I just wanted to post a quick drive by to again re-enforce my submission requirements even while I am looking through the latest email from a submitter questioning why their blog was rejected. This latest question, in between insults in regards to members of my family, was from someone who couldn’t believe that his/her pride and joy wasn’t up to the standards I set for free inclusion on my site, by the way did I say it was my site and that it was free?

The site in question might have been a decent site. It had a few months of continuous posting history, had almost 400 pages indexed in Google, and was a PR3. The submission included a decent, non-spammy title and an OK 3 or 4 sentence description and was even submitted to the most appropriate category. Everything sounds great so far right? Well one look at the site and every bit of good was wiped out. On the front page alone I counted 17 different and distinct ad blocks including 4 that appeared even before the first word of real content.

Now I will concede that a webmaster is free to put as much advertising as they want on their sites as long as these same webmasters also concede that a visitor is free to click away from a site if they find the advertising to be too much. Considering when I review a site I do so from a visitors standpoint, there is a point where the advertising gets in the way. The site in the example above I will admit is an extreme example of that but be advised there is a point where it is too much. With that said I am including what I consider to be obtrusive advertising which will automatically get your site rejected.

- Pop ups of any kind and in my continuing effort to be fair, pop unders are a no no as well.
- Large ad blocks placed before any content. I don’t have an issue with it placed within the content as long as it doesn’t interfere with the reading of said content but when the only thing that I see when opening a blog is a huge 336X280 or larger ad block, forget it.
- More space dedicated to ad blocks than to real content.
- A blog dedicated strictly to driving traffic through affiliate links.

Of course this isn’t an all inclusive list and the final decision will be based on my opinion of whether a particular site meets the submission requirements to be listed, but it should serve as a good starting point. Oh and did I say it was my site and that it was free?

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I just had to drop another quick comment about a submission I received today. As you might imagine I get a lot of weird, funny, and often times ridiculous sites submitted that somehow expect to make the cut for inclusion in the directory. Each morning I weed through the obvious MFA (made for adsense) sites, the sites that somehow missed the fact that this is a blog only directory, and those that think keyword spamming will somehow endear them to me.

Then you have sites like I had this morning.

Now I am not going to discuss the merits of hiring an SEO firm to help you get better search engine placement, that is your personal choice. What I am going to comment on though is the SEO tactics used by this SEO blogger.

I have been running websites in one form or another since 2000. And while I am in no way an expert on search engine optimization, I do know enough to understand a few basic techniques that almost all reputable SEO firms agree on. If you choose to use directories as part of your SEO and marketing campaign, make sure your submissions use relevant titles and descriptions. Looking at the submission above, would you even consider going to this individual’s site for SEO tips?

This submission gives me another opportunity to harp on those that submit here and any other directory for that matter. Most directories worth submitting to give you space for a nice 2-3 keyword rich (but not spammy) title and several hundred characters to use to describe your site/blog. Use them!

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