In regards to marketing a website, one of the first stops for many webmasters are web directories. While there’s a mixed viewpoint on the value of web directories, as compared with more respected article directories, there has been an explosion of web directory networks lately. It is most of these directory networks that I will address in this article.
If we take note of Google, which to be honest we ought to, then we all know excellent quality is the key to being successful. How do we know this? Well, Matt Cutts said it naturally! Seriously, Matt Cutts is absolutely correct. What’s more effective, submitting to 1,000 free directories that are hosted on on a single network and are also interlinked or publishing to a single quality directory? I would personally dedicate my time submitting to a sole quality web directory any day of the year.
Owning a link directory is no small task. The amount of energy that is put into a directory determines its quality. If it has below average editorial requirements, quality is thrown out the window and that directory will become nothing more then a link farm.
A good number of website directory networks reside on the same server, which can be already shared with hundreds or thousands of other internet sites. Once these directory networks get big, and get some traffic from the numerous free directory lists, the hosting server can slow to a turtles pace. This isn’t good for anyone, specifically the blameless folks that have been hosting on that server.
Many of the web directory networks functioning nowadays are set to auto accept all submissions. By producing a cron job at a chosen time of day, all listings are instantly approved. Editors have been been replaced by computer code that opens up the floodgates to everyone. Categories quickly become cluttered with unrelated listings and unwanted listings find their way inside the directory as well.
So the question begs, why would people create such networks? The vast majority of the directory networks out there have strategically positioned advertisements. You know, the ads almost on top of the submit button. If someone mistakenly clicks on the advertisement then presto, the directory owner gets paid. Multiply this by hundreds or even thousands of directories, and you have a large number of clicks. The main problem is that the bounce rate for these clicks are almost definitely high, and many of these directory owners are the same individuals screaming they happen to be smart priced by an ad network.
Usually speaking, the value of directory networks is brief for its owner. Traffic is received from being listed in a free directory list, but as soon as that directory is no longer brand new, the traffic it receives decreases to just a trickle. This is the key reason why directory network operators are compelled to establish even more directories. They require that constant supply of page views to yield the ad earnings they seek.
The bottom line is that I have seen very few web directory networks that exist more then their first year. These web directory networks commonly close when their owner figures out that there is very small profit growth, but an everlasting cycle of time consuming work. As entrepreneurs, we only have a limited amount of time. Can submitting to directory networks aid us in our internet marketing endeavors or are we better looking for the true gems which may still be in the rough? After seeing so many web directory networks fall, it is my opinion that website owners may be best served by submitting to good quality article and web directories instead.
Valerie Anna is a web directory editor and works hard to provide descriptive reviews that best represent each listing and is of value to readers. Along with being a directory editor, she also manages several web directory lists.
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