Blog Directories – Can We Live Without Them?

Does anyone out there know of a single blog directory worth having their badge on your site? A directory that you actually get traffic from? Of all the blog directories I’ve joined over the years I can only find one back link (that Google knows about) to this blog. That directory is New-List. I joined New-List in September of 2006 and I can’t see any way to edit that outdated URL. I virtually get no traffic from blog directories – ZERO! I have removed every badge and widget from this site with the exception of Blog Engage. Blog Engage isn’t really a blog directory, it’s more of a blog article review site. It’s very cool, check it out.

BlogCatalog:
BlogCatalog is what set me off on this rant so it’s going to seem like a ‘pick on BlogCatalog post‘. My BlogCatalog concerns started a year ago when I spent $72 on two ads. The results? Total visitors = 7 :cry:

Then a few months ago I was having problem with my blog freezing up whenever I went to it – and I have broadband internet and my site is cached! I could see the browser message on the bottom showing, “Waiting for BlogCatalog.com“. I had to remove the widget and put their silly code in the footer.

No big deal,  I figured, at least they still have that broadcast feature. That’s a very cool tool, right? You would think, until you ran a couple tests.

August 25th, 2009 I sent a message broadcasting to 381 BlogCatalog users promoting my blog post ‘Get Featured With Our Promotional Buttons‘. I used my tracking site to create a tracking link. The result? Zero clicks!

October 17th, 2009 I sent a message broadcasting to 385 BlogCatalog users with a fantastic subject line, ‘AdSense Site – First Month = One Hundred Dollars‘. Tracking result? One click!

I’ve been a BlogCatalog member since November 2006 and even wrote a blog post on how great blog directories are a while back. Now I think it’s time to part ways, just like Entrecard.

MyBlogLog:
While I’m at it, I’m going to get rid of MyBlogLog too. MyBlogLog has never been that great and even though they are run by Yahoo the site seems very unorganized to say the least. I’ve had thumbnails waiting to be updated for over a year – literally. Check it out.

I’m Not Alone:
I know I’m not the only one becoming discouraged with blog directories lately. See what Sheryl Loch had to say over a week ago: Has BlogCatalog Gone Down Hill? And check out what John Sullivan thinks about Blogcatalog. I love John and his subtle way of expressing himself lol Blogcatalog An open letter to you

Pulling Back To Ease The Pain:
I don’t mean to come off as blog directory basher. There may be some good ones out there. There may be hidden benefits with the ones I listed. Please let me know if I’ve missed something before I burn the bridges. I hold no grudge or ill will to any of these directories, it can’t be an easy task to run a profitable directory while staying on top of everything. Remember BlogRush? (BTW, how does BlogRush still have a Google PR of 4 when it’s been shut down for the last year? Hardly seems fair)

So I’ll ask it again…
Does anyone out their know of a single blog directory worth having their badge on your site? (feel free to leave links) Am I off base here? Are you making blog directories work for you?

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Brian D. Hawkins on October 21, 2009 | Filed Under Blogging, Featured Articles, Marketing Tips

48 Comments

Brian D. Hawkins  on October 21st, 2009

Sheryl just brought it to my attention that we had a conversation about this back in March on The Internet Marketer’s Guild. See: Is It A Fair Link Exchange?

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Hesham from zebida  on October 21st, 2009

Oh! I understand what you mean Brian, and i agree with you that there is a few blog directories that we should forget about them – generally speaking! – I am going to reduce my efforts and i will concentrate more on my blogs and submitting my articles on web forums!
Hesham @zebida´s last blog ..I am Buying Thesis Membership so Post your Affiliate Link on this Post My ComLuv Profile

[Reply]

Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
October 21st, 2009 at 10:44 pm

Hi Hesham, Yep, time and energy better spent elsewhere. I will admit, however, I find your blog posts all the time from Blogcatalog broadcasts like the one today.

