Archive for March, 2007

OrangeView - Another Elegant Free WP Theme

Wednesday, March 28th, 2007

Orange View exactly dignifies its name, this theme is specified with a very peculiar color combination of Orange and brown, which appear very simple, neat and eye catching. It has been designed very simply yet looks very different. This theme has been sponsored by Elegant Directory and AllinfoDir Web Directory.

Orange View

Detail Downloading Information:

Template Name: Orange View

Sponsored By: Elegant Directory and AllinfoDir Web Directory

Live Demo: Linkrain Articles

Download Links: Download Orange View

Divine Blue Wordpress theme for WordPress 2.0 series

Wednesday, March 21st, 2007

When we talk about Blogs or Articles the first thing that appears in our mind is an awesome theme for your Blog or site, therefore here is a new release for WP theme from our Network Sites named as Divine Blue, which undoubtedly gives a Powerful feel of Divine and Purity. Having a nice background of white with an attracting color combination of White and Blue the template is perfectly Divine Blue.

Divine Blue

Detail Downloading Information:

Template Name: Divine Blue

Sponsored By: Elegant Directory and AllinfoDir Web Directory

Live Demo: AllinfoDir Themes

Download Links: Download Template for WP 2.0 series

Divine Blue Word Press theme is free to use as long as the footer (sponsored by) links are intact.

Best Directories on the Web

Tuesday, March 20th, 2007

All things are not created equal. This goes for everything from what you had for lunch today to internet directories. Some directories are good for a few links and a bit of occasional traffic, but others are a relative powerhouse. The best directories on the internet can lend a powerful punch to a website, especially in light of search engine optimization and generated traffic.

Directories of Directories
In fact, in recent years directories have become so popular and useful that they are now being organized into their own directories and lists. A directory of directories lists everything from the heavyweights to the up and coming. All directories have merit if used the right way, but many internet professionals see a greater value in the big names - and with good reason.

Search engines recognize directory listings as slightly less valuable as direct links back imbedded through keyword in website content. But, not all directory links are weighted the same. Some directories, such as DMOZ.com have additional value than directories that are not recognized industry wide. In short, DMOZ is better. The same can be said for many others.

Get Listed!
To become listed in the best directories, there is often a price to pay. Sometimes there is a literal dollar figure attached to a listing, and other times there are long waits and many approval processes. These directories have a great reputation for a reason. To allow unscreened and unverified websites through would be severely detrimental to the overall credentials of the site, thus the care.

However, jumping through a few proverbial hoops and shelling out a few extra dollars is well worth it to many webmasters. Listing a website through one of two of the top directories is worth more in SEO value than being listed in twenty small directories. (Although the small directories never hurt.)

The Best Directories
At the moment, the top directories for submissions include the following:

• www.dmoz.org
• dir.yahoo.com
• www.lii.org
• www.stpt.com/directory/
• www.business.com
• www.alivedirectory.com
• www.avivadirectory.com
• www.elegantdirectory.com

and more.

You would do exceedingly well to submit your website to one or all of these as budget and resources allow. An added bonus of submitting to such well-known directories is that by meeting the criteria for these directories, your website will be fine-tuned to meet almost any standards. Designing for the top results often yields just that – top results.

Clean Green phpLD Template for 2.1, 3.06 and 3.1

Monday, March 19th, 2007

As the name suggest Clean Green same the template depicts, it is indeed stylish and having delicacy in all senses.

Clean Green

Template Name: Clean Green

phpLD Versions: 2.1, 3.0 and 3.1

Sponsored By: Alive Web Directory and Ally Directory

Designed By: PHPLD Templates

Live Demo: Delux Directory

Download Links:

Download Template For: phpLD Version 2.1, 3.0 and 3.1

Terms: The Clean Green phpLD template is free to use as long as the footer links to both the sponsors Alive Web Directory and Ally Business Directory remains intact. You are not allowed to remove the footer links whatsoever.

Improving Your Directory

Monday, March 19th, 2007

Throwing a few links on a website can technically be called a directory, but it’s not going to get big results. Certain things are crucial to a quality directory, and nobody will respond positively to a poor quality web directory. Why would they when there are so many better ones out there?

Design

The most basic concept in a good directory is starting with a high quality design. The design should scream competent professional, and all elements of the website should echo the same sentiment. Paid directories especially should make a potential patron feel comfortable and confident about doing business and paying you some of their hard-earned money.

To this end, consider the color scheme, layout, and content of a website. Directories should have adequate descriptions and all content including instructions, frequently asked questions and more should be completely free of errors and be consistent with other directories of the same quality standards.

