The photo is actually courtesy of yours truly. Taken at the Garrison Brewery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in 2011.

I found this directory today, included it today, and I’m reviewing it today whilst it is still fresh in my mind. This review is conducted without payment or favour by the Info Vilesilencer team.

Finally! Dan is going to start talking about beers! Well, not quite… It’s a beer directory but I’m getting thirsty as I type this. Real thirsty…

The Crafty Pint is the brainchild of Melbourne jornalist (and beer drinker) James Smith who seemingly wasn’t content with his day job and decided to expand his horizons by launching this craft brewing guide as a pet project.

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This directory was originally included as one of a number of Australian Business Directories in late 2012. This review is conducted without payment or favour by the Info Vilesilencer team.

The Hotfrog directory is kind of an institution. It exists in over 38 countries, however the Australian version is the one I wanted to talk about today.

Hotfrog.com.au has been a directory that I’ve known about since its inception in 2005 but which I’ve avoided listing for the longest time. Not just because it did not meet our seo friendly criteria, it also never seemed to really define its purpose for being… until now.

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We’ve just compiled the latest update for the directories in the Info Vilesilencer Top 100 Free Directories List for May 2013. We’ve also updated the SEO Friendly Excel List which you can download and use at your discretion.

There are a number of changes and interesting things to note. First off the numbers of available directories have dropped from 96 to 85 since 25th Feb 2013. There can be a number of reasons why directories move off the free lists. What most often happens is that after a long period on the free lists, gaining popularity, traffic and building great content, a directory can convert to a pay-for-review model. This is a ROI for the editors time taken in reviewing all of the websites in their index. Directories do this once they have established themselves as an excellent catalogue of resources.

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Matt Cutts released this video yesterday detailing the rollout of Penguin 4 (aka Penguin 2.0) and what to expect from the coming algorithm change. He also gave us an insight into other changes Google will be making during this period.

I want to focus in particular on how these changes affect directories. What to look out for. How you can improve. And, hopefully some good news.

After his introduction, Matt began talking about Blackhat Webspam and that Google were determined to get it under control so that it doesn’t influence rankings. This to me, was the strongest and most important point made in his video. He said that Penguin 2.0 is dedicated to finding and addressing this blackhat webspam and is more comprehensive than Penguin 1.0. Google expect it to go deeper and have more impact than their first version once deployed.

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We’ve been working through the travel directories niche today. Taking some suggestions from the travel directories forum thread we’ve removed a handful of directories from the travel niche that were no longer online, are experiencing problems or who have converted to paid.

We’ve also added quite a few new directories to the list of over 30 free travel directories on the website in the time that the forum thread has been inactive (over 6 months). The 5 travel directory standouts on the list are:

Happy holidaying!

It’s been a long time since I last posted. Over 8 months in fact. The reason for this was that my time was fully occupied trying to complete the planning and building phases of the new Info Vilesilencer Directory List site.

Construction of the site began in late March, and was completed in August as quite a number of changes and reworks were done to get the foundation of the new site coded as per the specifications. In mid September the new site was launched, and despite not making a press release or an official announcement, the first month saw 420 members flock to the new space. Now, 4-and-a-half-months on we are 1912 members strong, and growing by the day as is the traffic which has moved in leaps and bounds.

The main reason that we haven’t done an “official re-launch” is because the site is largely still under-construction. Sure, the content is there, and you can do a lot more on the new list than you could on the old, however there is still a lot of functionality drawn up that hasn’t been completed. One of the main facilities that we are currently working on is a special paid membership module, that will give far greater access to the lists and special functions for a nominal yearly fee.

In the meantime, we are working through the popular niche directory categories adding more content, and expanding the sub-category structure.

Today we have added a number of new automotive directories as well as a new automotive category for racing directories.

I’ll make updates on the site, and new functionalities and anything else I can think of, on this blog. So stay tuned, as we have lots more to bring you this year.

DMOZ appears to have got with the times and installed their very own DMOZ blog.

If discussions concerning DMOZ on major forums like Digitalpoint are anything to go by, then this could be one of the stickiest blogs on the web, and one of the most heated. There is a lot of anti-DMOZ sentiment in the webmaster community, particulary pertaining to alleged corruption between editors and webmasters looking to “buy” their way into a DMOZ listing.

I think the blog is a brilliant idea to open the communication channels between DMOZ staff and the general populous and will improve the transparency of the directory and hopefully shed a spotlight on any corruption that does exist, and stamp it out.

