, then it will not be around for the long run. Why? Well, as Jeff puts it, they can’t sustain themselves and did not plan ahead. So they are “Quick Buck Crew”. Yes, big directories will cost more to run. It will make use of more bandwidth, more webspace and more server resource. Good point. But seriously, how much more webspace or resource will a directory need? It’s not a search engine for god’s sake! I mean, even if it cost more to run, the fees you received from the listings should have covered it. And the bigger you get, the more popular you will become, which actually ensures it’s survival.

Ironically Jeff’s Aviva Directory once offered one-time listing fee too. It only recently changed to yearly fees for it’s listings. Hmm….so what was Jeff thinking when he wrote that article? He was once a “Quick Buck Crew” but now he has tranformed to a beacon of hope for directory owners? I doubt so. I believe that it all boils down to making money. The more the merrier. No, no, I myself have no problem with people making money, but in all seriousness, charging another fee to retain a listing is just not right. In fact, from a outsider’s perspective, it feels like downright extortion.

But then perhaps I should be looking from the directory owner’s perspective? Annual fees are a common business model for many offline directories like Yellow Pages. Annual fees also ensures that the listing is still active and around (for the time being), thus keeping the directory fresh and up-to-date. Furthermore, annual fees provides incentive for directory owners to keep on working hard on their directory.

But please, let’s not stop here. Let’s see how these two big directory owners would respond to each other. Will we see hair pulling? Or clothes ripping? Will there be name calling too? We can hope!

- by wildweb (Digitalpoint forums). Link here.

Hell yes! There are way more directory scripts out there than most people know! In fact, there are probably more than a hundred such scripts. Not trying to push PhpLD down or anything, but it is very true. I think that it is because PhpLD is very popular and no one than looks at other scripts. Heck, no one even bothers sourcing for other scripts. There are a lot more good scripts like OpenLD, PhpLynx, IndexU, IndexScript and so on. And some even have more features than our dear PhpLD. Currently I like PhpLynx. It really have some of the best and sometimes unique features that you cannot find in other scripts. And it’s control panel is just so damn powerful. It’s just too bad it is not open source.

But in all seriousness, being popular has it’s advantages. One of the most obvious, the sheer amount of templates, mods and add-ons available. And if a script is popular, it means a lot of people is using it and thus, you will likely be able to find more help from other users, especially if the community is a strong one.

But again, some scripts are good for some things. So, if you are planning to start a directory, you need to plan ahead when you are choosing your script. It’s going to be a pain in the arse if you change script midway. Just think of the lost in rankings, the database conversion, the downtime, angry customers, the adding of categories…….

If you are looking for more directory scripts, please take a look at our Big List of Directory Scripts.

You can read here: John Scotts of V7N says annual fees for directory sucks.

Yes, what he is saying is that if your directory is offering yearly fees for inclusion, it feels like greed. I have to admit, this is a grey area in my opinion. I agree with some of his points like a directory listing should be permanent and if a site is removed if an annual fee is not paid, then it feels like link leasing. And in regards to having good high quality sites in a directory, if it is approved in the first place, why is it removed after one year just because a fee is not paid? If it supposedly adds value to your directory, it should remain.

In my opinion, a “review” is done and if the listing is approved, then it should stay. Unless if the site is down or had become no longer acceptable to the general public. Annual fees should be for featured or sponsored listings only. Something to stand out from the rest of the listings, you should pay more and perhaps pay yearly.

But everything on the Internet is about money. So I guess if a directory wants to charge someone an annual fee for inclusion, it’s their choice. And if people are willing to pay for it, all the better right? However, I think the annual fee can come back and hurt the directory industry in the near future if a lot of directories does that. Why? Well, I think that the directories will lose it’s usefulness as a source for high quality relevant sites. It will become just a crappy listing of rich website owners.

Don’t be surprised, but I added one more listing to the Authority Sites Directory. Yes, one. That makes it a grand total of 377 listings there. When will I complete 400 listings? I really don’t know. Looks like it is still a long way off. Anyway, the weekend is here, so I guess I will have some spare time to update my directory. I have been promising myself to update my directory for weeks now, but there isn’t much motivation at all. Google seem to hate my directory, dragging most of them into supplemental hell. And nobody seem to bother visiting my directory too. Wait a minute….could it be that because Google sent my pages into supplemental, that’s why nobody visits my directory? Chicken or the egg? Both please and if you have, I will add ham into the mix.

I wonder how many of you started a project or a business, full of high hopes and aspirations, but gave it up after a few months? I have seen a lot of directories start with a lot of promise, the owner does a lot of promotion, new articles and features appear, only to shut down very soon after. I guess this is part of the business world, and a directory isn’t much different from a normal business. Except if you have a free directory.

So could it be motivation? Could it be profits? Or results? Or could it be that I am just plain lazy and stupid? Who really knows. But what I know is that I need to add more listings.

Finally, this good looking directory script has came out of beta and is now Version 1. Both the free version and the paid version is out and anyone can download the free script from their website. I must admit I am pretty impressed with this powerful script. It has some interesting features anb abilities not found in other directory scripts  like a built-in ticket support system, location manager (like place/country/city), integrated user statistics page, multi-field search and a spellcheck for braindead people like me. Wow, truly amazing.  Please note that some of these features are for the paid version only, but the free version looks powerful enough for me. Although I have to say PhpLinkDirectory has some unique features which PhpLynx doesn’t have, like the very useful Article Editor and the quick category adder for lazy scums like me. Just too bad, PhpLynx script is closed source which means adding mods and other features will be difficult. However, you can customize it’s template so you can create your very own beautiful directory to boast to your friends.

I think that this Phplynx Directory Script should be able to compete with PhpLinkDirectory and take over a good market share from it. Unless PhpLinkDirectory really does something drastic and innovative, this will certainly be a strong challenger to PhpLinkDirectory. What is life without challenges right? Try it’s demo and be impressed like me. The paid version is US$85 or if you want an unbrandand version, it’s US$120 and ”free” support comes with it. Goto Digitalpoint Forums to get a little discount.