But we get the same thing from RSS feeds.
Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog ..News Related AdSense Site – First Month = One Hundred Dollars My ComLuv Profile

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Hesham from zebida Reply:
October 21st, 2009 at 11:39 pm

Actually the blogcatalog bring me some traffic, try the general discussion forums! it’s the best place there if you follow up with the discussion or have something really interesting for people, like my post “How to get your password hacked by the government?” it has all its traffic from blogatalog because Google capture it somehow!
Hesham @zebida´s last blog ..I am Buying Thesis Membership so Post your Affiliate Link on this Post My ComLuv Profile

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Brian D. Hawkins  on October 22nd, 2009

Just a quick update on something about BlogCatalog. I just checked my ‘notifications’ under ‘account’ and I had every single notification checked. No wonder I’ve been irritated so much. I still think they’re a waste of time but until I decide what to do I unchecked most of these:

*Receive the latest BlogCatalog news (your e-mail address will not be sold/traded/spammed, etc.)
*Notify me when a message is posted to my shoutbox.
*Notify me when a review is posted to my blog listing.
*Notify me when someone adds me as a friend.
*Notify me when someone joins my blog neighborhood.
*Notify me when a new broadcast is received.
*Notify me when i am invited to join a group.
*Notify me of any Group Announcements.
Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog ..PageRank Distribution Removed From Webmaster Tools – Do You Care? My ComLuv Profile

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Sire  on October 23rd, 2009

I don’t get all that many hits from blog directories at all Brian. While on the subject, I remember you used to be a member of my Cool Blog Links directory, until I lost the database for some reason. Did you ever get any hits from there.

As for blog catalogue and such, I’m still a member but don’t have much to do with them. I’ve also removed their widgets as all it did was slow the site down.
Sire´s last blog ..The Horror Trip To Melbourne And Back My ComLuv Profile

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Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
October 24th, 2009 at 8:05 am

Hi Sire, truthfully I never checked the traffic from Cool Blog Links. I had it on my personal blog and I rarely look at the stats or logs there because I don’t worry too much about traffic on that blog.

It’s funny you brought that up because I just checked it out again a couple days ago. It’s looking pretty good. I use to like sneaking a peak at that Middle Eastern, Pakistani or Indian feet site (I can’t remember the Country) that dominated to top spot. I’m not into feet but there were some good looking ladies there.

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Sire Reply:
October 24th, 2009 at 8:42 am

Yeah, I left him a message when I lost all the data, but looks like he wasn’t interested anymore. Weird considering he had top spot and all.

No worries. I was just wondering if it sent you any traffic.

Still looking for a good spot for that photo.
Sire´s last blog ..$20 Million Dollar Halloween Superdraw My ComLuv Profile

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Extreme John  on October 25th, 2009

I like the idea of blog directories even though I really don’t take advantage if them at all. Do Follow blog directories are of course useful.
Extreme John´s last blog ..Best Tanning Salon in Florida My ComLuv Profile

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Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 5:36 am

You don’t need directory listing John, you get more traffic than most of them :) An Alexa of almost 33,000 Wow! Wasn’t it just a couple weeks ago you broke 50k?

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Dennis Edell  on October 27th, 2009

Hey Brian, sorry this is so OT. My apologies for being gone so long but my current post describes it a bit. I’m ready now to re-subscribe and get back into your awesome blog! Slowly at first until I get full swing again. :)

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Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 7:25 pm

Wow, Dennis. Man is it great to hear from you. I’m very glad you are getting around again. I’m going to your blog now.

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DiTesco  on October 27th, 2009

I’m with ExtremeJohn on this one. I like blog directories too and despite all the submissions I have made, believe it or not, the only one that brings me decent traffic is BlogCatalog. My tactic there was to create a group that everyone likes, in this case, “Traffic and Ranks”. It presently has about 2.ooo members and I left a sticky post in it. Every time I broadcast something I get good amount of visitors. Obviously I do not think that visitors coming form BC are that valuable, nevertheless they contribute to my AdSense earnings:)
DiTesco´s last blog ..What Does Google Know About You? My ComLuv Profile

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Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 7:42 pm

Hi DiTesco, That may be why I’m not getting any traffic from BlogCatalog, I’m probably not working it right. That might be a good post topic for you some time, ‘How to get the most out of probably’. Just an idea ;)

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Sheryl Loch  on October 28th, 2009

Hey guys!
Ya know, since I do not have a link on my profile at Blog Catalog – I of course get no traffic.

I do however have my link in a group there for b2evo blogs that has gotten me a couple of hits when I post about a new plug in I’m trying out. But, that group only has a few members. We now know each other and visit blogs without going through the group.

MyBlogLog – may get me a couple of hits IF I just go visit a million people, I get like 3 back. <- Not a good use of time!

I am seeing more hits from the Guild with only a couple of members than I do any directory. Even though the directories have 1,000's of members. I think those visitors actually come by way of the SE's then on to my blog.