DMOZ has been seen by many to be a dinosaur of a directory that is losing relevance. Through frequent activity of their blog the DMOZ team has the opportunity to demonstrate that this simply is not true, and get back to cataloguing and showcasing some of the best sites the web has to offer.

There are a number of directories currently on the Info Vilesilencer Directory List who have broken components that are impeding submission, or navigation, of the directory.

I have a Directory Watch List on the forum which is designed to keep track of the directories who are unavailable or have these broken components that I speak of. Currently there are a number of directories that have not been fixed, so I am posting in the hope that the owners see this before I remove their directories from the list.

If a human user cannot navigate through your categories, neither can a search engine, and so your directory becomes essentially 100% useless. If you don’t fix your directory you are putting out a pretty obvious signal that you do not care about your directory or the listings in it.

The following directories have broken components, which I suggest should be fixed ASAP.:

http://blue.daffodil.uk.com/directory/ – 14/06/06 (pagination is broken)

http://www.skaloosh.com/ – 11/06/06 (pagination is broken)

http://www.addmylinkfree.com/ – 12/06/06 (category display is broken)

http://www.bzzu.com/ – 12/06/06 (category display is broken)

http://www.approvemylink.com/ – 22/06/06 (category display is broken)

http://dir.profseo.com/ – 29/06/06 (category display is broken)

http://www.cometweb.co.za/ – 22/07/06 (add url missing)

http://www.gten.net/ – 01/08/06 (categories broken)

http://www.a1weblinks.net/ – 01/08/06 (broken categorisation)

http://www.yourdirectoryonline.com/shopping/ – 14/08/06 (code corrupted insert fresh copy)

http://www.worldsbiggestdirectory.com/ – 19/08/06 (categories not showing)

http://www.freewebsitedirectory.com/ – 23/08/06 (broken captcha)

- I have included the date alongside, which is the date the directory was noticed as being broken.
- The reason the directory is considered broken is given in the parentheses.

The most obvious reason for categorisation not displaying/working is that the rewritten URLs are done incorrectly via mod_rewrite in the .htaccess file, so I would check that first as a fix.

If you feel that your directory is fixed or you are aware of other directories on the list who have broken components, please post here (or on the Watch List on the forum)

I’m asked frequently about whether its a good idea or not to submit sites to pay for inclusion directories, and the answer is yes once a few factors have been taken into a consideration:

* Cost – The most important consideration for most people as their financial budget dictates how many (or how few) directories they will be able to pay to list in. So which ones do you go for based on price? This is up to individual discretion. Some people might baulk at paying $20-30 for a link in a directory whilst others will see it as a bargain. My suggestion is that if you are on a tight budget, go for the cheaper options as you will get more bang for your buck.

* PageRank – Most people will tell you that only the PR of the page your link appears on counts when considering the PR of the directory, and to a point I agree. I still think it’s wise to get into a directory that has a high index page PR even if the page you list on might be a PR1 or 2 because that high PR shows that the directory is highly considered. It also shows that the directory owner is good at promoting their resource, which means that inner pages will possibly increase in future, and the directory itself probably commands a decent amount of traffic.

* Longevity – The unknown factor, and the one that scares some people from paying for links. How long will the directory be around for? If you pay $50 for a link will it be there in 6-12 months time. How do you know? This is where a little investigation comes in handy. Check the search engines to see how well the directory is promoted, whether it is part of a network, or certified/recommended/listed by sites like Info Vilesilencer. If the directory is talked about a lot on forums, has a good number of backlinks, a decent PR or is listed in a lot of directory sites then you can be sure that its gaining traffic, and generating revenue. A directory that is generating revenue for its owner is an asset and the owner is therefore unlikely to dump their money-maker anytime soon. These are the ones you should try and get listed in, as their owners treat them like Gold and you only stand to gain from that.

* SEO Friendly – Are the directories SEO friendly? This is important because if they aren’t then you are not getting a backlink to your site that counts in the search engines. Info Vilesilencer’s #1 priority is the identification and promotion of seo friendly directories as these are the most useful to you, the user. It is for this reason (in combination with the other factors above) that I present a short list of Paid Directories that I recommend that have recently been certified and listed by me (the others that have been around for quite some time on my list are on the pay for inclusion directory pages).

