Directory Critic

For those if you who’ve been reading this blog you’ll know that I have been looking for ways to make Directory Critic’s lists as up-to-date as possible. Maintaining a list this size is not an easy task and is very time consuming. It’s not making the updates that’s takes that most time, it’s finding them.

So I have created a new tool that allows you to let me know when directories have switched from free to paid, stop accepting submissions, aren’t loading, have redirects, are no longer search engine friendy etc etc etc.

You will notice that all the lists now have a report link. This link opens up a box that gives you a number of reasons why you want to report the directory. It’s simple, you just choose a reason, press send and the infomation is sent straight to my admin area.

It takes a few seconds to do, but can save me and other webmasters that you Directory Critic a lot of time!

Well, I’m proud to announce that Directory Critic’s lists have now topped the 1000 mark, despite more than 20 directories being removed from the list over the past few weeks! The current list total sits at 1015. I big thanks to Manish from Inetzeal for helping with with list maintenance and hunting for new directories and also Leon for helping me add and review directories.

With my new help on board the list is growing faster than ever and is much more up-to-date. The way a good list should be. If you have any suggestions or comments about the site just leave em’ here. Thanks!

I do my best to keep this directory lists on this site as up-to-date as possible. But as they grow they get a lot harder to maintain, too hard for just 1 person. So I’ve inlisted in the help of a few other webmasters. Manish from Inetzeal is now going to be helping out with list maintenance and suggestions. Manish is using the free directory list for his directory submission service on a regular basis so his input will help keep things up to date.

I have also have a part time reviewer locally who’ll be helping me review and add new directories to the lists.

So what does this mean?

• The lists are going to be more up-to-date
• More directories will be added to Directory Critic each week
• Directories will be reviewed and added faster

Like the title says, an up-to-date list is a good list. And an up-to-date and search engine friendly list is a few thousand directories is a solid webmaster resource for link building.

I have just launched another site. And as I do with all my new sites, I submit it to all the free directories on the free list. What frustrates me is, I am discovering so many paid directories on the list! This was very annoying since I was looking for free dirs, and I’m sure it’s annoying for all the webmasters that use the list. I have moved about 30 dirs to the paid list and Im sure there will be many more as I work through the entire list.

So, Im asking directory owners can you please tell me if there’s a cost change to your dir. Also, if you’re using the lists and you come across a directory thats paid on the free list or vice versa, please just send me a quick email to let me know.

An up-to-date list is a good list 🙂

Cheers!

Well it actually came a lot sooner than I expected, but Directory Critic is now listing more than 900 search engine friendly directories! Thanks to everyone for submitting your directories, rating directories and using the lists and tracking.

1000 here we come 🙂

Well, you asked for it guys n girls now you have it! I have had loads of emails and requests about getting a deep links directory list up on the site and no I’ve (finally) got around to doing it! Here’s the link, add it to your bookmarks!

Deep Links Directory List

The directories on the deep links list are broken down into 2 types. Directories that accept deep links for free listings (indicated on the list by “all”) and directories that only accept deep links for paid listings (indicated on the list by “paid only”).

Pretty simple eh? Now it’s just a matter of getting the list up to date. This is where you directory owners come in. I have set the default deep links to no, so if your directory does accept deep links you gotta let me know so I can update your details.

To update your details please read this thread on DigitalPoint forums. Post your directory name followed by either ALL or PAID ONLY and I will update add your directory to the list asap.

Any feedback or comments are always appreciated, just comment to this post.

Enjoy!

I’ve just completed another behind-the-scenes update for the site. Directory Critic’s linking structure is now 100% static. Meaning there’s no more index.php?page=blah&id=56656, it’s now all html links. Why was this update important? I’ll tell you…

1. More pages for Google and other SE’s to index easily. This is not only better for search engine traffic to the site, but better for our sitewide advertisers who will get more backlinks.
2. Better PR distribution throughout the site
3. Static URL for directory ratings. If you want your visitors to rate your directory you can now send the to a static url. Additionally, if you link back to this static URL from all your directory pages the PR of the page will increase and because your homepage link is on the page some of the PR will be passed back to you.
4. Static URL for view details pages.

Google spiders this site lik crazy, and once it gets through the new static link setup I expect the number of pages indexed for this site to double.

Which is good for everyone 🙂

Yesterday I made an announcement on Digital Point for this site and it’s resulted an about 30 new web directories being submitted and a handful of article directories. I have a big list of article directories ready to start adding so I’ll get going on that tonight.

I have also added a new category, Pets & Animals. I thought it was necessary as Ive been getting more and more pet directory submissions.

My target for the end of April is 900 web directories and 200 article directories. Better get started…

As I write this the total number of directories listed on this site is 785, and I reckon in the next few days that will break the 800 mark. I’m pretty please about that number. In 1 month I’m aiming for over 1000. Which shouldn’t be too hard since I’ve been adding around 40-50 per week for the last 3 months.

Also, added a new category today, Games & Toys. I’ve had a few submissions in this niche so I thought a new category was warrented.

Thanks to the people that have been emailing me with corrections/updates/broken link reports. I try my best to keep on top of everything, but there’s only 1 or me and 785 dirs! So thanks. Thank you also to the directory owners that email me when changes to their directory take place (ie. from free to paid). This makes maintaining the list so much easier.

-Critic

As part of my mini site overhaul Directory Critic is now accepting article directories! So if you own an article directory or know of a good one that you think should make the list, please submit it here. I’m sure it wont take long for this list to grow to hundreds of article directories.

I haven’t added tracking or view details to the article list yet, but I should get it done in the next few days. I’m also going to setup a box at the top for up to 5 featured article directories. These links will be selling at $10/month. If you’re interested in being the first to advertise there just let me know.