Thing is, I can post a reply to a thread in a WAHM forum and get 10+ hits just from my sig line (if the thread is active).

I feel it all comes down to search ability, trust, and conversation.
The people in directories are mostly interested in traffic from you. They have no urge to visit others.

I am not grumpy today – ;)
Sheryl Loch´s last blog ..How To for TweetGlide My ComLuv Profile

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Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 7:56 pm

You got me thinking Sheryl, I think you may be onto something about it coming down to trust. I know this is a crazy notion but do you think there’s a chance some of those people don’t know who I am?

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Sheryl Loch Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 9:33 pm

Ummm…….NO!
Everyone knows you!

Ok, maybe not EVERYone but, that is there own fault for not paying attention.

What I mean is, most directories are so impersonal. So they only way to get much traffic from them is to work your butt off getting involved with enough good people to give others a chance to “know” you. That is hard on a huge site. heck, I couldn’t even find a place to start.

The other way is if the directory is searchable. Not only by their search buttons but by Google.

That puts you in the problem of making sure what text is picked up by the directory listing is good for the SE’s. (Could just be the post title or the meta description in your RSS). You have no way of going and making it unique if you find you need changes. Most all directories will be posting the same anchor text and exert. So, if you find that sucks, oh well, nothing you can do about it.

Now with BS, BL…IF a search engine does happen to pull up a listing for —-keyphrase in the SERP, the person searching would be sent to say BC where there maybe 10+ post all containing that keyphrase. Who knows which one a searcher will then go to. Or the searcher maybe overwhelmed and just click the back button and go to a more direct site that is not so confusing.

The more singled out your listing is anywhere the better chance you have at getting the click. People don’t want confusion/to many choices.

Do ya get the impression that I am not a fan of directories? At least not for traffic.
Sheryl Loch´s last blog ..How to Find Web Page Cache Date My ComLuv Profile

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Steve F.  on October 28th, 2009

I usually focus on follow directories. The links you get from plain old blog directories do not provide enough good results.

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Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 10:00 pm

I’m a big do-follow fan myself Steve.

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cnc  on October 29th, 2009

Brian, I can tell you “user’s” poin of view; smt I hate blogdirectories – there is nothing to read. If I’m looking for dofollow blogs after simple checking I see: nofollow.. Smtimes catalogs are nothing than simple wasting the time
cnc@cnc machinery

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Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 5:59 am

Try this one CNC, it’s a do-follow directory run by a friend of ours: DoFollow Blog Directory

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Internet Strategist from GrowMap  on October 29th, 2009

As usual I’m the contrarian here. Just as you’re pulling back from Blog Directories I just finished researching and prioritizing them so I can add every blog consistently.

One reason for that is the meteoric climb in traffic I see on Keller Hawthorne’s new sites. I will be publishing that list very soon if I can just quit spreading myself so thin.

Here are some reasons not to abandon ship just yet:

1) Even though links are theoretically “nofollow” they do affect your search engine ratings.

2) You get out of blog directory communities only what you put in. If we follow, review and promote other bloggers in them they will do the same and we WILL get visitors from them.

3) Are you sure you aren’t getting visitors from the blog directories? The visitors Blog Catalog and Blogged have sent me this month read far more posts than average, stay longer (over ten minutes) and bounced (left after viewing only one page) far less.

I added your friend’s DoFollow Blog Directory to my compilation of DoFollow Lists and Search Tools.

What we really need is for one of us to thoroughly search and compile a list of dofollow blogs sorted by PR and traffic and related to this niche.

Then share it with the rest of us so we can become – as ProBlogger put it – “blogging buddies”.
Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Best of GrowMap: Our Pillar Foundation Content My ComLuv Profile

[Reply]

Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 1:44 pm

Hi Internet Strategist, As usual you are the contrarian – making a lot of sense. I’m glad I posted about this issue, now I’m convinced to try and make them work with the comments so far.

I’m looking forward to your post on Keller Hawthorne. Like I mentioned to DiTesco above, how to make blog directories work might be a great blog post for those of you that are having success with them.

DoFollow Blog Directories are tough because blogs switch back and forth a lot. I don’t think anyone has a script right now that will automatically check the blog’s do-follow status. That would make a great script for someone to build. Another idea would be to start a new Wikipedia style do-follow blog directory where anyone can edit the site.