Recommended Pay For Inclusion Directories
After 5 Web Design PR4 $5.00
Alive Directory PR4 $19.95
All Multimedia Directory PR5 $14.95
All Webscape PR6 $5.00
Arcade Force PR5 $14.95
Bay Engine PR4 $14.95
Best SEO Solutions PR4 $9.95
Brampton Listings PR4 $5.00
Cream Directory PR3 £7.50
Directory 7 PR0 $4.99
eWeb Directory PR1 $6.95
Free Web Index PR5 $4.95
Graphics Directory PR5 $14.95
Hot Biz Dir PR3 $4.99
Human Ranked Directory Project PR4 $9.95
H7S PR4 $10.00
Ickle Directory PR4 $5.00
Inclusio PR0 $10.00
I73 PR1 $7.50
KwikGoblin PR5 $24.95
Leading Directory PR4 $5.00
Leading Solutions PR3 $15.00
Link Cabin PR4 $4.99
Little Directory PR3 £2.99
Moz Directory PR2 $19.99
Native Directory PR2 £12.00
Permalinks PR0 $6.95
Pius PR4 $10.00
Red Pines PR4 $2.50
Seeker Directory PR2 £16.00
SEO Reign PR4 $5.00
Submit Dot Com Directory PR5 $9.99
Technology 7 PR0 $29.99
The Big Directory PR5 $5.99
The 100 Lists PR5 $5.00AUD
Unadir PR4 $4.95
Webotopia PR6 €15
10000 Text Links PR4 $1.00

I spent some time over the weekend reshuffling and organising the Travel and Tourism Category in the Quicksilver Directory. I paid special attention to the Hotels and Restaurants subcategory which was getting clogged with a variety of listings, that perhaps could be more specifically categorised. So I broke this particular category into 9 more focused niche categories, namely:

Bed and Breakfasts
Cottages
Vacation Rentals
Holiday Cabins
Hotels
Hotel Supplies
Resorts
Restaurants
Reviews and Guides

If there are any suggestions for more Travel Accommodation subcategories please make them whilst submitting or let me know in here. Travel is one of the largest of categories listed in directories and so categorising the listings correctly and efficiently is important. Accomodation is the bulk of these listings and whilst many holiday lodgings might be suitably place in more than one of these subcategories, it can break up those that are dedicated to one type of lodging only.

It’s taken a long time but Quicksilver has finally made it to the 3000 mark. I did have 2500 sites listed very quickly but had to go back and remove the junk and that dropped the listings below 1500, as the scraper sites and other garbage were deleted from the database.

I have been extremely strict on which sites I have allowed into the list because I want the directory to reflect the good resources that are listed within it.

The next 3000 should come along much quicker as I have worked with Snowblind, the creator of the directory script that Quicksilver uses, to implement more powerful spam prevention and removal functionality within the script. The idea here is to make the script as simple for the administrator as possible. Too often submission simplicity is used as a scripts precept, whilst neglecting the administrator. Thus we are currently stuck with a vast array of directories on a multitude of different scripts who are forced to swtich to paid and reciprocal options in vain attempts to stop the spam.

In the latest version of SBD, mass removal of junk sites has been facilitated, through the use of MySQL queries in the admin panel. e.g. A simple search on “http://” in the description field produces several hundred listings for me, all of which are junk and can be removed with one click of a check all button then one click of a delete button. Alternatively you can check individually which sites you would like to remove. Very powerful if your queue is full of junk, and will save you an invaluable amount of time not having to go through and remove entries one-by-one.

The next step in this spam fighting phase is to prevent these sites from being accepted into the pending queues. IP address and email filtering is currently under development to allow identification and blocking of these unwanted sites. I expect these changes will give a new lease of life to this particular directory script and allow it’s current crop of users more time to build their valuable resources.

Just a quick note to directory owners seeking inclusion in the Info Vilesilencer: SEO Friendly Free Directory List. We are removing more directories than ever from the list that convert to pay for inclusion and reciprocal required. The list is for directories with unconditionally free options only, so please do not request inclusion unless you intend to offer that.

Directory owners should be aware of the following when they request inclusion to the list

1] Your directory will get a massive load of submissions to your free option from this list, so be prepared for that and set aside the time to administer your submission backlog/queue. If you do not honor the free queue then your directory will be removed from the list.

2] Your directory will be removed quickly if you turn to pay for inclusion or reciprocal required, as we scan the list almost daily. There is very little chance of you making a quick buck from turning to pay for inclusion right after you directory link is published on the list.

3] Your directory WILL NOT be immediately readded to the list if you change back from pay for inclusion or reciprocal required. If you are removed from the list, you will have to sit out one full update (a timeframe of 2 weeks – 1 month) before you will be reconsidered for inclusion again.

If those simple guidelines can be followed, your directory will benefit from being listed on the internet’s most recognised directories list, and the original one to showcase seo friendly directories.