SEW Sub-Forum lays down New Guidelines

Yesterday, SEW Mod Chris Boggs added new guidelines for the "Other Search Engines and Directories" area. Thankfully, SEW wants to divert discussion of *new* directories and search engines to the BETA Test area and keep the "Other Search Engines and Directories" area for discussions about established directories and search engines.

We ask that if you have a new directory or search engine, that you place your announcement in the BETA Test area in order to ask people for their opinions. It is highly recommended that you take the time to create a formal introduction, and try to highlight why you feel the directory or search engine is worthy of introduction and discussion. Repeated links and/or seemingly “fly-by” posts will most likely be deleted by the BETA Test Moderator.

The guidelines also contain a list of what SEW views as "other" established directories and search engines worthy of discussion in this area. I guess if the "other" directory or search engine you want to talk about isn't on the list, than you should think twice about posting it.

I frequently visit this sub-forum and notice that most of the activity seems to come from "announcements" of new directories and search engines. I applaud the SEW Moderators for adding these new guidelines in an attempt to keep the discussions "on topic."

Top Reasons why directories FAIL

I was inspired to post this when I received a phone call from a fellow webmaster - stating that he read in some forum about how the apocalypse is coming for web directories. Even though I know that this does not hold true for quality directories, it still hurts when someone inadvertently classifies your directory with those that have contributed to this generalization. Quite frankly, it sucks that this generalization even exists but I can certainly understand why.

It's mainly because so many craptastic directories have crashed and burned within the past few years... and instead of looking for specific reasons as to why a directory was "white-barred" or dropped from the SERPs, people just assume there is a general bias against directories. Well I'm here to dispel this generalization by pointing out the specific reasons for why some directories fail:

1. They lack quality. The websites listed in a directory and the fashion of which they are listed - are a direct reflection on the quality of content. By looking at the listings and how they have been categorized, most visitors can quickly tell if a directory is a viable resource or only exists to sell links.
2. They failed to grow naturally. Those in charge tend to acquire (purchase) too many in-bound links in too short of a time period resulting in a filter or ban from the SE's.
3. They fail to stay up to date. Directories need to be nurtured on a daily basis. New content (listings) should be added each and every day and editors should maintain the quality and relevance of the categories they are assigned. This means that link rot within a directory should be quickly dealt with and the listing content should be updated if and when the website is updated.
   
4. They sell links. Instead of having site guidelines to promote quality, some directory editors simply link to any website as long as they pay the inclusion fee.
5. They go heavy on the keywords. Listing titles and descriptions stuffed with keywords will read like spam to both humans and search bots.
6. They force webmasters to reciprocate links.

The public should know that quality human-built directories still exist. Don't let these fly-by-night directories tarnish what was good and what is still good about DMOZ, Yahoo, bCentral, Business.com and a few others. It takes a lot of time and human resource to index the WWW - all while maintaining quality. Ya'gotta be in it for the long haul...