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The Golden Age Of Web Directories

Not so long ago it seemed like nearly everyone who wanted to build websites were creating directories. I know when I started out online with all this stuff I put up at least three of them. If you frequented webmaster forums at that time one of the busiest sections was for announcing new directories. Many were even running multiple directories.

Lots of webmasters, including myself, were scrambling around paying $1 to $5 for regular listings and even more for featured listings. Most everyone was playing the PR game and the main concern was usually the PR of the directory and the listing page. Whenever you saw an ad for a directory in a forum it would usually go something like “PR5 Directory…”

Webmasters who achieved high PR values for their directories had no problem getting new listings even when they raised their rates. Wise directory owners used most of their listing revenues to promote their directory. The more high PR backlinks a webmaster obtained for their directory the higher their own PR raised and the more they could charge for listings.

There were a lot of folks out there who got the idea that if they took their PR4 domain and changed it into a directory they might be able to sell a lot of listings. Even better, they could grab a dropped domain with some PR value and create their directory. The “Directory” market became flooded with mid to high range PR domains most all of which were destined to drop to PR0 by the next update. Many website owners bought listings in these directories hoping to get a PR boost that never came.

Savvy webmasters had to do a little checking up on a directory before spending money. How long has the directory had been online? Was it online before the last PR update? Is it cached? Dropped or changed domain? It was also a good idea to check on the directory owner as well. How many websites do they run? If they own multiple sites are the quality?

To say that the Internet became over crowded with redundant and often junk filled web directories would not be an exaggeration. Combined with the “crack down” on the practice of buying and selling links in order to manipulate PR by Google&tm; the web directory “glut” was headed for a crash. Suddenly directory owners started seeing drops in PR values, it was not uncommon to see PR5 directories fall to PR1 or even PR0.

Not only was the drop in PR problematic for directory owners they also found that most website promoters were becoming hesitant about buying links altogether. Drastic changes in the PR system were still underway and it was feared that penalties would be handed out by the almighty search engines. A lot of the directories were changed to say the listing was free, but the fee charged was for a review. Rarely was a review ever actually given, as this was just an attempt to reword the terms in order to make it not look like a paid link.

Not all directories were “bad” of course, and it was those few directories that actually survived the crash and are still viable today. However, there are still a lot of derelict and abandoned web directories out there that are no longer being maintained. Many of these directories have thousands of pending submissions that will never be seen. Even if the listings are free a person could waste a lot of time submitting to these websites.

Before you consider submitting your website to a directory, regardless of whether or not it is free or paid, here are some important considerations:

Is it an active directory?
How long has the directory existed?
Look at the websites listed in the directory. Are they quality or junk?
How well is the directory organized? Categories are important for keeping grouped listings relevant.
Does it look like a directory that would useful for a visitor searching for information?

Your goal should be to get exposure for your website by having a link in a position which will potentially send you traffic. In the end the PR value and even the question of “nofollow” or “dofollow” are not the most important factors. I have mentioned elsewhere that we need a new designation; “people follow”. If people follow a link to arrive at your website then you have succeeded and that backlink is valuable for you.

Filed Under Website Promotion