Free Directory Listings follow up and Wikidweb Directory

Updated for wikidweb information: (03/12/05 18:36 EST)

Sorry to take so long between posts. My main computer died and I had to get a new one. I'm glad to get a new one, but changing everything over is a real pain!!!

Now on to site updates.

I have been adding directories and reviews to the Free Directory Listings page. I have found that most of the directories take quite a bit longer, for submissions to appear, than their stated inclusion time frame. I have also noticed that not all the directories have true static links, some use redirects and some are using the "nofollow" attribute. This obviously diminishes their effectiveness for link popularity purposes. I will be updating my reviews to reflect this type of information. I am also working on a new review format that is easier to understand "at a glance". More on this later.

Wikidweb Directory

Wikidweb - "Wiki Directory of the Web" is a brand new wiki driven directory that is very interesting and well worth watching to see how it develops. While the potential for spam is great, they claim to have anti-spam measures in place.

A wiki, for those of you aren't familiar with them, is a collaborative website where users can add to and edit the content. Wikipedia is probably the most well known project on the net. Here is their definition of wiki.

Wikidweb allows users to add new listings and edit already established submissions. I added a listing for webseodesign with only minor difficulty. To get your listing in the correct category, you have to read the editing help section to find the wiki code. I could not find, on their site, how to add a new category or sub-category. Their existing directory structure is quite sparse. This might pose a problem for anyone that is not technically inclined. I posted a "discussion" note on the site owners user profile, as I could not find any contact info (I really hate when they don't include that).

I then tried to add an established client's site and although the submission posted, it did not contain a live link because "the site was not on the white list". Apparently their anti spam mechanism works from a list of approved sites, rather than a "black list" of banned sites. This doesn't make a lot of sense, as to why it accepted one listing and not another. (see update below) The only difference was the client's site is a .us domain and mine is a .com. I will follow up on these inconsistencies when I make contact with someone at their site. There is a thread at SearchEngineWatch, that was started by the site's owner, in which I will ask for clarification.

When I was looking at the source code of the page I submitted, I noticed they are using the "nofollow" attribute, which makes this directory useless for build link popularity, but might generate some visitor traffic.

All in all, I think this is an interesting idea and I will add to my review as new information is available.

(added later)After some dialogue with the site's owner, I figured out the category/sub category part and the owner also straighten out my client's site submission problem. Their category matrix structure is very unique. The lack of a category was my error, as was the way I edited my link that caused the "nofollow" attribute to be added. I am going to try out somemore things on the site, including helping to add some input to their help system. I also found the contact information. This site needs some more help information, but I think it is an interesting project.

That's it for now and as always your comments are welcome and you can contact me by clicking on my name.

martin