Many people appreciate the benefits of bid directories and the ability to control listing position in categories, increase exposure with homepage placement, etc.  However, there are a lot of people who think of them exactly like other directories and pay the exact minimum bid amount for the listing, just for the category placement, and that’s a perfectly fine approach, depending on the directory and site being promoted.  Here’s a tip for those who take this direction, though.  Instead of bidding the exact minimum amount, consider bidding $1 or even $0.05 more than the minimum amount.  The reason for this is because everyone else who has this same idea also bids the minimum amount, and if they bid before you, their listing will be shown above yours.  $1 can make the difference between a page 2 listing and a page 6 listing in many cases, and certainly page 2 is considerably more beneficial than page 6 in every way.

Recently significant promotion began for this blog and the new blog directory.  One of the channels being utilized is blog post reviews.  While working with the different providers and options available, several observations were made.  A lot of time was spent working with these systems.  Hopefully the below information will be useful to those interested in the topic and help save others time in the process.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bid directories have many benefits and have become popular with web site owners due to the considerable direct traffic and exposure provided.  Listed below are some tips to help bid directory owners maximize revenue, benefit for web site owners, and convenience for submitters.

Read the rest of this entry »

Most people know about and consider PR as a factor for determining quality web directories.  Although PR can be useful as a quick reference, it is far from the best or only consideration.  Below you will find a list of other factors that should be taken into account when evaluating directories.

Read the rest of this entry »

Listed below is a collection of "bad ideas" for web directory owners.  The list provides information on actions that will damage your directory and/or your own reputation as the web directory owner.  Being involved with any of the below mistakes should be avoided to prevent risk and revenue loss for your business.

Read the rest of this entry »

Email communication to web directory submitters should be minimal.  That is, you don’t want to get your emails considered as spam or thought of as "just more mail from some directory".  However, the communication you do have with web directory submitters is valuable.  Listed below are some tips to maximize the benefit from emails sent:

Read the rest of this entry »

Sorting by Google PR seems to be the best overall option available for web directories, and many web directories display the PR value for web site listings as information for visitors.  However, a lot of web directories are not obtaining valid PR information for the listings.  This can be a significant problem for those that sort by PR.  If you use the popular PHP Link Directory script, install and use the PR update MOD.  The tool seems to work even when the information is not obtained normally with submissions.  Doing so will even increase sales as submitters will be able to judge the future placement for a new submission.  Otherwise, the submitter is left to assume the listing will be placed at the bottom, several pages deep into a category.  The tool is also very useful for updating all listings when a Google PageRank update occurs.

If you’re thinking about starting a web directory that offers only an option for reciprocal listings, you may want to think again.  Unless you are already trusted within the webmaster community, the project is doomed to fail.  The reason is because most people value their own site more than a new site from an unknown source.  Therefore, few will want to add a free link to your site, not to mention the time it takes to implement the link.  Starting off with only this option will do you more harm than good, even if you do get some submissions and links.  There are several reasons for this:

Read the rest of this entry »

There are many reasons not to use fully automated directory submission software.  Listed below are some of the more significant disadvantages and problems associated.  The information provided will hopefully be helpful for both submitters using or thinking about using automated submission software as well as the individuals and companies that operate web directories.

Read the rest of this entry »

Alive Directory has today launched an extensive blog directory resource.  The blog directory is intended as an extension to Alive Directory, and offers the same listing types and options, including deep links.  A comprehensive set of categories is provided for exceptional blog categorization.  Alive Blog Directory currently offers introductory pricing. After the intro period, the blog directory will have pricing similar to the main Alive Directory resource.

Important Note:  Other than sites that properly fit into a category under Blog Resource, all submissions must be an actual blog.  Submissions for any other site should be made to Alive Web Directory.