Sep
7
I like to think of links as a kind of web currency. We all need to accumulate as many high quality, relevant links as we can and one of the best ways to do that is by submitting your blog or website to as many web directories as you can find. Well, today we are going to take a look at a new blog directory from the folks over at Alive Web Directory.
URL
http://www.alivedirectory.com/Blog-Directory/
About
Alive Web Directory is an established, well respected web directory that has been around since 2005. The directory is human edited and claims to list only quality, spam free, family friendly sites which are organized into easily recognized categories. While it is a well established resource and covers a very wide range of topics, the blogging section is a new addition and appears to have very few listings.
Pros
With the number of blogs growing by the minute it was inevitable that blog directories would follow but the Alive Blog Directory seems to have a few advantages:
- Design: The design is simple, clean and very attractive.
- Well Established: The main directory has been in existence since 2005 and that’s like an eternity in Internet years.
- High PageRank: The main index page is PR6 and the internal pages for the main directory are high as well so you would expect the blog directory to eventually have a decent PR.
- Usability: The interface is simple and very straight-forward so submitting your blog or website is quick and easy.
- Listing Options: There are a number of options you can select from when submitting your blog. Prices range from $29.95 per year for a Regular Listing all the way up to $224.95 for a Permanent Listing.
Cons
There’s a lot to like but I felt I should mention a couple of things here:
- Pricing: There is no free listing option and while the $29.95 minimum price may not seem like a lot of money I think it is more than the average blogger will be able to afford.
- Payment Options: PayPal seems to be the only accepted form of payment. While that’s not terrible, some people cannot or will not use PayPal.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Alive Web Directory is well established and seems to have decent traffic while the blog directory is new but has excellent potential. It will be interesting to see if the average blogger feels that the $29.95 price tag is a worthy investment or if that money would be better spent elsewhere.
Note: The preceding post was sponsored by Alive Blog Directory.
I’ve seen them reviewed somewhere else recently, too. I just can’t put my finger on it.
I wouldn’t pay that to have my blog listed. Blog directories would do better to be free and make their money from ads. Just my thoughts.
I agree, That being said I run a paid blog directory as well but I am considering moving it to free. The major issue with free ones is the time it takes to review all the listings. If you just accept blindly and don’t modify the descriptions it turns your directory into a link farm which is of no value. Another thing unique to blogs is the inactivity factor. I come to visit blogs so I can read good content and more of it. If the blog is left dead it stinks. I just recently had an ex DMOZ editor clear through mine, 1/3 of my blogs were inactive! I guess free could be done but you’d need some volunteers I guess. Either way great thought I have been entertaining it for quite some time.
I see your directory as a better value. You’re offering a high PR link for less than $10. That’s a very good deal in my opinion.
I can also see how running a directory would be a lot of work. And it needs to be monetized in some way to make it worthwhile so I understand your dilemma. But I don’t know what the answer is.
Unfortunately, inactive blogs are a fact of life these days and I can see how that would be very difficult for a blog directory to deal with. In order to keep your directory updated you would have to visit each blog regularly and you’re right, that would take volunteers.
Paid listings are going to have more motivation behind them. Fees are often nominal. And often, you get what you pay for. That’s just my input. For what it’s worth…
i will give it a try later thanks!
they are putting some big dollars into advertising that directory site!
Darin
Proper advertising can often make all of the difference. You can promote a site without putting out the cash, but not as well or as quickly.
Waw, that’s too expensive… I cannot afford that much money for that…
This actually reminds me of sites that you can buy off of ebay with a high PR….
Personally I would submit if I didn’t already have a permanent featured listing in the Alive Directory which is basically the directory with out the blog sub folder. FWIW that directory is arguably the most heavily promoted private directory on the net and also one of the strongest. Last I checked it had 1,000,000 or 2,000,000 backinks
I do agree though that the average blogger does it as a hobby / passion and therefor won’t be willing to fork out the big bucks. It is different with commercial websites as most of the owners realize you have to give alittle $ to get alittle $ in this world.
Either way great review and a great directory. I”m very happy to be listed there.
I may submit PureBlogging, I just haven’t made up my mind yet.
I might have been a little hard on the price but it could take the average blogger several months to make $30. And you’re right, for a commercial website or blog that would be different. I own a commercial website and several affiliate marketing websites that I buy links for all the time… it’s just part of the cost of doing business.
I think it is an excellent resource but I feel the pricing will exclude many bloggers… but that may not be a bad thing in the long run.
The cost is very expensive and out of my reach
Thanks for the review David, I’ll keep it in mind for future, but wouldn’t be paying that fee right now.
I think they need to be more open about the traffic they are receiving to the directory - I for one wouldn’t pay to submit my blog unless I was confident it would send me lots of direct traffic.
- Martin Reed
thats true, its more money than id be willing to pay
I’d rather spend my money somewhere else.
I totally agree with you, but I will rather spend in something to myself than in advertising.
It is a good directory. I have used it for ecommerce clients that have large link building budgets, because it does have lots of subcategory pages that are not only cached, but have page rank. For example, the first 5 pages of the real estate subcategory are cached with PR2. 6th is cached but no page rank, 7-9 are not cached.
If you have a PR 4 Real estate site you can submit and be on a page that is both cached and has PR. TipVisit your site several times and it will move up the page within the sites that have the same PR because Alive then sorts by Hits.
I think they would benefit more to offer a free listing and a paid listing.
I’ve always wondered if these directory listings helped at all.
I am always with the “free” things. I will never pay a penny to get listed in a directory even in Yahoo! I prefer natural linking
No free option = no win
I’d rather put the $30 towards something that will give me perm links. Maybe a contest
There seem to be so many directories appearing for blogs these days - how do we decide which ones are worth submitting to?
The blog directories really need to differentiate themselves if they want our attention.
- Martin Reed
i have noticed recent changes in my PR rankings and have talked about it on http://www.googlebugs.com, i have noticed that my results are going up and down cant figure it out but the updates are now happening after 6 months and should be done by the end of the month
thank
aks