I have the domain if anyone wants to team up. I have Do-Follow.me that’s basically parked right now.
Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog ..Extreme Ezine – Social Edition | Nov’09 My ComLuv Profile

[Reply]

Ben Lang  on October 29th, 2009

Blog directories help so so much. The traffic boost is amazing!

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Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 1:46 pm

You must be working them right too Ben.
Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog ..Extreme Ezine – Social Edition | Nov’09 My ComLuv Profile

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John Sullivan  on November 9th, 2009

I really need to make some kind of grease monkey script or actually use some feed reader because I would of loved to catch this right off the press.I haven’t submitted my site to a directory in a while but saw some evidence Google lifted their directory BURN a little as I saw some good pr on one I was checking out. I’m weird I don’t promote someone signing up via RSS which is stupid and all these other traffic methods because ultimately I only want COOL people to come by and I think if you scan my comments section I have accomplished that, Yes I have a urge to bash Blogcatalog but ultimately like when a so called good friend burns you and you realize they DID NOT have your best interest at heart it comes a time for me to let it go :) I did include a link to when they really screwed bloggers with their toolbar including some screencast about the site :)
What’s weird is the economy has seemed to affected the amount of COOL advanced sites that have been coming out. When I started blogging I just had to google blogger communities to find new sites to write about they are for the most part gone now.
Karma is a mofo if you don’t look out for people it will come back to you I have seen it a 1000 times :) Hope all is well.
I let my own personal WIFE probs prevent me from getting around I didn’t know if I was coming or going there for a minute ;)
thanks stumbled from Blogger Bill LOL :)
John Sullivan´s last blog ..Blogging to a HIGHER level My ComLuv Profile

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Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
November 9th, 2009 at 7:46 am

Thanks John, telling it like it is as usual. You are a straight shooter for sure. I love that. I’m with you 100% about the Karma too.

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Paula from Affiliate Blog Online  on November 9th, 2009

I’ve tried just about all of them but never had much success. Just recently removed my BlogCatalog widget as it was also causing problems on my blog.
Paula from Affiliate Blog Online´s last blog ..How to Keep Blogging While You Travel My ComLuv Profile

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Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
November 9th, 2009 at 7:48 am

Hi Paula, welcome to the Extreme Ezine. Thanks for helping out Dennis too by the way, that was very cool.

I was going to delete my blog directory accounts but now I’m going to hold off from the advice in the comments. I have removed the widgets though.
Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog ..Interview With Toilets.com Founder Earl Braxton – The Don of Porta John® My ComLuv Profile

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Morten from Croatia Expert  on November 19th, 2009

Interesting post, I just visited my Blogcatalog profile last week, and got totally exited as it finally got some ranking, reason for getting exited was that I was 100% assuming that the profile page was dofollow, which I then later figured out it WAS not.

As you can imagine this pissed my off a bit, so as I saw headline on this post, I just had to read this. Anyway I spend some time this week evaluating and analysing if I actually need the blog directories or not.

My conclusion what that on my best ranked blogs I hardly get any traffic from them, reason for that seams to be that I rank higher then the blogcatalog on my main keywords, for the new blogs it is a different story here the directories brings me +10% of my traffic.

I although have to mention that I do not participate in any Blogcatalog forum like @hesham.

The top performing directory which I am currently signed up too, is one I use on my German page – it is called blogoscoop.net, on the blog page inside the directory they list up a bunch of pages which have similar tags as your blog, this seams to be driving the traffic.

Is there any similar working directory for English pages?

[Reply]

Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:36 am

Hi Morten, It sounds like we are in agreement. I checked out blogoscoop.net and it looks like they are do-follow.

Someone could probably start a site where they translate blog details and/or articles and submit them to blog/article directories in other languages. Just an idea.
Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog ..Interview With Toilets.com Founder Earl Braxton – The Don of Porta John® My ComLuv Profile

[Reply]

Morten from Croatia Expert  on November 23rd, 2009

Hi Brian, That is excellent idea, with the translation of articles, i already do it with some of the stuff i submit in article directories, i think especially in Europe there would be clients / a market for that.
Morten from Croatia Expert´s last blog ..Split Airport | Airport bus and transfer My ComLuv Profile

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Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 10:12 pm

No problem Morten, just sent ten percent off the top and we’ll call it even lol

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Valleri from Cleveland Insurance  on November 28th, 2009

Most directories send very little traffic, if any. I have sites listed in Yahoo Directory and DMOZ and get under 10 visitors from them in a year. I think its more about authority and a quality link back to your blog. Removing the badges opens up the possibility for added revenue from good advertisers.

