My Web Developer Directory

Grumpus · 02-03-2004, 10:07 AM

I saw another post in services for the Blue Universe Directory, but figured that this would be the best spot since this post is for both people with web design/development related sites, and folks who design general sites and need info. John - if this is a bad spot, feel free to boot me over to another cat...

Anyway, I thought I'd mention my directory at http://www.cre8asite.net here in case anyone wants to take advantage of it. Unlike most directories, this one "deep links" directly to specific articles about specific things related to our industry. Rather than linking to sites that look like they might have what you are looking for, this directory will get you right to the specific resource that'll help you find the answer to the specific question you have in mind.

It's very useful for sites like this forum here in that you can submit specific useful threads (thus saving people who are looking for information from having to sift through the fun, but non-informational type posts that often crop up in forums). It also helps index the "useful threads" within a forum like this as you can go to the "parent site" page and see a quick list of all the useful stuff that has been submitted from that site in one spot.

It's also useful for other sites that have specialized information and articles to be able to promote those articles (and yep, it's all crawlable and gives PR to the articles).

We accept all related and useful free resources (the parent site can be commercial, but the article or resource needs to be freely viewed without exchange of money or having to create a user account). We're getting a fair amount of traffic over there now, too. It's not going to send you a million hits a week or anything, but it's probably worth the time.

For folks who don't have web design related sites, this is a good resource to look through once in a while. There's not a ton of content there, but the stuff that is in there is all really good - and is always a good starting point when you are trying to figure out how to do something.

Enjoy and thanks for taking the time to read this blatant self promotion.

G.

John Scott · 02-03-2004, 10:39 AM

I love the way www.cre8asite.net is set up. I like the way it's developing.

Grumpus · 02-03-2004, 10:50 AM

Thanks. Now I need to find some time to continue to develop it rather than letting it develop on its own.

G.

I, Brian · 02-04-2004, 03:20 PM

It's a good idea - and, thankfully, isn't cursed by that darn "jump.php" script that your .com domain has.

Grumpus · 02-05-2004, 09:45 AM

The sites in the directory need approval, so it's easier to police. In the forums, we worry about profile and sig line links leading to those unsavory areas that Google likes to penalize.

In the directory, it's not an issue because we approve every listing (and pretty much, so long as it's useful, on topic, and free, it gets in there). There aren't 100s of active people posting dozens of unmoderated things each day.

That's the main difference between the linking strategies. I'm also of the opinion (though many love to argue this with me) that an outbound link can actually be a very good thing to help with rankings. True, it's not nearly as important as inbound links, but I think it does play a role in establishing a site's authority. And, combined with good inbound links, it'll help establish the site as a "hub" as well. And, as we all know, these things are of growing importance. If you have an effective means of policing to make sure there aren't any "bad" links going from your site, I always strongly recommend that folks don't be selfish with outbound links - directly reciprocated or not.

G.

John Scott · 02-05-2004, 01:25 PM

How many active contributors you have over there? I tried once but then I got swamped and haven't seen daylight since.

I, Brian · 02-05-2004, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grumpus

The sites in the directory need approval, so it's easier to police. In the forums, we worry about profile and sig line links leading to those unsavory areas that Google likes to penalize.

I actually presumed the reasoning to be one of "PR hoarding". I also joined cre8asite a long time ago, but I don't believe I ever posted on account of the fact that I felt that crippling signature links from SE bots was a little insulting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grumpus

I'm also of the opinion (though many love to argue this with me) that an outbound link can actually be a very good thing to help with rankings. True, it's not nearly as important as inbound links, but I think it does play a role in establishing a site's authority. And, combined with good inbound links, it'll help establish the site as a "hub" as well.
G.

This is particularly why I believe in outbound links - I had a suspicion for a while that there may be untapped benefits in this, but never sat down to test it. After Florida, though, it is almost certainly an excellent ranking strategy - especially on the grounds that Google looks like it's implemented some form of "expert system". If that's accepted, then categorising the outgoing links properly is a good way to make "expert pages". And having enough incoming's to be boot could make your an "authority" site. Either way, good for cre8asite.net.

Grumpus · 02-05-2004, 05:58 PM

Quote:

How many active contributors you have over there? I tried once but then I got swamped and haven't seen daylight since.

Not many who contribute just to contribute, but we have lots who have sites who submit the articles and resources they may have and then come back from time to time when they add something new to their site. I never really expected it to become a hot spot for folks who "work the directory" as a sort of hobby like DMOZ editors and such. There are probably four or five of us who spend a day or so a month submitting things we have stumbled upon that isn't our own, though.

Quote:

I actually presumed the reasoning to be one of "PR hoarding".

Nah, that's not it at all. We've actually been working on some scripts (several are already in place) that'll help us police everything at a glance (i.e. take 5 minutes when you first log in and take a quick look at all the new links). There are a couple more scripts that need to be done. The problem then comes when folks start posting there for the sake of getting their link crawled. At the point where folks realize this, then the quality of the discussion tends to go down. <shrug> We've never been sure the best way to handle it, so I guess complete avoidance of the situation is easier. Hopefully, later on this year, we'll be able to experiment with pulling the jump page out of it, but who knows?

It's definitely not a matter of wanting to hoarde PR though. It's fear of a penalty if we happen to miss something.

G.