As many long term Search Engine Journal readers know, our parent company also runs the Umdum Directory.
Umdum has been in existence for almost a year now and over the course of the past 10 months or so, we’ve received a lot of feedback from SEJ readers and Umdum customers.
Our goal is to maintain a quality web directory which offers value to both the searcher and the sites which list themselves within Umdum. We feel that with a successful launch, top notch design, and editorial guidelines which have resulted in us denying 15% of the sites which were not fit for a quality web directory, we are coming close to achieving this goal.
Now, building up to the one year milestone, I’d like to ask Search Engine Journal readers two questions;
- What do you consider a quality web directory?
- What changes would you make to better Umdum.com?
Be honest, be critical, be yourself.
Comments
11 responses so far ↓
Everett Sizemor on Mar 28, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Deep Linking:
I don’t understand the problem many directories have with allowing deep links. If I think a certain section of my site is most relevant to your directory or category, why not link to it?
RSS Feeds to each category so I can keep track of competitors in my industry/ies. This will also help you build link popularity into those pages. Make the feed a snippet instead of full, and submit the rss/xml URL to some of the hundreds of feed engines and aggregator sites out there. How many categories do you have? Let’s say 100 to keep it simple. 100 Categories = 100 feed URLs X 100 feed engines / aggregators = 10,000 free links into different pages of your directory.
Ahmed Bilal on Mar 28, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Very good question Loren.
My main gripe with the current mode of doing directories is that they are not ‘amazing’ informational resources by themselves.
From an SEO point of view, yea sure, they give you some value, but from a user’s point of view, all you’re getting is a list of sites on a particular topic without any guarantee about whether this list is complete or whether those sites can be really trusted or not.
Using editorial criteria is good, but you know what they say, show instead of telling them.
So the question is, how can you position Umdum (funny name btw) to be an informational resource?
I’d say that it would be easier to do so with a topical directory instead of a general one but still, it’s something worth looking into.
mad4 on Mar 28, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Add a blog and start link baiting from anywhere and everywhere. You could even start reviewing sites on the blog and charging for it as an additional service to the directory.
Tyler Dewitt on Mar 28, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Very good web directory Loren, I look forward into building a directory for my company here soon, but very high end directory, with nice links.
Ken Savage on Mar 28, 2007 at 2:53 pm
I can’t see why linking deep within your site is a problem.
I would prefer to see a listing that was exactly what I was searching on rather than a general front page I have to search for anyway.
Cristian Mezei on Mar 28, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Loren, I think that offering 2 or 4 or 6 additional deeplinks to users would be the first thing to think about.
Eddie Walter on Mar 28, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Hey Loren,
I like it when folks open themselves up to criticism, critiques, and comments. =)
I think the directory is set up well for SEO purposes, but if a main goal is to attract and serve human users, the thing I would most like to see added is a rating system. Perhaps the editors can rate a site (1-5 stars, for example) when the site is reviewed before inclusion.
The other things that I would like to see have already been mentioned. Deep linking would be good for both SEO and human purposes. And of course RSS feeds for each category would be awesome!
The other question I had was this:
When I’m looking at the Marketing and Advertising sub-category (http://www.umdum.com/dir/46387.php), I see three different sections of the listings. The sponsored listings, the websites, and the “results” (”Results 1 - 2 of 2 found in Marketing and Advertising”). What are those results? It doesn’t say on the page.
Mike, The Internet Guy on Mar 28, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Hi Loren,
I agree about the deep links. There is really no reason not to allow them. Perhaps another idea would be serve up some content with the listings to make the directory more useful
Maki on Mar 28, 2007 at 7:28 pm
What do you consider a quality web directory?
I think most webmasters feel that a good directory should have a strong PageRank and Page Strength. The more established or aged the directory, the better.
These are popular end-user opinions, if I’m not wrong.
What changes would you make to better Umdum.com?
I’ll definitely set up a blog and keep users and visitors updated with the latest ongoings with Umdum. The blog can also be a platform for other activities: Launch SEO Contests, offer discount coupons, do lucky draws etc.
Aviva is an example of a directory that uses a blog very well to promote its directory.
I’ll also set up an affiliate program (ala Best of the Web Reseller Program) as a marketing campaign to generate more exposure for Umdum.
Perhaps setting up a section with SEO tools or scripts that are specific to directory owners will garner more traffic and make Umdum more of an authority in the eyes of buyers.
Increasing the Page Strength is important so perhaps some relevant link baiting/link buying would help with that.
Cvos SEO on Mar 30, 2007 at 4:58 am
I think a directory should be intuitive and as simple to use as possible. One thing I really look for in directories is an easy to use URL structure. URL’s that are clear and easy to follow have a great positive impact on usability, and allow for easy navigation.
for example one wouldn’t know this is the computers category:
http://www.umdum.com/dir/46218.php
it could be:
http://www.umdum.com/computers/
I’m sure this is the default software configuration, but these links can be rewritten.
Gerard McGarry on Apr 3, 2007 at 7:34 am
Loren
I was initially disappointed that it wasn’t free! OK, so that barrier to entry alone guarantees serious applications, but on a low-to-no budget, I’d have to walk away.
I agreed with a previous commenter that the information in the directory is of little use on its own. Perhaps for those Web 2.0 savvy customers, you could include a hook-up to their RSS feed. That would allow browsers to see how recently updated their site was and also tackles the problem(?) of giving people a couple of deep links.
I do think the problem with any web directory is the currency of the information, and if one site has several up-to-date RSS entries, I’d be inclined to click through rather than an entry that has remained the same for years.
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