Info Vilesilencer Directory Owners Forum and Free Directory List » SEO Friendly Directories » Directory Discussion & Questions

[delstu]

Do you reject submissions which use a free email service? Do the majority of directories?

My sites currently only accept email from addresses which have made first contact through my contact form (with Captcha) and then only if I have made a reply.

[Watchdog]

I plan on relaunching a directory by this time next year. I will probably require an e-mail address from the submitter plus the e-mail from the website owner. The submitter will have to submit from a non-Hotmail/Gmail/Yahoo account and the website owner's address will have to come from the domain the website is on. It may sound a bit stiff but it all comes down to one thing - how badly they want to be included.

[Dan]

If you wanted to be a lot stricter you could require a domain-specific email address.

Be mindful that many people don't want to submit with a domain-specific email because directories end up spamming them. Directories cannot require a domain-specific email then turn around and start launching email campaigns on people. This is why it is a turn off for the submitter.

Also, if you require a domain-specific email then you reduce your numbers of legitimate submitters (along with the spammers).

On the forum here recently I banned yahoo, gmail and hotmail accounts from registering. Within a week I had half a dozen people email me asking why they were unable to register. That's legitimate users being blocked. On the flip side there was ZERO spam after I did that. So unfortunately, whilst I do hate that we have spammers on here everyday, I have to live with it because I cannot block the free email addresses from registering.

Bottom line is the choice is yours. Most directories allow free email addresses like hotmail/yahoo/gmail, but by doing so they also allow a lot more spam.

[BobP]

The quality of the listing should be the determining factor, not the quality of the submitter. Supposedly anyone can submit any site to a directory, not just the site's owner. If you know of a quality site that should be listed here, please submit it, you don't have to own it. BobP

[CReed]

Originally Posted by delstu

Do you reject submissions which use a free email service? Do the majority of directories?

I don't as there are a number of reasons why a submitter may use a free email service. Those who provide services to others may use a separate account to track submissions/rejections/approvals for clients, some may use a free email address as a result of a previous bad experience (I know I've had a few).

If I ran a free directory, I would consider a submission based on the quality of the site and it's content as opposed to the submitters email address.

Some are using email verification to cut down on spam, this might be an option that would allow you to accept any email address.

[Watchdog]

BobP, it all depends on how much time you have. Whilst it may well be beneficial to accept a great site, no matter what, if that great site is still submitted in the wrong way then the administrator or his staff then has to spend time fixing things up and things like spelling, grammar and punctuation are very important but often overlooked because some people, perhaps a lot of people, see the Internet as a place to leave some or all of the above out or simply ignore the rules of the directory the site is being submitted to.

In cases like this, it would be down to the directory owner to decide if a site is worth spending time on. With all this in mind the quality of a submitter would be just as important as the site being submitted.

CReed, "Some are using email verification to cut down on spam, this might be an option that would allow you to accept any email address."

That doesn't always work. Forms are spammed constantly regardless of whether the host site requires verification or not. Initial auto-submitted spam is just as annoying as any spam that follows up.

[Poirot]

There are quite a few legitimate business owners who do use an email address from their ISP, either because they do not know how to set up a domain specific email, or their hosting does not include email. It would be wrong to ban these people from getting a link from a proper directory, I'd say.

[CReed]

Originally Posted by Watchdog

CReed, "Some are using email verification to cut down on spam, this might be an option that would allow you to accept any email address."

That doesn't always work. Forms are spammed constantly regardless of whether the host site requires verification or not. Initial auto-submitted spam is just as annoying as any spam that follows up.

From what I understand the submission is not added to the queue until the email address is verified (within a preset time limit). If it is not verified it is auto deleted and you never have to deal with it.

[Watchdog]

Poirot, they should be using a host that provides better value for money. All the web hosts I've used in the past haven't had any problems setting up e-mail accounts and none of them have been expensive. Those that set up e-mail also provide simple instructions on how to use their webmail access plus how to set up Outlook.

[Poirot]

Originally Posted by Watchdog

Poirot, they should be using a host that provides better value for money. All the web hosts I've used in the past haven't had any problems setting up e-mail accounts and none of them have been expensive. Those that set up e-mail also provide simple instructions on how to use their webmail access plus how to set up Outlook.

I don't agree at all, but I am talking about owners of a bed and breakfast for example, who barely understand the internet, let alone email. They do not even realise they can have a domain specific email. Once some designer has finished their site 6 years ago, it has not been touched, since then they lost the password, don't really know who's hosting it etc, although their site is still relevant and worthy of adding to a good directory.
But it all depends on your directory as well, if you have a directory that only lists website hosting companies for example then it would be very reasonable only to accept submissions from domain specific emails.

Cheers