tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127742032024-03-08T01:07:01.162-05:00Find news, resources, and commentary relating to web directories and search engines.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-49087169077257864402007-08-31T10:48:00.000-04:002007-08-31T10:55:54.578-04:00

Thank you for visiting. You can continued to read and participate in "The Editor's Guide to Web Directories" at its new home, located at http:/www.directoryeditor.com/.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1142969850970582502006-03-21T14:06:00.000-05:002006-04-05T10:05:36.670-04:00

Posted yesterday in the Zealot Round Table forum was a message stating that Zeal.com is being shut down:Thank you for being a part of the Zeal community and contributing your time and knowledge to the Directory. After trying to put the deserved resources behind Zeal, we have made the conscious decision to shut down Zeal.com. On March 28, 2006 Zeal will no longer be available. We are not selling

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1140626541849729402006-02-22T11:06:00.000-05:002006-02-22T11:42:30.413-05:00

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

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1139509465613977342006-02-09T11:25:00.000-05:002007-03-19T15:22:43.426-04:00

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

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1138197802752962052006-01-25T08:34:00.000-05:002006-01-25T18:06:47.603-05:00

Thanks to Threadwatch.org for tipping me off on the annual report released by the ODP's volunteer administration.The report was compiled to inform the editor community and public about the development of the ODP project in 2005. It seems that the web's most comprehensive human-edited directory grew almost 5% in the year 2005 - adding 221,552 new listings.The report also discloses the amount of

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1136914672695876742006-01-10T11:54:00.000-05:002006-01-10T12:44:46.816-05:00

When it comes to web design, I have never been one to care much about being the most fancy or even the "best looking." In fact, I tend to favor the usability of a website rather than its bells and whistles. This is partly why I never bought into Flash design.Sure, I think it's fine and maybe even cool to have a personal website designed entirely with Flash Animation but when it comes to

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1134586345970218382005-12-14T12:46:00.000-05:002005-12-14T17:00:45.526-05:00

There has been a slew of blog posts and discussion in various forums on whether or not paid links are good or bad. Much of the recent rise comes from Jeremy Zawodny's experiment on selling links from his personal blog, and from Matt Cutt's recommendations for using "nofollow" tags.Being the "high-profile" blog that it is, many feel that Jeremy is playing with fire by offering site wide text link

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1134082978610441782005-12-08T17:38:00.000-05:002005-12-08T20:31:28.920-05:00

.... to post on this blog.Two holidays have past since my last entry so it's safe to say this little web log of mine has been neglected for some time now. So much so that I have been receiving sarcastic offers from colleagues to acquire this "dormant" destination. Now-now, I still plan on throwing up a few pearls - just not as frequently as before.Anyway, a lot has happened in the past two months

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1129297929912553842005-10-14T11:10:00.000-04:002005-10-14T11:11:22.356-04:00

Since most directories only list web sites that are supported by multiple web browsers, I mainly test in IE and Firefox, since they are used by a lions share of Internet users.The other day I downloaded the Netscape Browser because a site I was reviewing wasn't supported by my default browser - FireFox. I figured it would be responsible of me to test sites in Netscape. After all, it was at one

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1128618171230143602005-10-06T14:59:00.000-04:002005-10-06T16:10:30.613-04:00

If you haven't noticed already, Yahoo! is offering answers to common questions asked by random Internet users. I found "Ask Yahoo!" featured on the Yahoo Directory index page. All questions are read by Yahoo authors and if they choose to answer a question, they will research the subject by searching the Internet and referring to appropriate areas of the Yahoo! Directory. Each answer is presented

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1127226466135051382005-09-20T10:25:00.000-04:002005-09-20T11:14:09.456-04:00

I've been asked on numerous occasions, by friends and family - "What are those 'feed' buttons on the right side of your blog?" This is a valid question for most people (even though RSS 2.0 has been available since 2002). This technology, or a form of it, will mostly likely revolutionize the way we receive our information. It has already done so for me...What is RSS Technology?RSS (which stands

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1126743513482067282005-09-15T16:29:00.000-04:002005-09-15T16:30:29.070-04:00

If you recently submitted to The ODP Directory, aka DMOZ, chances are you have not heard back from them or your submission was rejected. A thread over at WebmasterWorld was started by an Internet Marketing newbie looking for tips to get listed in DMOZ.The respondents offered a mixed bag of advice - but the gist of it is pretty much what I gathered from my own experience with submitting to the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1126120501918515622005-09-09T12:53:00.000-04:002005-09-09T12:54:17.906-04:00

A human reviewed and edited directory should always provide unique and up-to-date descriptions for its listings. To me, the perfect description gives the user a brief overview of what the site contains and/or what the site is about. This way the reader can anticipate what information he or she will receive upon a click-through to the site. Descriptions should not include excessive keyword

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1126045343980368972005-09-06T17:38:00.000-04:002005-09-06T18:22:24.006-04:00

I read an inspiring article "On the Frontier of Search" archived by Time Magazine. It gives us some insight as to where "search" is headed and explains how we have not even begun to experience the power of this technology. Here's a taste..."You did not have time to book a hotel, your luggage has not turned up on the carousel--and the plane's air conditioning gave you a sore throat. What to do?

