Avivadirectory why the drop?

[temi]

Maxseo reported that Aviva directory dropped from PR7 to PR6 at the overnight PR update, will any pundit care to shed light on why this supposedly strong directory lost a PR when it was widely suggested at some forums to be on to becoming PR8?

 

[UK WW ex member]

Interesting . I am going to check the status of another directory -alivedirectory equally popular with aviva

 

[gastongr]

They sure have more links than before but the pr calculation algorithm is always changing, the total amount of pagerank is always growing so Google needs to make it harder to get high pr in every update, it seems Aviva didn't get enough links to support the change.

Aviva is still a great and powerful directory.

 

[Discover]

i think aviva had low pr in it subpages last update so maybe some of this pr transferred throughout the site better this time
i had the same kind of thing happening before..

 

[maxseo]

Aviva directory has also higher alexarank, which shows that both PageRank and AlexaRank have different meaning and importance.

Someone suggested, can't remember where I saw it, that after removing all Alexa stats references from their site, they repaired their pagerank and ranking in Google. From what it sounded like the guy was trying to say that if google finds any alexarank links or references on your site you'll get penalized...

Could that be the case with Aviva showing off the alex rank button on their homepage?

..

 

[temi]

Could that be the case with Aviva showing off the alex rank button on their homepage?

..

I do not think that Google look at petty things like having Alexa ranking on your web page but I think soon or late Aviva and other PR focused directories will end up getting banned by Google completely. That is what happened to Bluefind.com if anyone remembers Bluefind.
It was the Aviva of its day, it was PR8 and lots of huha about it. There are lots of great directories with high PR without all the flamboyant promotion methods associated with Aviva and other sites from the same stable. But, lets see where Aviva will be in 3 years time. PR10 or PR0 like Bluefind .

I don't think there is any thing really extraordinary about Aviva (or indeed my own directory Haabaa) other than spending more money than the 12 year old kids who also runs a directory with free copy of PHPLD.

A directory I will really respect is on that brings innovation to the directory industry beyond just adding a link to a directory.

 

[maxseo]

Well I checked bluefind.com and it redirects me to directory.v7n.com

what is the story there?

...

 

[temi]

Yes, Blufind is owned by the owner of v7n.com . Its a looooooong story, don't know where to start. Many versions depending on who you listen to but my own summation was that huha about it got to Google and they looked into it and it was considered a link farm or something like that and was banned and it went from PR8 to PR0, attempt was made to clean it up but without any luck and eventually mission was aborted and its now what it is today.
Maybe you should use way back machine to see if you can trace some of the stories and see when it was PR8 etc etc. It was the aviva and Alive directory of its days as you can se its nothing more than a redirected domain today.

I wonder if there is any moral to this story?

 

[temi]

Opps, I just found one of my paypal recipts for paying for a "permanent link" in Bluefind

 

[maxseo]

That 40$ was a good investment. The moral to the story is to forget about Google because the more you concentrate on how your site ranks in a google the more you will get punished. Concentrate on making your site user friendly and on creating some good and useful content and Goolge will reward you for it.

..

 

[temi]

Completely agree with you. You should create something useful and unique, all the other stuff (back links etc) will follow naturally. You can buy back links and "artificial" back links and fame in the short term but in the log run you will crash down to earth or run out of money if what you are doing is really not worth it.
You will get lots of sycophants back slapping and applauding you but.... I will leave it at that.

 

[temi]

That 40$ was a good investment.

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Not sure I agree its a good investment, it was and investment all right but this should make you think when buying links that promises "life time link" , I think you should ask the question: Whose life time, and what is the life span of this person or think whose life time you are using to measure the transaction ?

 

[Discover]

i agree temi
i think with aviva and alive their success may be their downfall
i think it was about bluefind actually i read about before and they guy who owned it said you wouldnt believe who comes out of the woodwork when u hit pr8
you just attract so much more publicity and not all good
you set yourself up as a target to all the worst forms of people
those directories are heavy on marketing and pushing their way to the top but the content and structure of the dirs alter little
i would be quite scrared of spending so much money on one dir and to run the risk of it losing its pr like bluefind

i think the more these directories are seen to be achieving high prs the greater chance google will decide to do something
just in case there will be some kind of crackdown or devaluing of the out of the box directories i want to move away from that as much as possbile by introducing new areas and content to my site
in the end you cant lose because you are adding more unique content

 

[temi]

Its okay to achieve PR8 (because you are creating something of value on the internet and people link to you naturally) its "buying" PR8 Google frown at, which is what most "top" web directories are doing.

 

[maxseo]

you wouldnt believe who comes out of the woodwork when u hit pr8
you just attract so much more publicity and not all good
you set yourself up as a target to all the worst forms of people

When you aproach it from this angle the slight drop for Aviva might be not so bad afterall

..

 

[! Ask !]

Interesting points, I also heard the story when you reach PR8 you open Pandora Box.

I think Jeff is trying to do the best he can with Aviva and lately as changed more the focus to directory integrity and content.

But people starve for PR, normally they don’t care about nothing else.

 

[! Ask !]

Natural links are great, but who will link to a directory unless you are a mega established directory like Dmoz, BOTW or Yahoo.

I think the plan should be to build links and promote your site for 1 to 2 years and then when you are established you can live of natural links.

I don’t think paying for links is a bad thing, what I always try to do is buying permanent or at least 1 year.

 

[inactive_jumpenjuhosaphat]

I agree, Aviva, DMOZ, Alive, none of them really offer much different than any 2 bit directory other than PR. The thing is, those directories aren't searched, they aren't used by common internet users. The promotion that is pushed is targeting website owners, not the general public. So these sites won't drive much traffic to any site. Is a single PR link valuable enough for someone to pay $40.00 for it? Chances are that link will be lower PR than the front page is anyway, so the value is even less. Also, these sites are there for one reason and one reason only, and that's to sell links.

 

[SponSpot]

It doesn't surprise me that high PR directories (PR6 - PR7) lose their PR. When they have backlinks from other quality sites I am sure in three months other sites have taken their spot which pushes their site to a page with less PR. In effect it drops their PR so it is to be expected.

 

[thud]

If you add more pages to a website the PR of the pages, all things being equal will fall, assuming fully meshed linking, however the total site pR will have increased. Aside from the pr drop. I think Aviva is great, I pay for listings there regularly, I like pr5 cat pages. I also really like the design and the lady with the hair . Alivedirectory has gone too expensive for me at 100 bucks a time for the best link option!