Categories

Categories are what make a directory more than a list. By categorizing links to other sites or directories, you are making order from what could be chaos. Most individuals looking to list with directories want to feel important. If there are already fifty or sixty links in a category, they won’t feel very special in that niche. It is perhaps better to have too many categories than too few.

When your directory’s top categories begin to fill up, subdivide links into smaller categories within each parent. This not only makes your directory larger and more impressive, it also simplifies navigation and helps with niche marketing tremendously. After all, there are tons of niches within each niche on the internet. Why shouldn’t they be reflected in your directory as well?

Human-Edited

The final, and to some, most important aspect of building a better directory is to screen websites. If you place criteria on submitting a website to your directory, but fail to follow through on those criteria, what is the point of having them? Dead links, redirects, and inappropriate content will try to sneak into the site, and it is your responsibility to keep it all away to protect the integrity of your directory and maintain the quality that others have paid you to have.

Most paying customers won’t be happy if they had to follow guidelines to become listed only to suddenly find themselves in competition with websites that should not have slipped through. Try not to become blinded by potential income or set low standards so that categories fill. There is no point in filling your wallet or categories with junk; it will just hurt you in the long run.

The Benefits of Regional Directories

Saturday, March 17th, 2007

Sometimes what you want is only a few miles away. If you are searching for specific goods or service in your area, a regional directory is most likely the way to go. Just like you wouldn’t search the entire county for a local pizza place, it doesn’t make sense to search the globe for a certain type of online product. By searching listings within a limited region, you are able to find a better match for your needs.

Not So Global

Yes, the world is becoming smaller and people from all over the world are able to exist and share together online. This is wonderful, of course, except when you want to find someone local – especially if you’re looking for a company that also has a brick and mortar component. This is where regional directories come into play.

A quality regional directory allows you to search not only by category, but by city, country, region, or even zip code. This significantly narrows results and allows you to find what you are looking for more quickly than you could otherwise. Some things are great for a world-wide search, and others you want right in your own backyard.

How Regional Directories Work

Companies submit websites or ask to be listed in various regional directories. Some directories are specific to certain industries, and others are more like the phone book with many categories available in a variety of niches. Once a company is listed within a certain category and area, patrons can easily find that company by performing a basic search.

This specific style of listing may generate fewer hits and less traffic than listing globally in large directories, but the quality of the traffic received should be significantly better. An individual searching for freelancers in New Jersey will most likely click though and visit a website if they find a specific list. If that same individual started searching through large directories, it might take some lengthy searching before landing on an individual in the right country, much less the right state.

Any individual in a business that can be done locally should strongly consider being listed in regional directories. Not only will the links back be helpful for site optimization, but the likelihood of being discovered and useful by the right visitors is substantially higher in a regional directory than elsewhere.

Splendid Spell: Free phpLD Template for 2.0, 2.1, 3.06 and 3.1

Saturday, March 17th, 2007

Futuristic Artists announced another awesome free phpLD Template for all versions, after the success of DeepBlue, SilverLine, ForumBase, BrownEdge and lots of other free templates. This template is looking very elegant and exceptional in all aspects.

Splendid Spell

Template Name: Splendid Spell

phpLD Versions: 2.0, 2.1, 3.0 and 3.1

Sponsored By: Elegant Directory and AllinfoDir Web Directory

Designed By: Futuristic Artists

Live Demo: Above Directory - Free Website Directory

Download Links:

Download Template For: phpLD Version 2.0 - phpLD Version 2.1 - phpLD Version 3.06 - phpLD Version 3.1

SplendidSpell Template is free to use as long as the footer links are intact. Please view the readme.txt file inside the template pack for all details and support. Editable logo file is included in the packs too.

Note: This template is best viewable with 2 columns on main page.

The Power of Directory Submission Services

Saturday, March 17th, 2007

Most webmasters know submitting a website to the proper directories can be a huge asset to optimizing and developing a website. If you are one of the few who didn’t know, you certainly do know now. Many webmasters are busy developing websites and working hard on other aspects of search engine optimization. They simply don’t have the time or energy it takes to properly submit a website to the relevant directories, and even if they did have a bit of time and inclination, they can never hit as many directories as a professional. There are just too many out there.

Directory Submission Services

Many individuals and companies offer submission services to directories. They take your URL and description and manually submit it to countless directories and search engines. Many of these same companies and individuals offer reciprocal link finding services and other helpful SEO practices. The trick is finding the right company for your needs.

Anyone can claim to offer directory submission services, but many are amateurs and less professional than existing companies with years of experience. An individual who has worked at submissions for years has established relationships and tricks of the trade to make sure his or her service is well worth the price.

Sure, you can pay someone a few bucks to list your website a few places, but for high quality service, you may want to consider paying a little bit more. Individuals who specialize in directory submissions aren’t willing to share their knowledge and specialty with just anyone for some spare change. These individuals have usually been in business for a long while and know the ropes.