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Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 10:13 pm

Exactly Valleri, especially with an over-crowded site like mine.

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Lochlomondo  on December 1st, 2009

I know i don’t like submitting to blog directories but we all need to do it from time to time if we want to stay ahead. Sad truth.
Lochlomondo´s last blog ..Tullie Inn Balloch My ComLuv Profile

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Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 10:14 pm

I’m not so sure of that Lochlomondo.

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Keith from SuperiorFenceProducts  on December 2nd, 2009

With my first blog, I went out and signed up for EVERY blog directory I could find, I had 20+ widgets in my sidebar and it looked like crap! I too realized that either I didn’t know how to properly use the directories, or they just weren’t worth my time.

With my new blog, I am going to try to concentrate on content (content is KING!), quality backlinks, keyword research, and internal link structure (something I feel was lacking in my last site). I am still building my site so have only written a few articles so far (but I did add the Do-Follow plugin for my comments) and will hopefully be adding a couple of articles per week.
Keith@SuperiorFenceProducts´s last blog ..Vinyl Privacy Fence Products My ComLuv Profile

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Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 10:16 pm

Great minds think a like Keith.
Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog ..Extreme Advertising By Reebok – Better Legs And A Better Butt With Every Step My ComLuv Profile

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Ruri from Free article directory  on December 3rd, 2009

I don’t get many visitors from blogcatalog.com as well. I am not sure, maybe I am not doing it right. Therefore, I use blogdirectory for only link building.
Ruri @ Free article directory´s last blog ..Marijuana Does Have Serious Side Effects My ComLuv Profile

[Reply]

Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 10:17 pm

To be fair Ruri, I probably don’t use them right either. I don’t really participate in the groups and discussions too much.
Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog ..Extreme Advertising By Reebok – Better Legs And A Better Butt With Every Step My ComLuv Profile

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Tess from SEO Content Writing  on December 9th, 2009

I can say that the only traffic I HAVE gotten from a blog directory was through BlogCatalog.Having said that, it isn’t enough traffic to even take notice of. I have to say, I think submitting is a waste of time as far as traffic goes. Thanks for sharing!

[Reply]

Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 10:19 pm

Hi Tess, it wouldn’t be bad if you didn’t have to maintain a link back to keep the inclusion.

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Jeunelle Foster  on December 13th, 2009

I couldn’t agree more, these blog directories have gone down hill for sure. I don’t even bother logging into any of them. A total waste of my time. Some even have people who know nothing about blogging who are just “newbie beginners” rating your blogs. Why do I need someone who’s just figuring out how to blog rate my site as if their rating counts for anything. RIDICULOUS.
Jeunelle Foster´s last blog ..Clicky My ComLuv Profile

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Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
December 20th, 2009 at 10:21 pm

It is pretty silly Jeunelle, and who has time to read that stuff anyway? It really does seem to be very one-sided for the directory site.
Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog ..Extreme Advertising By Reebok – Better Legs And A Better Butt With Every Step My ComLuv Profile

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PPO  on January 2nd, 2010

I wonder about blog directories and their longevity owing to the recent comment by yahoo that it will soon shut down mybloglog. Which blog directory next? Why Yahoo can not just donate the directory to a group of bloggers. Why should such a great online real estate to shut down
PPO´s last blog ..PPO Insurance and Plans and deductibles My ComLuv Profile

[Reply]

Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
January 2nd, 2010 at 7:32 pm

I agree PPO, it would be great if Yahoo would donate MyBlogLog. Yahoo has done a terrible job running it in my opinion.

At this point Yahoo is just a huge corporate machine. Thought or common sense no longer play a role. Several years ago I wanted to take over an abandoned Yahoo Group. I had thousands of member yet the admin hadn’t touched it in years. Sites like Yahoo and Google love to justify decisions based on better experience for searchers, visitors, and members yet they will let things fall apart before they hand something over.
Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog ..Website Magazine Is Free For Many Subscribers My ComLuv Profile

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Blog Tactic  on January 4th, 2010

My site do received traffic from BlogCatalog. The rest of blog directories only suck up your backlink juice.
Blog Tactic´s last blog ..Stellar Insights Into Your Career In 2010 – Pisces My ComLuv Profile

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