I have created a step by step guide to creating a Really Bad Directory. Why stop at one, why not create a slew of bad directories. When it comes to SEO, here are methods that you should use to make a crappy directory. Please feel free to combine these methods for optimal non-performance.

1. Share a database between your network of directories. Having the exact same listings over a network of related sites is great.
2. Automatically approve listings without any quality control at all.
3. Inter-link the directories of your network. Sitewide links would be best.
4. Offer a service to list a website to your large network of directories, thus creating a type of link-farm with lots of duplicate content.
5. Host your directory network on the same IP. If you can’t do it then you can always host it on the same IP C class.
6. Use blackhat link techniques. Don’t worry that this method could wipe out your site at any time.
7. Rather than create your own categories, use a readily available category dump that is used by thousands of other sites.
8. Create a network of identical directories.

Comments are always appreciated.

A recent post on a SEO forum was asking which directories were the oldest. I realized that I could not readily answer the question so I went into research mode. I researched archive.org and found the date that the directories were first crawled. In some cases, the domain had other uses before becoming a directory. In those cases, I found that earlier crawl date where the domain was actually a directory.

I added a new age field on all our top paid directory rankings. These sites are the paid directories that we recommend.  They have all been around for at least 5 years.

I also added age information to our high PageRank sites in our paid directory list on this site. This list has many high PR directories that are pretty useless, despite their PageRank. For example, a PR8 site that is only 3 months old should be ignored. I am hoping that the more information that I can provide will help people make informed decisions.

P.S. We have also adding age to our free directory list.

For 3 years I paid the $299 a year for a Yahoo directory listing for one of my sites. A year or two ago I cancelled the annual payment. When going through my Analytics logs I noticed that I had a bunch of referrals from dir.yahoo.com .

I checked and there is still a listing for my homepage. I have heard some rumbling from other people that had similar experiences. The site in question would be considered a good quality site for the category it is listed in. I don’t know if the quality has an effect.

I guess that may help you answer your question “Is it worth paying $299 a year for a listing”. I often see this type of question in the forums. If you are on the fence I think this experience might help you make up your mind.

We have added 150 new free directories over the last 3 weeks. See our newly added free directories. The list has over 3000 free general listings again.

We have been busy during February.  We are continually  cleaning up and adding new directories to our free directory list.

Sep 27, 2011 -  Our submission process has  moved to a new Directory Submission form.

We research and add the majority of our  listings ourselves so your directory could be in our list.   Please do a search of our directory list. Search for your domain, without the http://

If your directory is not listed then we will gladly add it for free. Our only criteria is that the website is a directory of websites that offers  some type of submission process. We do not list adult directories. Please be advised that low quality directories may be given nofollow attributes.
To have your directory considered for inclusion in our list of directories simply add a comment below using this format:

Directory*:  the domain where the directory is located
Directory Type*: (e.g. general, travel,  blog, USA, French language)
Cost of a Listing*: Free, Paid or Reciprocal

A “free” directory should provide permanent “dofollow” listings without requiring anything in return (like a payment or reciprocal link)

Example:

Directory URL*: legaldirectory.com/dir
Directory Type*: Niche / Legal
Cost of a Listing*: Paid

  To submit, add your info as a comment  below.

In order to identify automated submissions only comments in the above format will be reviewed. We  review submissions  every 5-15 days.  This post replaces the previous one.

Note:  A small percentage of users receive a blank screen when they try to add a comment. We suspect that these people are getting caught in Askimet’s spam software. If you receive a blank screen please use our contact form to send us your directory info.

Remember
Web Directories Only.  Your comment will not be posted if your site is not a web directory. 

I must start this post by admitting that I once was a fan of automatic approval directories.  I even recommended some.  I like the instant feedback and the instant link.  There were some that did a good job of eliminating the spam submissions (or maybe there was less back then) and would go through the listings often enough to get rid of the ones that didn’t below.  Of course that was in the day when everyone was in a race to get as many links as they could, as fast as they could.

As we approach 2011 things are much different.  Google’s is now extremely good at what it does.  They have a wide range of ways to identify good and bad links.   So what do I see happening in the directory industry.  The opposite. Some people are creating automatic approval sites that are part of large networks of identical directories.

What you have is:

1. A large network of directories are hosted on the same IP  =  CRAP
2. The directories are clones of each other and have no original content  = CRAP
3. The directories all sites submitted – no moderation   =  CRAP

The result is an exponentially crappy directory – CRAP to the power of 3

Say no to Crap.

Yes, our list of free general directories is in better shape than it has been in the last 5 years. The first quick review happens when a new site is added to the list.

Usually, I use an assortment of automated and manual methods of keeping the list updated. I regularly do separate checks for dead directories and parked sites. I also check through the data and identify the networks of directories hosted on the same IP.  I supplement that with feedback from our loyal users (reports) and information we get from our manual submission service. For the free list, I regularly review high PR listings and try to outline the ones that are active.

Why is it better?

Over the last week, I have being doing a detailed review of the free list by hand.  I have been concentrating on identifying the directories that are not actively adding free submissions.  Along the way I have cleaned up a lot of things to make the list more useful. I am almost done the top PR sites and  and done most of the PR2s. I was quite shocked at the number of sites that call themselves free directories although they are obviously only listing featured listings.  While looking through the list just stay away from the sites with red comments.

Over the last couple of months, I have been paying special attention to  the high PR directories that are part of our free general directory list.   I have observed two main problems.

1. Many of the sites are dropped domains.
2. Many of the directories have long ago stopped approving free submissions.

1. Dropped Domains

A dropped, or expired domain is a domain name whose registration was allowed to lapse by the original owner.   Some owners slap a directory on a high PR domain with the goal of making a quick buck.  These owners use category dumps that are already widely used.  These sites often have no original content at all.  If things go well they will leave the directory up.  If not they will just shut it down.  In many cases the site loses it’s PageRank over the next couple of updates.

 2.  Directories not approving free submissions.

A high PR free directory receives thousands of submissions per month.   Many of these do not approve any of these free submissions. I have noticed that many approve a couple of dozen per month, which could easily be the number of paid submissions they receive.  Some sites have not approved a free submission in years.

Most people like high Pagerank directories.   Please consider low PR directories for free submission.  If you select good, original directories that have good editing standards the directory will have a chance to grow over time.  Ideally, your listings will  still be on the site 5 years from now.

I thought it might be interesting to look up which sites received the most hits from our site.  It appears that most hits came from our free directory listings or were on it for a long time. This category get’s the most traffic by far.

Directories Receiving the Most Hits Since January 2006

The directory industry got some good news of late  as Google decided to let a bunch of directories out of the penalty box.  Most of these directories spent over 2 years in the sin bin.

History

In the past, Google has periodically penalized individual sites.  In September and October of 2007 they hit a large number of web directories.  The sites in question had their PR dropped to zero.  These sites did not appear in the top 40 rankings of Google‘s search results, not even for their own domain.  For example, a directory called abc.com did not appear in the top 40 in a search for abc.

 Today

Today‘s analysis is based on a list of directories that received Google penalties back in September & October 2007.  I have updated the list with their current PageRank. As for PageRank, I would have to say that it has recovered well. It is very close to the level it was before the reduction. In many cases, it is a point or two lower but this can be explained by the fact that the owners were not motivated to promote these directories over the last couple of years. These sites also lost many links because of the penalties.

The table below is a subset of the directories involved.  For a more complete view follow the link above.

I admit that I have not followed most of these sites closely over the last 2 years so if you have anything to add I would be grateful for your comments.  Thanks.