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Web directory popularity estimation
by Alexander O. (www.webskyguide.com)
After taking the decision concerning the initiation of the registration, you should decide in what directories you are going to register and what directories you'd
better avoid. The choice here is rather wide. First of all, the directories themselves can be of different types of functions, profiles, themes and, not rarely,
can be of different levels of access for the potential visitors of the website that is being registered. Soon after realizing that registering your website
"everywhere possible" is difficult and ineffective, you'll quit this idea. A vast number of web-directories can be effective at first; more often, single
registration does not consider further work with the directory.
The major factor that influences the choice of the specific directories should be their popularity. The popularity of the directory can be estimated by the traditional
instruments of website popularity estimation, specifically, instruments that are presented by the search systems.
How to estimate the directory's popularity with the help of Google?
Almost all search systems estimate directories using the same principle as estimating ordinary websites. In the Google search system, the sequence of directory
estimation is as follows: firstly, the inside directory structure, its content, including the keywords in the website name and description, are evaluated. Popular
directories try not to become a resource that is packed with one and the same repeating keywords. Search system robots pay attention to the uniqueness of the content
and its repeating on each page of the directory, raising or lowering its rank. At the second stage, the theme of the external links on the directory pages is
considered. The Google search system estimates the external links on the directory as recommendations for visiting and thus raises the directory rank.
All the advantages of this directory are considered in the PageRank index that is calculated for each page (surely, the page must be indexed beforehand). The Google
Toolbar instrumental panel helps to find the website rank visually. There is a special diagram in the panel under which, by putting the cursor, you can see figures
from 0 to 10. Each of the figures symbolically means the rank of the directory page. When choosing directory theme categories, it is important to pay attention to
the pages with high PR (Page Rank) index because they have many external links from the important pages.
How to estimate the directory's popularity with the help of Alexa?
While the PR index calculated by Google shows the possibility of user's presence on this or that directory page, PR Alexa is based on the real user's visit of this or
that directory page. The information about the visits is passed to processing through the Alexa Toolbar. After that, the average figures for three months are
calculated and presented in the form of diagrams of tendencies on the Alexa Internet website. The importance of each directory page is determined only on the basis
of the frequency of users' visits during three months.
The disadvantages of this method of estimation is the comparatively small scope of users (only users that have Alexa Toolbar are counted). At the same time, Alexa
enables us to see the actual number of directory page visitors, unlike PR Google, which shows the probable number of visitors of a particular directory page. When
you estimate the directory's popularity by yourself, it is advisable to use the Google Toolbar and Alexa Toolbar figures.
Other Factors That Influence Web Directory Popularity
Instruments that are presented by search systems help to see the overall picture of directory popularity as a whole. Though there are a number of aspects that enable
to highlight within the "most popular" directories, those that are in reality good for the website that is being registered.
The Number of Links on the Web Directory Pages.
There is no sense in making a link to the website that is being registered from a page that already has hundreds of links. "The weight" of such a page will be
absolutely insufficient, which means that it will be less popular in comparison with other pages. This can be explained by the fact that Page Rank figure inversely
depends on the number of links on the page.
The necessity of the Direct Link on the Website.
The page with the link on the website should be available from the directory main page. The link on the main page of the directory that refers to the page with the
link on the registered website can be only direct. Redirected links or links written with the help of Java are not effective for increasing the number of website
visits. Also, the link on the registered page in the directory website must be direct.
The Unique Content of the Directory and Its Appeal.
Directories with a well-known brand name, such as DMOZ, the directories of search systems Yahoo, Alexa and others pay attention to the uniqueness of the content
placed on their pages. The search robots, "spiders," pay attention to the content uniqueness and increase the "weight" of each page and of the whole directory.
In addition, the presence of the unique, not repeating content shows the advertising of the directory owners to the users - potential visitors of the registered
website. The popular directories require that websites have correctly made descriptions. At the same time, they do not forget to place for visitors' attention some
theme articles, news and other useful information.
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