Linkmoz-Blog

Web directories have been around since the beginning of the internet. They have been offering users a categorized list of sites, presenting an alternative to Search Engines. A very useful alternative indeed, because many times the results you get from a SE search returns more than just a few irrelevant links.This is because directories’ administrators have been choosing and accepting all quality sites, listing them in the appropriate category, rather than indexing all content and all URLs existing. This was the concept back then.
Nowadays this has changed. There are far too many sites for a directory to hold, and there are too few users using a directory to do a research. Today directories attract webmasters. Webmasters that want to take advantage of the exposure a directory listing can give, to a highly targeted group of people. Listing a site to a directory increases the link popularity of a site, thus making it more “known” to search engines, increasing its SERP.

So directories passed their first transformation. From bringing direct traffic to a site into increasing its SERP and thus sending indirect traffic through search engines.
Webmasters and their sites have been monetizing on paid submissions and in paid homepage or sitewide linkage to other sites. The situation stayed like this for a while until today. Today directory owners have to face a major change, on which a big part of their income was based. The changing of the way Google views paid links.
With the recent change on Google’s policy, many directory owners started to think about their business future. So it’s time directories started transforming once more. Content must be added, as this is what search engines favor. And better yet, “unique content”. How can this be done? What should a directory owner do?

First of all he must try to make the content already exists, unique. Rewriting listings descriptions, changing titles, and bringing fresh listings to his directory is the first step. Adding a blog is the second step. It is the best way for having rich, unique content, which changes and is being renewed regularly. Forums, messageboards, newsfeeds are all very good add-ons.
Try to configure your site in a way that doesn’t look like a links storehouse, but like a web site that in fact is a useful resource, with lots of features, with directory services as the main one, but not the ONLY ONE. Give your visitors a reason to keep coming back.
Surely a lot of directories have already started this transformation, and some of them are already transformed, as their far-seeing administrators had predicted what was going to happen. This is going to be the next generation of directories, and this is a good chance to see who can work this out.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 6th, 2007 at 10:06 am and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.