Top Tips From Directory Owners and Editors

[Cricket]

If you are a directory owner or editor (current or former) please share your top tips for site owners concerning submitting sites to directories. What are the most common mistakes you see webmasters make during this process? Any additional advice about directories?

[stoner3221]

The number one tip for anybody submitting a website. Read the submission guidelines, if you think every directory is the same your wrong. It will improve your website submission decline rate greatly and in the long run save you a lot of time.

[DirectoryMan]

I wrote this a while back. It is a list of list of Directory Owner Pet Peeves. We can probably add to the list. The number one peeve today has to be automated submissions.

[stoner3221]

No decent script can be accessed by auto submitters.

[subet]

Most people are using keywords on site name and description. And most of them i am declining. Title is the title of your site. It is not a keyword area. And the description must be something descriptive not like toilets, wcs, mirrors, motorcycles...

[DirectoryMan]

Originally Posted by stoner3221

No decent script can be accessed by auto submitters.

Can you list some decent scripts?

[chovy]

that's sort of the point...why would you want auto-submitters to access it?

[swedal]

Stoner has the best tip - that being read the guidelines prior to submitting and follow them. If there are no posted guidelines well don't bother submitting.

Part of the problems caused by not reading the guidelines are submitters filling the title with keyword spam. The title is the title.

Then submitters often fill up the description with runs of keywords that don't describe anything. The description is a description - not a place to fill up with keywords.

I basically look at it like this. What you see on a storefront sign for a store as you walk down the street is an adequate title. When one walks past a Best Buy store what is on the sign? It certainly is not "Stereo's, Radio's. Refrigerators, Washers, Dryers, Computers and Software." It would be fairly stupid of Best Buy to try and brand their store that way. The sign on the front of Best Buy says Best Buy.

The description is for a clear, impartial description of the services or products offered within the store. It is NOT for MARKETING HYPE. It is not to list off every single product that the store carry's. It is to describe in basic non hyped terms the businesses services or product line so the viewer of that description can decide if they want to proceed to the site. It can easily be done in one sentence or two max.

[stoner3221]

Originally Posted by DirectoryMan

Can you list some decent scripts?

None of the out of the box scripts are any good, In my opinion they are all garbage. You have to invest some money with a good coder to come up with a great script.

[anthony_james]

Going through terms and conditions and submission guidelines is very important when you go to submit a website to directory.

[pubdomains]

1. Non-existent reciprocal links
2. Site submitted is A while the reciprocal link is posted on site B
3. White font reciprocal link listing (could be any color so that text color is blended with the background so that your link is there but you don't see it ..)
4. Submitting incomplete site - some folks don't have patience to complete their sites before they take the submission path!
There are more .. and I agree with the shared concern of folks not reading the guidelines properly.

[stoner3221]

Originally Posted by pubdomains

1. Non-existent reciprocal links
2. Site submitted is A while the reciprocal link is posted on site B
3. White font reciprocal link listing (could be any color so that text color is blended with the background so that your link is there but you don't see it ..)
4. Submitting incomplete site - some folks don't have patience to complete their sites before they take the submission path!
There are more .. and I agree with the shared concern of folks not reading the guidelines properly.

Requiring reciprocal links is manipulation of page rank (A Google Violation) and won’t be found in any decent directory.

[robjones]

I did a post at the end of August about how to write good / efficient descriptions that would both get accepted AND help the webmaster. Too many people blow off that detail, and if submitted correctly it'd sure help them.

See: Tip: Submitted Descriptions

Also added some direction on being sure to submit a category. Sure... editors CAN pick one for you, and if you send to an unrelated cat it will still be placed where it belongs. Still if there is more than one place it could go, there's a better chance of getting your preferred spot if the submitter at least recommends that spot. Nobody can read minds, so if a submitter has a preference between acceptable spots it'd be good to lmake it known when submitting.

[stoner3221]

Originally Posted by robjones

I did a post at the end of August about how to write good / efficient descriptions that would both get accepted AND help the webmaster. Too many people blow off that detail, and if submitted correctly it'd sure help them.

See: Tip: Submitted Descriptions

Also added some direction on being sure to submit a category. Sure... editors CAN pick one for you, and if you send to an unrelated cat it will still be placed where it belongs. Still if there is more than one place it could go, there's a better chance of getting your preferred spot if the submitter at least recommends that spot. Nobody can read minds, so if a submitter has a preference between acceptable spots it'd be good to lmake it known when submitting.

The new generation of supposed editors decline sites for not being in the correct category! Of course with only 5 categories it’s not so hard get the right one.

[robjones]

Any editor that depends on the submitter to know his directory better than he does needs to find a real job (selling shoes or something maybe), but I suspect that was your point. Misplaced submissions go with the territory. I see submissions with no designated cat all the time... and in a paid review scenario that just means they're relying on our judgment, which is their prerogative if they so choose. IMO not their optimum move, but not a problem either.

[chovy]

My best advice is to run a directory, then you'll know what it's like and how to submit in the future.

[swedal]

Originally Posted by chovy

My best advice is to run a directory, then you'll know what it's like and how to submit in the future.

The original premise of the thread was to help submitters understand how to make better directory submissions....

Now what your saying is that these people who don't understand how to properly submit to a directory should run a directory????

How is that going to help anyone?

[chovy]

because the first that happens when you start a directory and announce free listings, is you get a ****-load of spam...you'll start to differentiate between bad submissions and the rare good one....this is at least how I started to improve my submissions.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by chovy

because the first that happens when you start a directory and announce free listings, is you get a ****-load of spam...you'll start to differentiate between bad submissions and the rare good one....this is at least how I started to improve my submissions.

I am guessing it would be a whole lot easier to read the directory's submission guidelines.

[chovy]

those are 99.999% canned -- and people really don't read them, nor do they understand them. Unless they are custom, short, and specific.

there is some common sense at play here.