First Step in SEO

Submissions are often the first step in search engine optimization once a website is complete. Of course a webmaster has already worked in highly relevant keywords and content, but when it’s time to get the ball rolling on gaining PR and traffic, directory submissions are often the very first step.

As it is an area that requires some time, research and knowledge, many webmasters feel more comfortable asking a service to handle this aspect while they focus on other aspects of link building and page rank. Webmasters are busy, and they need all the professional help they can afford to make a website profitable and highly developed. Directory submission services are one of the easiest ways to do exactly that.

Free Web Directory - Working with Web Directories as a Tool for Site Promotion

Friday, March 9th, 2007

It is every webmaster’s dream to see their website ranked at the very top or at least see it in the first few results of major search engines. This can be a daunting task because not only does it require an input of time and patience but also could be make a hole in the pocket. So it becomes very important to choose the correct medium to enhance their website promotion techniques to avoid being lost in the virtual world. A web directory is an excellent tool to achieve this end. There are many web directories on the Net which will list your site and the main purpose that will be achieved will be that you will be promoting your website by gaining an inbound link. Directories are also well categorized which will increase the flow of traffic that will be adding to the search engine ratings. This will further up your site’s search engine status quo and you will be able to gain many back links. These things are easier said than done and this is a strategy that works best in the long run. And it need not necessarily be a costly affair at all because you will find many popular web directories do have a free link option or even allow reciprocal linking.

Free web directories could take a little more time to include your link as compared to a premium listing and this is understandable as the directory could be human edited and offered for free but they will still do the same work for you. So it is necessary to cultivate patience and it will be a good idea to maintain a list of the directories you have submitted to with all their details. You could categorize the file according to the free directories you have applied to, the current status of your site whether pending or added and any other additional details. Also make sure when submitting to directories you have a short write-up describing your site, products keeping in mind the keywords that get search engine hits. If you are including your site in multiple categories then make sure you include keywords for each category you will be adding your site to.

Ablaze Directory - Free Website Directory is a great free, human edited web directory that lists sites and can get you some great free link publicity. When this article was written there were 21 categories and 956 subcategories by which the directory is arranged and they are constantly adding more sites to their bank of over 400 and counting. There are also premium listings available that appear on the main page with thumbnail previews to let your visitors get a taste of what’s in store. And there are additional listings for a site blog updated often and top sites and new sites so even when your site is newly accepted into the directory there is an opportunity for it to be publicized and with time and traffic you will surely be shifted to the top sites category.

ForumBase.org – The Growing Market of Internet Forums

Tuesday, March 6th, 2007

Today there are a multitude of online forums, these are interactive and tend to be more user based and dynamic with accordance to the trends on the internet and the world in general. You can find a forum for anything at all, from support groups to graphics there will be a community of like-minded individuals that you will enjoy being a part of. And it’s a great networking tool and gives the opportunity for different people from all parts of the world to voice their opinions and showcase their talents. In short the growing popularity of forums ensures that they are high traffic sites. Thus you will also notice that some popular forums have amazing page ranks on Google.

Forums are also an excellent way to multiple your money or promote your business. One of the easiest methods of promotion is adding a custom signature to your posts. This is an option that almost all forums will give you; you can add a small signature that automatically gets generated each time you post so adding your URL or any other details. On a high traffic forum your post and signature will be read by all the people visiting the forum so it is easy to do the math about the kind of link popularity you can achieve just by this simple task. Another way of getting free advertisement is just being a regular poster and having a completed profile so that people who read your posts and want to know more about you could view your profile and visit your site or contact you as may be the case. Also getting a feel of the market is also easily done in a forum where you could ask for an opinion on a certain product to know how people think and even use the ideas to generate a new, much-needed product. Asking questions, getting guidance and learning from other’s experiences are all part of forum involvement. And selling affiliate products and sponsored ads are also bonus money makers.

Now that we have seen the important role that forums play in the internet community maybe you’d like to join a forum to further your business. There are zillions of forums out there but a smart player knows the importance of getting on forums that have significance and searching for high traffic and relevant forums has never been easier thanks to this directory that indexes all the major forums. You can visit ForumBase.org Forum Directory for a complete listing of internet forums and all the forum resources you could possible need by keyword relevance. There are various options you can get to list your forum if you are a forum owner and they do offer a free option which only needs a reciprocal link in return. All forums are well categorized for easy location; you will also find a list of the latest additions and the top forums all with preview thumbnails.

Listing your forum here will not only get your forum more hits and more members but also increase the chances of gaining more ads and initiates you to the large potential market in forums.