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1125458592179036622005-08-30T21:58:00.000-04:002005-08-31T09:58:27.936-04:00

maaan... its tough to see another directory get dropped from the Google index but it's not too surprising upon inspecting Site-Sift.com. Of course there is public speculation as to why the site has been banned - Was it the "off topic" gambling links in the footer of each page? Was it the deliberate PageRank buy on the O'Reilly Network? Or was it a lack of unique content?Odds are, it is not just

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1125012976666657122005-08-25T18:06:00.000-04:002005-08-25T20:24:28.686-04:00

Whoa, over two weeks since my last post! Things have really been heating up this summer. I remember in June, thinking this season was going to be slower and less busy than the preceding winter and spring seasons. That's hardly been the case for the Best of the Web Directory.The moment things seem to calm down is when efforts are doubled - sending new designs into development; creating more buzz

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1123280575246695952005-08-08T18:41:00.000-04:002005-08-08T18:43:14.180-04:00

Today, I added a few Yahoo RSS Feeds to my aggregator. Naturally, I like to see what new sites are sprouting up in the Web Log and Internet categories of both Yahoo and Google. It's pretty exciting to see how fast and diverse the Web Log categories have gotten in these major directories.Right now only Yahoo instantly feeds aggregators with new directory listings - which I think is an awesome

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1123083638038713502005-08-04T17:38:00.000-04:002005-11-25T11:55:48.436-05:00

I was inspired by a post from McMohan in Webmaster World, to list what I feel are the qualities of a good web directory and what webmasters and site owners should consider before submitting their web site(s). Martinibuster, a WMW Moderator, once posted that a good directory will "send traffic as well as bots." So how do we find these "good directories?" Just look for the following qualities (in

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1123020854891388082005-08-02T18:09:00.000-04:002005-08-02T18:14:14.903-04:00

I've been on a real editing tear lately which would explain my lack of posts here. I definitely enjoy helping out with the pending submission queue. It's pretty cool to see the types of websites people submit. For instance, I had no idea that selling auto parts online was such a huge market?!Editing for a web directory can be quite relaxing and educational. If it's not the content that peaks

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1121194043191604922005-07-15T22:35:00.000-04:002005-07-15T10:35:45.426-04:00

A thread over at Search Engine Watch started with tips for finding specific niche directories or categories of directories to submit to. After some good suggestions, there was a caution to "beware of bad neighborhoods."It's true that search engines use a variation of classifying good and bad neighborhoods that link to your site. A bad neighborhood is what Google, Yahoo, or any other search

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1120770115316531392005-07-07T23:40:00.000-04:002005-07-08T07:43:08.976-04:00

When submitting to a web directory, most webmasters, site owners and search engine optimizers want their listing to contain keywords in the anchor text. Most directories steer away from this type of linking because it is an unnatural way to list a resource and it isn't very user friendly.Today, there was an excellent inquiry in the Search Engine Watch Forums... "A question about directory

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1120602714636238102005-07-05T20:33:00.000-04:002005-07-05T21:16:06.530-04:00

Not likely - but a Search Engine Watch moderator seems to have general data to at least have his "theory" heard:DaveN writes: "I have been collecting quite a bit of data just recently and noticed that some WH sites got canned the only thing I can find is a large % of their IBL's are from directories..."In my opinion, that data simply indicates bad SEO. Why are a large % of IBLs from web

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1119452195838405322005-06-22T10:02:00.000-04:002005-06-22T10:56:59.036-04:00

I read in an Axandra Newsletter how Google is hiring and employing "International Agents" to check search results and rate their relevance. According to the article, these candidates will also be filtering web pages that use "unethical" search engine optimization techniques like hidden text, cloaking, keyword stuffing, etc.I like the idea of humans getting involved with the removal of search

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1119284814647378952005-06-20T11:45:00.000-04:002005-06-20T16:53:22.916-04:00

When it comes to searching, categorizing and adding web sites to a directory there are a handful of tools that can help. Here are some that I use and would absolutely recommend: Mozilla Firefox - This web browser is said to be on pace to rival Microsoft's Internet Explorer. So far it boasts more than 64 million users. One major improvement over Internet Explorer is the ability to open multiple

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12774203.post-1118942506627479792005-06-16T23:21:00.000-04:002005-06-16T23:23:01.186-04:00

An excellent read for understanding why Google favors websites with a more natural approach to growing inbound links AND penalizes those websites that purchase hundreds or thousands of links overnight.Here's a little sample:... what Google is trying to do is safeguard the integrity of their search results by ruling out massive overnight link purchases. We're talking thousands of links here.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0