I guess part of having a directory is dealing with directory submission software and those who relentlessly submit thrashy sites in hopes that they will be included.

Auto-submitters are like the stupid guy at the party who knows that 99% of the girls will deny his lame advances but there is always that 1% who might have had too much to drink. They know that if they submit sites to multiple directories a few will include them.

I will do the following:

1. Send a quick email requesting them to stop.
2. If they are referring traffic to a website as an affiliate I will contact the main site.
3. I will build a blacklist to share with anyone who would like to see it.

Example:

Shoesunited.com is submitting every shoe that they are marketing as an affiliate for Etwright.com to multiple categories. I would be glad to include them in the directory if they 1.) paid and 2.) only submitted one URL. I have emailed Shoesunited.com and he/she is ignoring my emails. I contacted Etwright.com and asked them to ask their affiliate to stop this activity. Last option is will be a blacklist.

I do not want to be forced to make this a 100% paid directory or hire someone to build the directory with sites I have determined worthy like ODP currently does.

I have added really simple image verification to the directory, looks like someone who was launching multiple spam sites from brazil was getting past my less strong verification process.

I will be forced to increase it’s strength and start a blacklist if this continues, it is no fun having to remove submission spam from my directory each morning.

There are webmasters looking to build an internet footprint for affiliate products (products that are not owned by the website owner). If these sites are found to be of good quality they will be included into this directory.

Here is an example:

I made a new category for cleaning products and Viki Trout submitted her link for Spot-X Stain Remover. She clearly states the following at the bottom of her affliate site.

“Spot-X is distributed by Big Time Products, LLC in Rome, GA. Click here to be directed to their website.” www.bigtimeproducts.net

If you check you can also find that she is selling blue crome restorer and if you follow the chain of links she is either marketing for herself of someone else multiple sites. This is also ok because the sites are different in theme and all link to each other in a downward chain.

Anyhow, Viki clearly lets her website visitors and us know what her website is all about in an honest way so I included her Spot-X remover site in this directory and didn’t even have to change her keywords and description, good work Viki!

There is a quick way to determine a sites history with backlink checking. If we do a check and find your site links to and from many low quality link neighborhoods you will not be included in this directory.

How do you find out who links to your site?

Go to Yahoo and type in -asdfasd292sdf link:http://environmental-dir.com/ in the search area. If you find all kinds of spam sites linking to you it is not always your fault. We take this into consideration.

There is nothing wrong with submitting your site to directories and other places of higher quality. Website require a few links from other domains to do well in search engines but too many links to a site that is only a few days old can show an intent to game the system.

If you are a new website owner a single link in this directory might be all you need.