Site Review Blog

Can you remember the last time you moved house? Well I can.  One of the things I needed to do was to pack up some stuff and store it for a couple of months before the move.  I did the usual thing of finding a phone book and looking for a Storage place.  After several phonecalls, I finally found one that suited my needs.

Well, It doesn’t have to be that hard when you are next looking for somewhere to store your stuff.  The Self Storage directory is much easier and far more convenient.  This is a very comprehensive directory that makes finding storage a breeze!  The best part about it is that once you have narrowed down the list you can request a quote directly from the site.  Forget about spending the day on the telephone, just a few clicks and the storage company will contact you with everything you need.

The Directory is organised in such a way that it makes it really easy to find what you want - you can search on City and state, Zip code or even just browse the directory.  Don’t think that the directory is just limited to the US - they even have a heap of International entries as well (great if you are moving overseas).  The site is easy to navigate and easy to use.

Visit www.moving.bz

Every time that I decide to move house the first thing I do is to go and find out how much I can borrow and how much my current home is worth.  It is always frustrating trying to work out what the best deal is for your loan.  Getting a valuation is the easy step, but finding somewhere to get a mortgage can be quite difficult and time-consuming.  This is where a mortgage broker can help you.

By identifying how much you can borrow it makes the whole process easy.  I just wish that before I got a home loan that I had done more research on the matter and better understood the types of loans such as fixed and variable interest loans.  I have spent a bit of time looking over the home loan articles and from my experience they offer some good practical information that will help you get your own loan sorted out.

The website is well laid out and has a lot of useful articles, up-to-date interest rate information and calculators.  What I liked most was the State and city directory of Mortgage Brokers.  You can browse the Directory by state and then City to find someone close to you.  If you prefer not to do all the hard work, you can use their online form - simply fill it in and they will put you in touch with potential lenders.

Visit www.personalhomeloanmortgages.com

All Webmasters know how time-consuming it can be to build links to their websites.  You can go out and submit your site to directories, write articles and post them to Article sites or request a link exchange with other sites.  Well, part of this might just get a bit easier if you look at what Free Text Link Ads has to offer.  You just sign up, create Your ad, and then insert a small amount of code on your site.  Now, you will display links (free text ads) for other sites, and other sites will display your Ads.

Now, you may ask how this differs from any other link trade.  Well it differs in a couple of ways.  Every time you display an ad, you earn credits, and every time your ads are displayed, you “pay” with already earned credits.  You never have to worry if you are getting a good trade, as the credit system levels the playing field and ensures that your linking partners are in fact partners. They have a good FAQ that explains all of the details of how it works.

Additionally, while you are there, you can submit your site to their Directory.  All submissions are paid, and I am guessing that the money they recieve from the submissions helps keep the Free Text link Ads part of the website all going.  I know that I am going to sign up with some of my sites and see how it goes.

Visit www.freetextlinkads.com

When we were asked to check out jtrotta web directory, the initial thought was, yes, another directory so what.  But we did go and have a look.  Unique header, Check. Good looking template, Check. A reasonably broad range of categories and sub-categories, Check.  Well, it all looked ok at this point, but now we wanted to see if this directory had a unique selling point.  Guess what? We found not only 1 but at least 3 unique things that jtrotta.com web Directory has that we have not seen in other directories. 

Well the first thing that was a pleasant surprise was that there were not adverts plastered all over the site. Yes, not 1 advert was to be found on any page of the whole site to distract you from browsing the directory.  The next thing was that there was not a whole bunch of links in the footer of every page.  At this point, we thought wow! these guys have got it right! they are interested in looking out for the web surfer who just wants to browse and maybe find an interesting site or 2. 

Now, the biggie - While we appreciate that in order for a site like this to survive, that they would need to charge for listings. They have what we consider to be a fairly unique approach for their listings.  Firstly, they have a tiered pricing for listings - so the deeper the link from the homepage, the cheaper it is for a listing. The most interesting one is the payment model - you submit your site for free, and only whne your site has been reviewed and your listing approved do you pay.  You actually get to see your site listing in the directory before you pay, and if you are not completely satisifed with where it is, or what the listing looks like, you can choose not to pay and your listing will expire. 

 Do you run a lot of websites and want to include them all in this directory? well, if you do, they even have a free submission service.  You just need to tell them your site URL, main keyword and they will even write a description and put your site into the most appropriate category.  Not a bad value added service wouldn’t you say.

The biggest categories in this directory are the Sports sites, travel sites and Arts and Entertainment.

Visit www.jtrotta.com

Directory Spy is a blog that is written for people who run a directory.  The posts on it are quite informative and even educational about the whole web directory scene. The site uses a good looking template and it is quite easy to read.  The Writers style tells you that they know a thing or 2 about the subject.

With regular posts - at least  one a week and sometimes 2 or more a day, if you run a directory, or even if you do directory submissions you will find some good, up to date info on all things directory. With posts on topics such as new phpLD templates, hints on doing directory submissions and Directory Categories, anyone who owns and runs a directory will get something from this blog. Don’t just read the blog entries or you will miss some of the good resources this site has to offer - take a peek at the Directory Lists as well.

I was asked to do a review of the site and ended up spending nearly an hour reading back on all the old posts - as someone who does own a couple of small niche directories, I really appreciated the content of this blog, I will visit this one often myself.

Visit www.directoryspy.com

Seekzap is a general-purpose web directory with a broad range of categories from Arts to World.  The Directory is built using the popular phpLD Software.  The Main navigation is a series of rightly coloured buttons just below the top logo and just abouve the Green Search Banner.

Unlike most directores, they have incorported site News, Hot Links and  New Links on the front page.  The Hotlinks are based on popularity - The most popular sites within the directory not only get a regular listing, but appear on the front page as well.

The Listings within each category are presented in order from the most to least popular.  So, every time someone visits a site, it is also a vote on the popularity.  This is a nice change to see this in a directory, as most simply order the listings based on PAgeRank.

There is over 1000 entries in the seekzap directory across all the categories so everyone should be able to find a few sites of interest.  To get a listing in this directory the owners charge a small fee.  The fee ensures that the directory maintains the highest standard of submitted sites - the Sites that are just ads tend not to pay for submissions.

The process to get a listing within the directory is pretty simple, just navigate to the correct category for your site and select submit.  Fill in the form, make your payment and your site will be listed.

 Visit http://www.seekzap.com/

Aviva directory is a general directory - meaning that it has a broad range of categories.  From Arts to Travel and everything in between.  The entries in the directory are of high quality sites only.  The directory owner has ensured that the directory is clean and par tof the strategy is by charging a fee for inclusion ensures that only quality sites will apply for a listing.

 What sets Aviva apart from other directories is the additional resources and information that is provided. The information about Strongest Directories alone is worth reading.  The Strongest directories gives some information about what makes a good, strong directory.  There is even a little bit of good info about how this is derived.  Aviva goes even further, by providing a list of other directories sorted by “Page Strength” from 10 down to 1.  They are not afraid to show the relative strenght of their own directory in the list as well - it comes in at page strength 5.

If you cannot find what you are looking for in the Directory, then you might just find something in their Trivia Blog.  For the Trivia buff, there is probably something here that will help you at the next trivia night!

The Site itself appears to be using the well-respected PHPLD software.  The site has an Olive and dark grey colour scheme that is surprisingly easy to read with a custom header.  A 2-column layout that has reasonably large text is easy to browse thru the categories and sub-categories.

Visit www.avivadirectory.com